Grounding Techniques to Match Your Nervous System
/By Concentric Therapist Jenna Feldman, LCSW
Many people have heard of grounding and regulation techniques and think, ‘Aren’t these supposed to help me calm down?’
You might picture deep breathing, mindfulness, exercise, or other familiar tools. Maybe you’ve found it helpful to pause and take a few slow breaths, or maybe going for a quick job helped relieve some stress after a long work week. Maybe you’ve also tried these in moments of overwhelm or shutdown and felt they didn’t help much at all.
Grounding and regulation work best when they meet the needs of your own unique nervous system. When the grounding doesn’t fit what your body actually needs, it can fall flat or even backfire.
To understand what grounding and regulation strategies will actually help, we need to first understand what grounding is, how the nervous system works, and how to map the signals your body is sending so you can choose the right tools at the right time.
What is Grounding?
In the mental health field, grounding refers to a set of techniques used to bring the body back to a physiological state of balance, or homeostasis. Grounding helps regulate the nervous system by restoring present-moment awareness and reconnect to a sense of safety in the environment. These techniques typically use one or more of the five senses to regulate distress.
Effective grounding helps to:
Decrease emotional and physiological distress
Stabilize trauma-related symptoms
Reconnect to the present moment and body
Grounding is more than “calming down”. It’s about helping the body and nervous system regulate.
FREE IMAGE COURTESY OF UNSPLASH, Vidar Nordli-Mathisen
Understanding the Nervous System
The nervous system is integral to your body’s functioning, governing the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. The Nervous System is constantly scanning the world around you, utilizing nerve pulses to tell muscles and organs what to do and how to respond to the environment.
An early, yet simple, evolutionary example:
If you were, like our Homo sapien ancestors, to encounter a lioness in the wild grasslands, your nervous system would instantly detect danger and mobilize into action. Your heart rate would increase, muscles would tense, and your eyesight and hearing would sharpen as your body prepared to fight, flee, freeze, or collapse. Without a thought, your nervous system would take over automatically to respond to the threat.
Today, this system is programmed to detect threats in the same way. Only, the “lions” we are more likely to face today come in the shape of relational stressors, overwhelming emails, or trauma reminders.
In other words:
Your Nervous system is constantly scanning your environment and your internal world, asking a core question: Am I safe enough to stay regulated?
The Three Core Nervous System States
Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, in the 1990’s and generally supported by current research, proposes that the nervous system has three core states. Each state has their own physiological, emotional, and behavioral patterns.
Sympathetic Nervous System - Fight-or-flight
Hyperarousal
Anxiety, panic, anger, irritability
Scans for threat and mobilizes your body for action
Heightened sensations
2. Ventral Vagal Parasympathetic System - Rest and digest
Regulated
Balanced arousal, homeostasis
Connected, flexible, present
3. Dorsal Vagal Parasympathetic System - Freeze, shutdown, and collapse
Hypoaroused
Tired, numb, foggy,
Low motivation
Disconnected or dissociation
The Window of Tolerance
A regulated nervous system is able to move between activation and relaxation without getting stuck. This movement happens within what is called the Window of Tolerance. Every person has a window of tolerance, shaped to and by their own experiences and neurobiological makeup.
Dr. Dan Siegel, a psychiatrist and clinical professor of Psychiatry at UCLA, is a renowned researcher and educator who has pioneered psychological concepts and approaches that examine the intersection of human relationships and basic biological processes, or Interpersonal Neurobiology. Amongst his extensive body of research and publications, Dr. Siegel developed the concept of the window of tolerance, which helps us understand how our nervous systems handle stress. Dr. Siegel describes the “optimal zone” of arousal as the state in which a person is enable to function in everyday life. Within one’s window, a person is regulated enough to effectively manage and cope with their emotions, able to tolerate discomfort, reflect, learn new skills, and respond intentionally rather than reactively. In this zone, a person’s nervous system can experience discomfort, but not be overwhelmed by it.
When a person moves outside of their window of tolerance, a person can shift into survival states: hyperarousal and hypoarousal.
Hyperarousal
Anxiety, panic, anger, racing thoughts, feeling ‘too much’, overwhelm
Hypoarousal
Numbness, shutdown, dissociation, exhaustion, feeling ‘not enough’
Several factors can shape someone’s individual window, including but not limited to:
Stressors (work, relationships, health)
Sleep quality
Hormonal changes
Environment
Neurodivergence
Trauma
Answering the Question: What Grounding Techniques Work?
When we ask, “What grounding techniques actually work?”, we’re really asking two things:
What state your nervous system is in
What techniques and tools will help it shift back into the Window of Tolerance
Mapping your Nervous System State
Whether you are on high alert and anxious, calm and level-headed, or slow and shutdown, the right grounding technique will depend on pin pointing where you are relative to your window of tolerance.
Nervous system mapping is a practice you can do anywhere. It can help build awareness of your body’s responses, and to clarify the tools that support balance.
A simple guide to practice mapping your nervous system:
Step 1: Make sure you are in a calm and safe environment
Take a quick sensory sweep exactly where you are. Notice any bright lights, bothersome sounds, textures, or smells that are impacting you. As best you can, adjust the space to minimize distressing stimuli.
Step 2: Settle into your breath
Take a deep, slow inhale through the nose and a long exhale through the mouth. Repeat until you feel even a slight shift toward internal awareness.
Step 3: Body scan
Notice your body’s temperature, muscle and skin sensations, and breathing pattern.
Temperature: Notice the overall temperature of your body
Does your temperature feel
Hot / flushed
Warm / neutral
Cool / cold
Muscle and skin sensations: Notice your posture, muscle tone, and skin sensations
Is your posture
Forward / braced
Upright / still
Heavy / slumped
Are your muscles
Tensed / jittery
Balanced / relaxed
Limp / numb?
Does your skin feel
Clammy / flushed
Comfortable /even
Dull / distant
Breath awareness: Pay attention to your breath.
Is your breath
Fast / tight / chest-driven
Slow / deep / smooth
Shallow / faint / delayed
Step 4: Mind check
Bring your attention to your thoughts.
Are your thoughts
Racing / urgent / asking “What if?”
Coherent / flexible / able to consider multiple perspectives
Slow / foggy / blank or distant
Step 5: Integrate the signals
Combine what you’ve noticed from your breath, muscle and skin sensations, temperature, and thoughts patterns. Noticing these signals together can form a picture of what state your nervous system is in and whether you are above, below, or within your window of tolerance.
1. Hyperarousal - “Fight-or-flight”
Fast breath, tense muscles, hot skin, racing thoughts
Anxiety, anger, overwhelm, irritable
Heart rate is above your resting heart rate
2. Regulated - “Grounded”
Deep and regular breathing, balances muscles, warm/neutral skin, coherent thoughts
Calm, attentive, intrigued, peaceful
Heart race is at your resting state
3. Hypoaroused - “Freeze, shutdown, collapse”
Shallow breath, heavy or numb muscles, cold skin, foggy or blank thoughts
Numb, disconnected, detached, shutdown
Heart rate is below resting heart rate
Choosing Techniques That Match your State
Grounding and regulation is not a one-sized-fits all tool kit. A very common misconception is that many, if not all, grounding and regulation techniques are intended to soothe or calm someone down. Common techniques include paced breathing exercises and progressive muscle relaxation, which cues the body to slow down and settle, and shift one’s state from ‘too much activation’, through down-regulation.
While this can be very helpful when our system is hypoaroused, they might not be as effective if a system is in freeze or shutdown, or hypoarousal. For a hypoaroused state, grounding and regulation can focus on increasing activation through short bursts of exercises or stimulating activity to shift one’s state from ‘too little’ activation, through up-regulation.
Now that we have an idea of what state our body and brain are in, whether we are in hypoarousal or hypoarousal, we can start to try out some grounding and regulation techniques that might actually work to bring us back into our window of tolerance.
Down-regulation Techniques (for Hyperarousal)
When we are hyperaroused, the goal is to bring the body back down from “too much” activation, through down-regulation.
Examples:
Deep breathing
Practice slow, deep inhales and long exhales.
Box breathing: Inhale slowly through your nose for 4 seconds, hold for 2 seconds. Exhale slowly through your mouth for 4 seconds. Repeat for at least 4 repetitions.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Systematically tense and then relax different muscle groups.
Start with your toes and work your way slowly up to your head. Tense each muscle group for a few seconds, and then release the tension.
Deep pressure
Use weighted items, tight hugs, or firms self-squeeze.
Static stretching
Hold stretches for 30-60 seconds to help relax muscles
Gentle orienting
Orient yourself back to the present moment by engaging the senses through the
5,4,3,2,1 exercise: Identify 5 things you can see, notice 4 things you can touch (and touching them, if possible), name 3 things you can hear, focus on 2 things you can smell (and smelling them, if possible), be aware of one thing you can taste (and tasting it in possible)
Up-regulation Techniques (for Hypoarousal)
When we are hypoaroused, the goal is to gently help reconnect with your body, increase energy, and bring the system slowly back online, through up-regulation.
Examples:
Short bursts of activity
Engage in vigorous physical activity for a short duration
Do jumping jacks of quick springs to get your body buzzing with energy
Dance with rhythmic movements
Dynamic stretching
Movements like legs swings and/or arm circles increase blood flow and stimulate muscle
Stimulating activity
Engage your mind with a quick puzzle or creative activity, stimulating conversation, or short and contained task that requires focus.
Strong Sensory activation
Splash cold water on your face, hold ice, or eat something spicy or sour to shock the senses and activate your nervous system back to the present.
A final note: the best grounding and regulation technique is the one that you’ll reliably use. While box-breathing or 5,4,3,2,1 exercises might work for some, they’re not necessarily going to be the right fit for every person and nervous system.
I recommend finding 20-30 minutes in your day, ideally when you’re feeling calm or neutral, and test out a number of the techniques from the lists above to see what feels good. Notice how your body responds, do you feel a bit lighter and comfortable, or a bit more stressed on on-edge? Try to identify at least one down and up regulation technique that works for you and keep it in your back pocket for when stress might push you out of your window of tolerance.
Therapy Can Help you Expand your Window of Tolerance
Understanding your window of tolerance and learning what grounding techniques that work for you is an extremely helpful and important part of promoting well-being, managing stress, navigating and maintaining healthy relationships, and healing from trauma. But it’s only one part of the greater journey to learn more about ourselves and endeavor on the longer process to become more centered, connected, and supported.
Therapy can help you deepen this work by understanding underlying patterns that shape your window, exploring the factors and experiences that influence your Window of Tolerance.
Grounding is most effective when paired with deeper therapeutic work that helps you understand why your nervous system responds the way it does and builds a toolbox of supports and tools that allow you to support it with compassion.
If you’re interested in learning more about your nervous system and start building skills to support your body through navigating those shifts through the support of an individual therapist, take a look at Concentric’s Individual Therapy page.
Resources:
Hammond, J., & Brown, W. J. (2025). Building an operational definition of grounding. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 15248380251343189.
Koniver, L. (2024). Grounding to treat anxiety. Medical Research Archives, 12(12).
PTSD UK. (n.d.). The window of tolerance and PTSD. https://www.ptsduk.org/the-window-of-tolerance-and-ptsd/
Siegel, D. J. (1999). The developing mind (Vol. 296). Guilford Publications.
Vancampfort, D., Gillis, V., & Van Damme, T. (2026). How arousal regulation shapes our work with patients: a Window of Tolerance perspective for physiotherapy–editorial. European Journal of Physiotherapy, 28(3), 183-187.
About Concentric Counseling & Consulting:
Concentric is a mental health group practice offering individual therapy, couples and relationship counseling, tween and adolescent support, family therapy, couples intensives, and consulting and supervision services. Our therapists work with a wide range of concerns, some of which include anxiety, depression, mood-related challenges, complex and developmental trauma (C‑PTSD), relationship and family difficulties, school and peer issues, relational trauma, mind–body connection, life transitions, acute and chronic stress, grief and loss, identity and purpose exploration, substance misuse, and unresolved family‑of‑origin experiences.
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