6 minutes
Anxiety
A grounding practice for when feelings run strong — feet on the floor, attention on the steady things around you.
- This is a practice for moments when feelings run strong. You can do it almost anywhere. Your eyes can stay open, or close if that feels better. You can stop at any time.
- If a strong feeling is here right now, you don’t need to push it away, and you don’t need to fix it. For the next few minutes, we’ll simply give it some steady ground to stand on.
- Start with your feet. If it’s comfortable, press them gently into the floor. Notice the floor pressing back. Solid. Steady. Holding you up.
- Notice your legs, and your seat, if you’re sitting. Notice the weight of your body, and what’s carrying it.
- Now let your attention find the room. If your eyes are open, name to yourself a few things you can see. The colour of a wall. A shape. Something that catches the light.
- Notice a few things you can hear. Near and far.
- Notice a few things you can feel. Your clothes on your skin. The air. Your hands, resting.
- Now, if it feels okay, turn gently toward the feeling. Where do you notice it in your body? Maybe in the chest, the throat, the stomach, the face. You don’t need to search hard. Just notice where it seems to be.
- See if you can give it a name. “Anger.” “Fear.” “Sadness.” “Frustration.” Or simply, “This is strong.” Naming it doesn’t make it wrong. It just lets you see it a little more clearly.
- If turning toward it feels like too much, come straight back to your feet. That choice is always here.
- Let the feeling be here, and let your feet be here too. Both at once. The feeling, and the ground.
- Notice whether the feeling is moving at all, even a little. Feelings often shift, the way weather does. And you’re the one noticing the weather.
- Back to your feet. The floor, pressing back.
- Before we finish, ask yourself: what would be kind to do next? It might be a glass of water. A few steps outside. A message to someone you trust. Or just carrying on.
- When you’re ready, look around the room once more. Notice your feet. And take the next step, whenever it’s time.