Grounding techniques help quickly connect to the present moment. They often use the five senses but can also involve kinesthetic exercises that bring us back into our bodies. Regular practice, even when feeling calm, reinforces our body awareness.

• Sound: Turn up the radio. Play your favourite soundtrack, create a library of meditation sounds. Try some On-line Harmonic sound Generators. Listen to water sounds from a Sound Generator (Online), sit beside an indoor or outdoor water fountain, brook, stream, lake or ocean. Listen to the birds. Find Live Music. Make throat sounds, hum, sing, chant. Clap your hands. Snap your fingers.

• Touch: Hold an ice cube. Place your hands in a sink full of ice and water. Splash your face with cold water. Suck on ice cubes. Move your fingers over the beads of a bracelet or rosary. Stand barefoot in the grass, or the sand. Put Clean Sheets on the bed. Pet a dog or cat. Take a warm bath. Get into a pool, Hot-tub, Sauna. Try acupuncture (Community acupuncture is Very affordable). Get a professional massage. Sit by a Fan. practice tapping parts of your body with your fingers.

• Smell: Peel an Orange or a Lemon. Sniff strong peppermint. Try drops of Eucalyptus or Cedarwood or Pine in a diffuser. Walk through an indoor/outdoor garden. Bring home fresh cut flowers. Boil Vanilla or Cinnamon in some water. Burn Palo Santo or incense in the house or on the deck.

• Taste: Bite into a lemon or lime. Chew on peppermint bubble gum or candy. Drink a glass of cold water. Chew on cinnamon bark. Chew on mints or a mint toothpick. Eat an apple very slowly.

• Sight: Take an inventory of everything around you. Watch fish in an aquarium. Watch the squirrels in the park. Connect with the present moment by listing what is going on around you. Identify all the colors and patterns you see. Count all the pieces of furniture around you. Make eye contact with friends, therapists, children or parents. Blow bubbles. Put some flowers in a Vase in your kitchen. Light candles and study the flames. Watch the Stars and the Moon. Look at photographs. Paint your feelings.

• Kinesthetic: Do yoga. Breathe slowly, consciously. Tense muscles in your face, neck, arms, hands, shoulders, stomach and legs and feet. Stretch on the floor. Sew on a missing button or a new patch to your jacket or bag. Knit or quilt. Solve a jigsaw puzzle. Work on your bicycle. Walk very slowly around the block, noticing as many muscles as you can.