Breathing and grounding practices are simple, body-based ways to bring your attention back to the present moment. They offer gentle support for your nervous system, helping you feel more steady, connected, and safe.

Breathing and Grounding Exercises

Grounding: A Way Back to the Present Moment

When stress or overwhelm takes hold, it can be hard to feel steady. Grounding is about returning attention to the present moment through breath, movement, or the senses, creating a bridge back to safety and connection.

There’s no single right way to ground. What feels supportive is different for each person, and even for the same person at different times. Below is a collection of simple practices you can explore at your own pace, noticing which ones help you pause, reconnect, and settle.

Mother and child practising a yoga pose together, symbolising breathing and grounding practices for calm and connection.

Four Elements Exercise

Four Elements: A Mindfulness Practice to Support Grounding

The Four Elements is a grounding practice that brings you back to the present moment through earth, air, water, and light. These simple prompts invite you to notice the ground beneath you, the rhythm of your breath, the moisture in your mouth, and the warmth or energy in your body. A short guided video and printable worksheet are included below, with the option to adapt or pause the practice if any part feels uncomfortable.

Explore the resource – Four Simple Steps to Calm Your Mind and Body

Guided instructions for slowing down, reconnecting with your senses, and easing tension.

Download the worksheet – Four Elements Practice Sheet

A printable guide with space to note what you see, hear, and feel for each element.

Butterfly Hug

Butterfly Hug: A Bilateral Stimulation Practice for Grounding

The Butterfly Hug is a simple self-holding technique used in EMDR and other trauma-informed approaches to support grounding. By crossing your arms and gently tapping left–right, you engage both sides of the brain while offering yourself a sense of steadiness. It can be used when you feel anxious, unsettled, or need to come back to the present. A short guided recording and written instructions are included below, with the option to pause or adapt the practice if it feels uncomfortable.

Listen – Guided Butterfly Hug Practice

This recording introduces the Butterfly Hug and invites you to recall a mildly distressing memory (around a 3/10) before using the tapping to settle. If it feels uncomfortable, you can pause at any time.

Other Grounding Strategies

Grounding doesn’t have to be complicated. It might mean taking a sip of cold water, pressing your feet into the floor, holding a textured object, or running your hands under warm or cool water. Some people use the 5-4-3-2-1 technique to notice what they can see, touch, hear, smell, and taste. Even small actions like carrying a grounding item, noticing your breath while walking, or stretching gently can bring you back to the present moment.

You might also explore other practices such as mindful walking, a body scan, gentle rocking or stretching, or using music, scent, or temperature as anchors. If you’re working with a therapist, you can reflect together on which practices feel most supportive.

Imagery Tools for Support

A selection of guided visualisations — such as calm or safe place, protective figures, and the container exercise — used in EMDR and other approaches to support regulation and emotional safety.

Understanding Your Nervous System

Information and reflective tools about how the nervous system responds to stress, including protective responses like fight, flight, freeze, and fawn, and how these patterns can shape experiences over time.

Resources

Links to articles and information sheets on themes such as nervous system responses, self-compassion, trauma recovery, parenting, and more.