Grounded Calm: Mindful Grounding For Intrusive Thoughts

Find steady ground with this gentle, guided practice designed to support anyone experiencing anxiety or intrusive thoughts. Through mindful breathwork, body awareness, and simple grounding techniques, Carrie offers practical tools to help ease mental tension, interrupt unhelpful thought patterns, and reconnect with the present moment. This session is open to all—no prior experience needed. Come as you are and discover a sense of calm, safety, and self-compassion.

Transcript

Finding a nice,

Comfortable seated or laying posture,

Allowing yourself to simply notice if you're having internal thought loops or external thought loops,

Keeping in mind that we're using this meditation to shift our focus,

Not to create a new compulsion or distraction.

Allowing this meditation to keep you present in the discomfort and in the moment without trying to fix.

Start by acknowledging your inner world.

Start by noticing a thought and a feeling of tightness in your chest.

This can be from an obsession.

This can be from just not feeling in your body.

Bringing in the thoughts and acknowledging knowing that it is okay to be exactly where you are.

From here starting to come back into your body.

Notice I am pushing my feet hard into the floor.

I am shifting my body,

Possibly straightening my back.

I am feeling the weight of my body in the chair or on the floor.

Engaging in what you're doing.

I am in my space.

This could be kitchen,

Living room,

Bed.

I can see the light on the wall or I can see the backs of my eyelids and hear the hum of the fridge.

I am now going back to meditation.

Five things you can see or visualize in this moment,

Like small details,

The texture of a rug,

Or maybe visualizing the way light reflects off of class.

Next,

Moving into four things you are able to feel.

Notice the sensation of your clothes against your skin.

Potentially the coldness of the air or the texture of what you are currently laying on.

These are examples.

Whatever you are feeling is your own lived experience.

From here three things you hear.

Focus on external sounds like distant traffic or a clock ticking.

Two things you can smell.

Try to detect the scent of potentially soap,

Coffee,

Or even the air.

One thing you can taste.

This could be the lingering taste of your favorite beverage,

Of toothpaste,

Or even the water that you have taken a drink of.

Anchors.

These are short phrases to disrupt the rumination loop and to allow us to accept uncertainty.

Examples are,

This is an OCD noise.

Maybe not.

I don't need to solve this right now.

I am noticing that I have the urge to,

But I am choosing to stay here in this moment.

Uncertainty is uncomfortable.

But it is not a danger.

Whenever you're ready,

Gently allow yourself to feel the temperature of the air on your skin.

Inducing movement into the fingers and the toes.

Opening your eyes whenever you're ready.

And gently coming back into the room around you.