Grounding Anxiety With Rocks

Have you ever felt that you are just on auto-pilot? Going through the motions because your emotions are running high? While meeting with my therapist last week, she asked me if I knew what "grounding" was. Having never heard the term, I thought it was related to "being grounded" for being in trouble. The phrase "being grounded" comes from aviation for pilots or planes not being permitted to take off for various reasons. (I'm unsure if this is where the stress management term originated). In thinking of our PTSD, anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues taking over our lives, such that we are on "auto-pilot," we need to be grounded until we can safely navigate.

Grounding is a stress management technique that reduces anxiety by focusing on the five senses. I recently just started meeting with a therapist and requested that we incorporate my religious beliefs into my therapy. While there are five physical senses: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste, I believe there is a sixth sense that allows us to connect spiritually with God through our spirit.

My therapist shared several grounding techniques with me. As I've practiced, I've felt God's love through them. One grounding technique I think has been beneficial is holding a pebble in my hand while breathing. I love this technique because it also contains a special spiritual significance.

Grounding Our Sight & Touch With Rocks

I began my first therapy session by describing the state of my life. Essentially, I'm trying to heal from past trauma and cope with the anxiety it brings. One of the first things my therapist did was extend out a container of rocks. She had me pick one, hold it in my hand, and look at it as I took ten breaths. Focusing on the rock helped to calm my breath. Then, after breathing, I could still hold the small pebble in my hand and feel its smoothness against my palm. She gave me a second rock to put in my purse. Later, I bought a bag of pebbles from Walmart for a dollar and created a table centerpiece to grab one quickly when I felt anxious.

Jesus Christ is the Rock

At my church, I'm a youth leader, and our youth theme this year is, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13). When announcing this theme on Instagram, they shared the following:

A cairn is built out of rocks so that we can see which way to go. In our lives, there are a lot of things that make it hard to know the path to follow. But with the correct spiritual direction, we can find the way.

As I was reflecting on breathing while looking at the rock, the youth theme and this scripture found in the Book of Mormon came to mind: "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." (Helaman 5:12)

Satan wants us to feel anxious, depressed, and all the negative emotions of our past trauma because when our emotional distress is in the way, we can't feel hope or faith in Jesus Christ, and our vision of God's path is obscure. Christ is our rock foundation that strengthens us amidst the daily trials. We can ground ourselves by using him as our rock foundation. As we focus on him, we can do all things.