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Do you ever feel disconnected or overwhelmed during a stressful situation or a traumatic flashback? This is a natural response your body and mind have developed over time, often driven by strong emotional reactions.

Or maybe you're just doing everything on autopilot—working, planning, missing, regretting—and you've become deeply disconnected with the present moment.

Either way, you can break this pattern by employing various grounding techniques. Neurofeedback can be an incredibly powerful tool in teaching your brain how to take control, anchoring you in the now instead of sending you somewhere in the distant future or past. As such, this article outlines exactly how neurofeedback can help, as well as some other tips on how to stay grounded.

Key Takeaways

• Staying grounded involves managing your emotions and thoughts effectively, especially in stressful situations, and accepting with a clear mind the ups and downs life throws at you.

• Neurofeedback empowers you to regulate your brain activity, improving focus on the present moment, emotional stability, stress resilience, and overall well-being.

• Incorporating various grounding techniques, such as deep breathing, outdoor activities, mindful meditation, sensory activities, and journaling can support overall well-being and help maintain a grounded state of mind.

What Does It Mean to Stay Grounded?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, grounded describes someone who is "mentally and emotionally stable: admirably sensible, realistic, and unpretentious." Similarly, the Collins Dictionary defines it as follows: "someone is grounded [if] they are sensible and reasonable and [...] understand the importance of ordinary things in life."

In recent years, the expression to stay grounded has become quite common in personal development, psychological, and spiritual discussions, books, and workshops. Essentially, it means exactly what the definitions mentioned above describe—to be present here and now, have control over your feelings and thoughts, and be connected to your own self without getting carried away by fear, insecurity, and worry. Staying grounded also means responding positively to life’s ups and downs and accepting difficult situations as they come.

Grounding techniques are aimed towards mental, emotional, and physical well-being. During stressful times, it’s easy to drift and feel chaotic, especially when aiming for perfection or taking on too much. This is why grounding practices are so important—they help nourish the mind, body, and spirit, providing a sense of calm, more clarity, and ease, as well as fostering self-compassion.

What Prevents You From Staying Grounded?

In some cases, the inability to stay grounded stems from traumatic experiences, anxiety disorders, or other mental health conditions, in which case the treatment approach should be outlined by a healthcare professional.

In other cases, the inability to stay grounded stems from other things, such as:

• Multitasking

• Trying to be perfect and setting unrealistic goals

• Being in a constant rush or always planning things for the future

• Having a lack of intention or motivation

• Overthinking and overanalyzing various experiences

• Being unable to come to terms with our thoughts and feelings; being unable to accept them as they are, without ignoring or pushing them away.

As such, what does neurofeedback have to do with all of these? Let's find out!

What Is Neurofeedback?

Neurofeedback is a specialized form of biofeedback that focuses on measuring and analyzing brain activity. Its goal is to train the brain's responses to various stimuli through real-time feedback. This process leverages the principles of neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to adapt and create new neural pathways—and operant conditioning, a learning mechanism that modifies behavior through reinforcement or punishment.

In other words, during a neurofeedback session, you receive positive feedback when your brain activity goes towards a desired state—calmness, for example. When you become agitated, the positive feedback is taken away. For instance, if you're listening to music during your brain training session, the music may stop when you feel nervous. It then starts again once you regain your calm.

Evidence shows that regular neurofeedback sessions can train the brain to incorporate these responses into its neural pathways. Therefore, people may be able to learn how to self-regulate without any neurofeedback equipment and, implicitly, real-time feedback.

It is worth noting that neurofeedback sessions can be done at a clinic or at home. In-clinic neurofeedback is usually recommended for people with certain medical conditions. Otherwise, at-home neurofeedback devices are suitable for wellness purposes. Additionally, neurofeedback is typically performed via electroencephalography (EEG), which measures brain waves (electrical activity in the brain), and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), which measures blood flow and oxygenation. In the following sections, we will discuss both approaches and how they can help you stay grounded.

Therefore, what exactly is the role of neurofeedback in one's ability to stay grounded?

How Can Neurofeedback Help You Stay Grounded in Reality?

Neurofeedback can be a powerful tool in helping you stay grounded. Training the brain to balance emotions can truly have an incredible impact on your ability to focus on the present moment.

The following subsections explore how neurofeedback can enhance present-moment awareness, improve emotion regulation skills, boost stress resilience, clear your mind, and promote overall well-being.

1. It Helps You Focus on the Here and Now

EEG neurofeedback promotes mindfulness and present-moment awareness by helping you enhance brainwave patterns associated with focus, attention, and calmness. Additionally, one can experience an increase in focus and calmness through fNIRS neurofeedback. For instance, the Mendi device uses this neurofeedback technology to measure prefrontal cortex activity. This can help you learn how to clear your mind, stay calm, and focus on the task at hand. Therefore, both neurofeedback approaches serve for mindfulness purposes, fostering a state of tranquility and relaxation.

This improved focus can lead to better problem-solving and decision-making, which are invaluable when navigating stressful situations. Therefore, with regular neurofeedback training, you can achieve a higher level of mental clarity, making it easier to stay grounded.

2. It Improves Your Emotion Regulation Skills

Good emotion regulation skills are essential for staying grounded, and neurofeedback plays a significant role in enhancing these skills. By providing real-time feedback on brain activity, neurofeedback can help you recognize and manage your emotional triggers. This improved emotional awareness leads to better emotional control and stability, which are of the essence if you want to avoid getting carried away by negative thoughts, fears, and worries.

EEG neurofeedback targets specific brainwave patterns linked to emotional processing, helping you develop coping strategies for both negative and positive emotions. On the other hand, the fNIRS technology incorporated into the Mendi device targets the prefrontal cortex directly, which is in control of your executive function skills, including behavior and emotion regulation, as well as the ability to cope with stress. By strengthening the prefrontal cortex with Mendi, you can experience an improvement in all these skills!

3. It Improves Your Stress Resilience

Being resilient to stress is a key factor in staying grounded. By training you to control your brain activity, neurofeedback helps modify the brain’s responses to stressors. This enhanced control can potentially reduce the frequency and severity of stress-related symptoms. It can foster a sense of calmness and the ability to stay grounded even in difficult situations or when you're under pressure.

Alongside improving stress resilience, neurofeedback, particularly fNIRS neurofeedback targeting the prefrontal cortex, can enhance your decision-making and problem-solving skills, which, yet again, can help you keep a steady mind when things get hectic.

4. It Teaches You How to Clear Your Mind

Being able to clear your mind and control your thoughts is immensely beneficial in the process of staying grounded. As such, neurofeedback techniques help reduce mental clutter. By providing real-time feedback on brain activity, neurofeedback encourages you to self-regulate your mental state, thus improving mental clarity and preventing you from feeling overwhelmed.

This can be particularly beneficial for those who worry excessively or become nervous easily in stressful situations because neurofeedback can help them break repetitive negative thought patterns.

5. It Promotes Overall Well-Being

Neurofeedback training can potentially improve cognitive function (thus your performance at work, for example) and emotion regulation skills (thus your self-esteem and relationship with others). Users have also reported that it can positively influence sleep patterns, mood, energy, and, therefore, overall physical and mental well-being. All of these play an important role in your willingness and ability to enjoy the present to the fullest!

6. It Can Help Alleviate Symptoms of Trauma and Anxiety

As mentioned above, many people recovering from trauma or suffering from anxiety disorders or other mental health conditions find it difficult to stay grounded. For example, if someone experiences a traumatic flashback, they're basically reliving some aspects of a traumatic event, feeling as if it is happening now, instead of perceiving it as a memory. Without coping mechanisms and grounding techniques, it is extremely difficult to return to the present and remind oneself that the here and now is a safe place.

Neurofeedback therapy has shown potential in alleviating the symptoms of various mental health conditions, although future research is required to fully outline its mechanism of action in this regard. In these cases, the therapy needs to be performed at a clinic, under the supervision of a qualified therapist who can personalize the treatment protocol depending on the condition that is treated and the patient's symptoms. Needless to say, neurofeedback therapy is only recommended as a complementary therapy because its effectiveness varies from person to person.

Other Grounding Techniques

While neurofeedback is a powerful tool for staying grounded, there are numerous other grounding techniques that can complement its benefits. Grounding techniques redirect focus from distressing emotions to the present moment, providing a sense of calm and clarity.

In the following subsections, we’ll explore various physical and mental grounding techniques that can enhance your overall sense of well-being.

1. Breathing Exercises

Deep breathing is an effective method for stabilizing emotions and easing the nervous system, promoting relaxation and a sense of calm. Here are some exercises you can try:

• Diaphragmatic breathing

• Box breathing

• Alternate nostril breathing

• 4-7-8 breathing

• Lion's breath

2. Ground Your Body

Physical grounding techniques, such as walking barefoot on grass, can help you connect with nature and calm down your nervous system. Taking time to consciously breathe while lying on natural surfaces can help release bodily tension, enhancing your sense of being grounded.

Tactile experiences, like feeling different textures or temperatures, can also enhance grounding by providing a connection to the physical world.

3. Use Your Senses and Mind

You can also try the 3-3-3 rule to calm down your mind—identify 3 objects around you, identify 3 sounds, and then move 3 body parts. Describing your sensory experiences can also anchor your attention in the present moment. This could involve noting what you see, hear, feel, smell, and taste in your immediate environment, which helps shift your focus away from distressing thoughts and toward a more balanced state of mind.

Here are some other sensory activities you can try to stay grounded:

• Put your hands in water and focus on how the water temperature feels on your hands. You can alternate between warm and cold water.

• Hum or sing.

• Touch items near you and focus on how they feel in your arms. Concentrate on their color, shape, and size.

• Eat or drink something you enjoy, but do it slowly, so you can feel every bite/sip.

• Hold a piece of ice and focus on how it melts and how your hands feel as it does.

• Savor a favorite scent - a perfume, a scented candle, a cup of tea, a cup of coffee, or anything else whose fragrance you enjoy.

• Hug a toy.

Did you know you can also ground yourself by playing memory games or counting backwards from 100? You can also try reciting something or thinking in categories - for example, you can choose the "animals" category and then mentally list as many animals as you can think of.

5. Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness meditation is a powerful mental grounding technique that can empower you to feel centered and in control of your thoughts and feelings. Remaining in a meditative state for 10 to 15 minutes a day can significantly enhance relaxation and focus, providing a sense of peace and clarity. Techniques like taking deep breaths and focusing on them, as well as paying attention to a particular object can help you cope with overwhelming feelings, anchoring you in the present moment.

You can also try guided meditation, which is slightly different from mindfulness meditation but just as effective. Visualization is another effective meditation technique that implies visualizing a calming scene, such as time spent on the beach.

6. Nutrition and Hydration

Proper nutrition and hydration are essential for maintaining physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Include as many nutritious foods in your diet as possible. Try eating less junk food and sugar-rich products—instead, focus on vegetables, fruit, and whole foods. Hydration is equally important, so you can set alarms to remind yourself to drink water (we do know it's really easy to forget about staying hydrated given how many things we're trying to accomplish during the day!).

7. Journaling

Journaling can be truly beneficial if you need a safe space to express and ponder upon your thoughts and feelings. It allows you to process your experiences and emotions more thoroughly, thus reducing stress and anxiety.

For example, at the end of each day, you can write down three good things that happened to you on that day. This technique helps you enjoy the here and now instead of planning for tomorrow or dwelling on the past. It enables you to appreciate the good things that happen to you. Over time, this technique can break negative thought patterns, thus promoting your emotional well-being and helping you stay connected with your inner self.

8. Self-Soothing Techniques

Self-soothing techniques are essential for maintaining emotional balance and resilience during stressful times. Comforting objects, such as a favorite blanket, a scarf, or a weighted blanket can provide a sense of security and warmth during moments of emotional distress.

Plus, listening to music, reading, dancing, or doing anything else that relaxes you and calms down your nervous system are excellent self-soothing activities that connect you to the here and now.

9. Connecting with Others

Talk to others! Connecting with loved ones can significantly enhance your feelings of social support. For example, meaningful conversations with friends and family can foster emotional connections and reduce feelings of isolation. And opening up about your feelings can deepen these connections and create an environment of mutual trust and empathy. It can also provide you with a "safe place" for whenever life throws you a curveball.

10. Time Spent in Nature

Spend some time in nature! With this constant going-back-and-forth between work, home, family, and friends, we forget about Mother Nature, which can be incredibly healing! Take a mental health day and simply reconnect with nature to enjoy some alone time and find peace amidst the chaos of daily life.

Walk barefoot on grass, listen to some birds singing, watch some squirrels run around on a tree, go for a hike, go for a swim, or simply sit on a bench in a park—choose whichever activity you like the most! All of them will foster a sense of appreciation for the here and now because natural environments can promote a sense of calm and emotional balance.

11. Creating a Grounding Space

Creating a grounding space at home can cultivate a state of relaxation and stability during challenging times. For example, you can have a personal corner with a yoga mat, some scented candles, or anything else that helps you calm down, where you can relax and simply enjoy taking some slow breaths!

You can also create a self-soothing box designed for emotional emergencies. For instance, add in that box some things that can help you feel grounded when you're nervous. You can add some inspirational quotes, a piece of dark chocolate, or some family photos you love.

Stay Grounded with the Mendi Headband!

The Mendi headband offers a cutting-edge neurofeedback experience, leveraging state-of-the-art fNIRS technology conventionally used in research. By bringing this advanced technology into your home, the Mendi device provides a convenient, evidence-based tool for enhancing mental clarity and focus.

By using our device for only 3-15 minutes three times a week, you can improve your abilities to anchor yourself in the present moment and remain grounded when the circumstances demand it. Our headband is user- and budget-friendly, requires no app subscriptions or in-app purchases, and offers a gamified experience you'll definitely enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions

How does neurofeedback help you stay grounded?

Neurofeedback boosts your ability to stay grounded by sharpening your focus, helping you manage your emotions better, enhancing stress resilience, and promoting a clear mind.

What are some additional grounding techniques besides neurofeedback?

You can try deep breathing exercises, mindful meditation, or even walking barefoot to stay grounded. Spending time in nature and journaling are great ways to connect with yourself, too!

Why is it important to create a grounding space at home?

Creating a grounding space at home is essential for fostering relaxation and emotional balance, helping you find peace during tough moments. It gives you a stable environment to practice grounding techniques and regain mental clarity.