Head To Toe: Muscle Tensing and Releasing Grounding Technique

The second grounding exercise in this series is Muscle Tensing. This one engages the body’s muscles to regulate the nervous system and resolve tension. Our anxiety response is not really built for most of the situations we face today. When we feel we are in danger, our bodies produce chemicals, such as adrenaline, that help us to temporarily be stronger, faster, and more energized until we have either escaped or defeated the problem. This is great for if you’re being chased by a mountain lion, it is not very helpful when you’re nervous about seeing the dentist. This exercise can help your nervous system believe you used those resources to fight the problem, and help us to release tension we may not realize we are holding.

The Exercise

Keep your eyes open and stay aware of your surroundings. Do this one in a chair, sitting up with your feet on the ground. Be mindful of how it feels and if anything hurts, stop, adjust your position, or skip over that step.

Start at your feet. Wiggle your toes a little inside of your shoes (or on the ground if you’re not wearing shoes). Notice how it feels to move them. Press your feet into the ground. See how hard you can push your heels down into the ground. Now release them.

Move on to your calves and ankles. Engage the muscles there, and tense them as hard as you can. You should be able to feel the tension in the back of your legs. Hold for 3 seconds, then relax the muscles.

Now, tense the muscles in your thighs, once again as hard as you can, hold for 3 seconds, and then release.

Next tense your shoulders, hold for 3 seconds, and then relax them.

Tense your arms, hold for 3 seconds, relax your arms.

Clench your fists as tight as you can, hold for 3 seconds, open and relax your hands. 

Scrunch up your face, hold for 3 seconds, and relax.

Lastly, tense all your muscles, including everything listed above and anything we passed over, for 3 seconds. Take a deep breath, and as you release it, relax all of your muscles and sink into your chair.

The Takeaway

Once may be effective, but repeat this exercise as many times as you like. It’s okay if you hold each step for a different amount of time than 3 seconds, and this can also work lying flat on your back. If you want to do this around other people without being noticed you can skip the face scrunching step. And of course, different exercises work better for different people and at different times. Check out the other posts in this series to learn more!