Tools
Anchor Practices
By Momma R
Short practices to help you come back to your body when your mind spirals.
Below is a series of short, body-based practices designed for moments when the mind spirals and language stops helping. These are not about “calming down.” They are about re-entering the body and re-establishing safety in real time.
1. Name the Weight
When thoughts race or fragment.
Place one hand on your chest, one on your belly.
Say silently: “This is heavy. I am carrying weight.”
Do not analyze. Naming weight brings orientation.
Stay for three slow breaths.
Why it works: The nervous system relaxes when experience is acknowledged without correction. They ask for grounding.
2. Press Into Something Solid
When you feel floaty, unreal, or untethered.
Press your feet firmly into the floor or your back into the chair.
Push until you feel resistance.
Count to five. Release. Repeat twice.
Why it works: Pressure restores proprioception—your sense of being “here.”
3. Temperature Reset
When panic or agitation spikes.
Hold something cool (a mug, counter, water bottle).
Notice temperature only. No story.
Let your exhale lengthen naturally.
Why it works: Temperature shifts pull attention out of mental loops and into sensory reality.
4. Orient With the Eyes
When you’re stuck inside your head.
Slowly name five things you can see.
Then three shapes.
Then one color that feels steady.
Why it works: Eye movement and orientation signal safety to the brain.
5. Contained Breath (Not Deep)
When breathing feels tight or forced.
Inhale normally.
Exhale slightly longer than the inhale.
Pause gently at the bottom.
Repeat 4–6 times.
Why it works: Lengthened exhales down-regulate without overwhelming a stressed system.