Grounding for Panic: A Gentle Practice to Support Anxiety Attacks

Panic and anxiety attacks can feel sudden, intense, and deeply unsettling. Many people describe a racing heart, shallow breathing, dizziness, tightness in the chest, or a sense of being disconnected from their body or surroundings. When this happens, grounding in the present moment can provide gentle support.

Grounding practices are widely used in mindfulness-based and trauma-informed approaches to help support the nervous system during periods of heightened anxiety. Rather than analysing thoughts or trying to control sensations, grounding gently brings awareness back to what is happening right now — the breath, the body, and the immediate environment.

How Grounding Supports Panic and Anxiety Attacks

During panic, the nervous system is highly activated. Attention can become pulled into frightening thoughts or physical sensations, which may intensify the experience. Grounding works by offering the mind and body something steady and orienting to focus on.

Gentle grounding practices may:

• support nervous system regulation

• encourage slower, more natural breathing

• help restore a sense of presence and orientation

• reduce feelings of disconnection or overwhelm

Importantly, grounding is not about forcing calm or pushing symptoms away. It’s about creating a safe internal anchor — something you can return to while the wave of anxiety passes.

A Gentle, Spiritual Approach to Grounding

For some people, grounding also has a quiet spiritual quality. Feeling the weight of the body, noticing the rhythm of the breath, or reconnecting with the present moment can bring a sense of steadiness, reassurance, and inner support. This kind of grounding doesn’t require beliefs or effort — just gentle awareness and permission to slow down. When panic is present, softer practices are often more supportive than techniques that demand focus or control. A calm, guided voice can help hold the space while you reconnect with yourself.

Gentle Grounding for Panic is a 12-minute guided mindfulness audio I created to support adults during panic or anxiety attacks, moments of overwhelm, or heightened stress. The practice uses calm verbal guidance, breath awareness, and sensory noticing to help guide attention back into the body and the present moment.

The pace is intentionally steady and gentle, allowing space to settle gradually rather than rushing toward an outcome. It can be used during a panic episode or as a grounding practice when anxiety feels close to the surface.

Gentle Grounding for Panic 13-Minute Guided Audio

Take a brief pause and reconnect with your breath and body with this guided grounding practice.

Download now

Downloadable audio, can be saved to your phone or device and used anytime you need it — at home, while resting, or whenever you’re able to pause safely.

This audio is intended as general wellbeing support and does not replace professional medical or mental health care.

A Supportive Tool to Keep Close

For those who like to build a small toolkit of supportive practices, I offer a range of adult and teen hypnosis and mindfulness audios you can keep close and return to as needed.

Browse my adult hypnosis downloads here.