Building a Sensory Grounding Toolkit
This post is Part 2 of a series about grounding for survivors of trauma. Click here to view Part One.
One way to make grounding accessible is to build yourself a sensory toolkit. A sensory toolkit is a small box or bag where you keep a few items that you can use to help you ground. You may want to have a big one to keep at home, and another that is portable that you can take with you out into the world.
Optimizing your toolkit:
You may find one or two senses to be more helpful than others. Most people already have developed sensory grounding resources without realizing that is what they were doing - for example, using soothing music. Think about some of the things that have helped you already and build on them. See if you can find strategies that help with ‘overactivated’ trigger states (anger, panic, anxiety) as well ones that help with ‘underactivated” trigger states (numbness, depression, dissociation) (Boone et al, 2011).
A list of possible items to place in your toolkit:
Sight:
Images or photos of a few people, places or pets that evoke positive feelings or memories
Images or art with soothing colors
Notes with meaningful quotes or affirmations
A snow globe or glitter jar (instructions for making your own here!)
Flameless color changing candles
Sound:
Earbuds or noise cancelling headphones
A calming playlist, with music, meditations, stories, nature sounds, or ASMR.
A tiny music box
An small instrument such as chimes, a xylophone or a kalimba
Touch:
Soft, squeezable
Stuffed animals (i love Squishmallows !)
Body pillow
Weighted blanket
Craft feathers or pom-poms
Manipulatable:
A beaded necklace or bracelet
Fidget toys
Putty or plasticine
Pipe cleaners
Temperature changing:
Hand warmers
Heating pad
Cooling lotion or salve with peppermint or menthol
Gel eye mask (kept it in the fridge)
Instant cold packs
Scent
Essential Oils
- Calming and soothing scents: Lavender, vanilla, sandalwood, neroli.
- Energizing scents: Citrus, eucalyptus, peppermint
Scented lotion
Bubble bath, bath bombs
Scratch-and-sniff stickers
Taste
Gum
Mints
Tea bags
Sour candies/lollipops, Flavored fizzy water
Other:
A bubble wand! Blowing bubbles is a great sensory tool that also supports you to slow your breath. Try making lots of little bubbles or one big one. Watch them float and try to catch or pop a few in the air.
Using your Sensory Toolkit
You might like to simply have your toolkit handy, and grab a few items that are calling to you in the moment.
Or, you can use a variation of the 5,4,3,2,1 exercise: (script below)
Using non-judgmental awareness, orient each sense to items in your toolbox. You may want to name each item either out loud or in your head, and maybe note one descriptive attribute. For example, you might say “blue picture. Soft blanket. Minty lotion.” and so on.
Name 5 things that you can see.
Name 4 things you can touch.
Name 3 things you can hear.
Name 2 things you can smell
Name 1 thing you can taste
You can go as slow as you like, and try repeating it a few times, using different items.
References:
Therapist Aid (Retrieved April 2021)
Boon, S., Steele, K., Van Der Hart (2011). Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation. Skills Training for Patients and Therapists. Norton Professional Books.