• The Counseling Palette | Mental Health

  • Blog

  • Counseling

  • Shop Worksheets

  • More

    Use tab to navigate through the menu items.
    The%20Counseling%20Palette%20Mini%20Logo_edited.jpg

    Mental health tools to help you and your clients thrive

    21 Helpful Feelings Worksheets for Kids, Teens & Adults

    21 Helpful Feelings Worksheets for Kids, Teens & Adults

    How to Use an Emotions Wheel to Feel Better | Feelings Wheels + PDFs

    How to Use an Emotions Wheel to Feel Better | Feelings Wheels + PDFs

    What are Some Good Therapy Games for Kids, Adults, Groups and Telehealth?

    What are Some Good Therapy Games for Kids, Adults, Groups and Telehealth?

    How Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) Treats Trauma and PTSD

    How Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) Treats Trauma and PTSD

    11 Tricky Cognitive Distortions Getting In Your Way

    11 Tricky Cognitive Distortions Getting In Your Way

    10 Life-Changing Exposure Therapies and Techniques

    10 Life-Changing Exposure Therapies and Techniques

    What is CBT? The Complete Guide to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

    What is CBT? The Complete Guide to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

    11 New Therapy Worksheets for Anxiety, PTSD, and More

    11 New Therapy Worksheets for Anxiety, PTSD, and More

    How the CBT Triangle Connects Thoughts, Feelings, and Behaviors

    How the CBT Triangle Connects Thoughts, Feelings, and Behaviors

    30 Unique Gifts for Mental Health Your Loved One Won't Forget | 2021

    30 Unique Gifts for Mental Health Your Loved One Won't Forget | 2021

    PTSD Symptoms in Women: Why They Blame Themselves

    PTSD Symptoms in Women: Why They Blame Themselves

    How to Write Your Psychology Today Profile: Make Your Client The Hero

    How to Write Your Psychology Today Profile: Make Your Client The Hero

    20+ Must-Have CBT Tools & Worksheets

    20+ Must-Have CBT Tools & Worksheets

    25 Grounding Techniques for Anxiety, PTSD, & Panic

    25 Grounding Techniques for Anxiety, PTSD, & Panic

    36 Common Signs and Symptoms of Women with ADHD + Coping Tips

    36 Common Signs and Symptoms of Women with ADHD + Coping Tips

    21 Self-Care Techniques for Stress

    21 Self-Care Techniques for Stress

    How to Use Grounding Stones for Anxiety and Panic Attacks

    How to Use Grounding Stones for Anxiety and Panic Attacks

    5 of the Worst PTSD Symptoms 
(And How to Beat Them)

    5 of the Worst PTSD Symptoms (And How to Beat Them)

    7 Magical Steps In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT

    7 Magical Steps In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT

    5 Ways to Lower Anxiety at Work

    5 Ways to Lower Anxiety at Work

    Safe Places, PTSD and the Fight or Flight Response

    Safe Places, PTSD and the Fight or Flight Response

    • Jennie Lannette, LCSW
      • Oct 9, 2020
      • 7 min read

    How to Use Grounding Stones for Anxiety and Panic Attacks

    Updated: Nov 29, 2021

    Anxiety rocks can help you calm nerves immediately. Here's how they're used and how they can help you.

    Grounding stones, or anxiety rocks, can help you calm symptoms in the moment. Photo by Sarah Juggernaut, Pixabay.

    Did you ever play with rocks as a kid? Maybe you skipped pebbles on a lake or kept a pet rock? Adults can benefit from this natural treasure as well.

    Grounding stones are a tool to practice mindfulness in a tangible way. Sometimes they’re called worry stones, anxiety stones, or healing rocks. They're often used to help with high anxiety, panic, or PTSD.


    Here's a look at the background of these calming rocks, and some tips for using them to deal with anxiety, stress, and related challenges.


    (Interested in using this tool for your clients, class, or event? Check out our grounding stone activity kit here.)


    Article Highlights

    What are Grounding Stones?

    Steps to Use Your Anxiety Stone

    How to Use Grounding Stones: Graphic

    History of Rocks

    Healing Stones

    Decorate Your Own Anxiety Stones

    Grounding Stone Activity Kit


    What are Grounding Stones?

    The idea of using rocks for soothing anxiety and stress has been around for many decades, if not centuries. They work to stop anxiety by:

    • Helping you focus on your senses

    • Distracting you from worries about the past or future

    • Providing a tangible item to focus on

    • Reminding you to practice mindfulness

    • Giving you a comfort item for self-care


    How Mindfulness Calms Anxiety Quickly

    Grounding stones are a great way to practice awareness, the essential element of mindfulness practice. I first learned about awareness of the present moment in meditation class, and then later as a DBT (dialectical behavioral therapy) therapist. Calming through sensory awareness is a staple in DBT, a popular therapy for a variety of mental health issues.


    Mindfulness is proven to help with depression symptoms, pain management, and anxiety. MRI studies by Harvard researchers show that mindfulness activities calm the amygdala, which activates during times of stress or worry.


    More recent research in Denmark has shown that daily practice of mindfulness, in this case use of the Headspace app, helped change brain focus. Those who used the app had an easier time forgetting their fears, compared to those who would continue to focus on them (who didn’t use the app).


    As I began teaching mindfulness to my own clients, I would run into a specific problem. Many people were suffering from high anxiety and trauma and PTSD symptoms. When your mind is in a constant state of anxiety, rumination, or stress, it’s pretty hard to focus on much else.

    These anxiety stones, and the photo, were created by the atuhor.

    In the DBT program we would often use lotions to notice physical sensations and smells. This was a great introduction to mindfulness, and helped those who had trouble concentrating to notice their physical sensations. We would look for colors, or even hold cubes of ice. All of these were helpful at times.


    At some point, we started holding rocks to help with this sensory focusing. The idea of using, teaching, and decorating grounding stones was born. It became a staple of my practice.


    You might have heard of kindness rocks, inspiration stones, or healing crystals. Any and all of these can be used as grounding stones.


    I've recently put together a kit that outlies all of these steps, and also includes a poster, worksheet, and audio meditation. You can learn about it here.

    Steps to Use Your Anxiety Stone


    Here’s how I teach grounding with stones in my office (or these days via telehealth).

    1. Choose a stone if one is available. It can be one like this, polished for this purpose, or a plain stone from your driveway. (If you can't find one, simply choose a nearby small object and modify the instructions for the alternative object.)

    2. Close your eyes. Simply notice the stone in your hand. Be aware of the feeling, texture, and weight of the stone. Notice what your hand feels like holding it. Notice its temperature. Spend about one minute on this step.

    3. Next, continue to hold the stone. Now, notice any sounds around you (not necessarily related to the stone). Often we tune out sounds. Bring back any sound inside the room, or outside the room. Just be aware of them.

    4. Now, open your eyes and look at the stone. Look for any strange lines, imperfections, colors, textures, etc. We often see things but don’t look at details. Bring all of that into your awareness.

    5. Finally, bring your attention back to the physical sensation of the stone. Notice the feelings in your palm and fingers.

    6. Notice what it was like to bring your attention to the stone. Do you feel any different?

    This graphic includes the steps to using grounding stones to calm anxiety quickly.
    Anxiety stone graphic by the author.

    Around 50 to 75% of my clients find this activity helpful as a soothing tool. For many, it offers a tangible alternative to the usual mindfulness process, which often involves visualizing or focusing for long periods of time. Grounding stones are sometimes easier to use, and the physical sensations are easier to focus on.


    There’s an added bonus to using an anxiety rock. If you use it enough, and practice calming while you do, then pretty soon it will trigger a calming response. Your nervous system will become conditioned to calm down simply by holding the rock.


    Grounding rocks are also an easy tool to carry with you. You can keep them in your pocket, your office area, or car, and use them when needed.


    Thinking of the history of rocks makes them all the more meaningful to me. I often gather rocks at a childhood creek where I used to visit. The creek is my “safe space,” in real life and in my imagination.


    The Grounded History of Rocks

    Millions of years ago the creek was a seabed (known due to fossils in this part of the world). I imagine these rocks being there, in one form or another, for all of that time. They’ve made it through dinosaurs, meteors, changing climates, civilizations, and more.


    The oldest rocks in the world are around 4 billion years old. My creek rocks might be that old, or might be just a mere 2 billion years old. Holding something that old in your hand brings a whole new meaning to the term grounding!


    Healing Stones

    Some believe certain rocks and gems have healing properties. While science hasn’t proven this, it seems like a fairly harmless practice. Many people find specific gems carry certain meanings. Others might find that using a specific rock as a grounding stone adds additional comfort for them, making it work even better.


    You can often find these gems, in all sorts of shapes and colors, at local mystical and alternative spirituality stores. They can be as inexpensive as these common stones, or as fancy as this opal necklace. Common stones used for healing purposes include:

    • Crystals

    • Quartz

    • Agate

    • Amethyst

    • Onyx

    • Sapphire

    • Sunstone


    Even if you don’t believe in the energy theories about stones, simply choosing a stone that’s appealing, attractive, and pleasing to the touch can be helpful. Wearing them as a piece of jewelry can be a discreet way to keep your precious rocks close. This can also add an interesting element to your noticing during the mindfulness practice.


    Decorate Your Own Anxiety Stones

    Another way to increase the fun and appeal of grounding stones is to start with basic stones like these river rocks and decorate them. My clients often add words, images, or abstract decorations to their rocks. This can help remind them of a specific practice, or the purpose of the exercise. Common phrases used include:

    • Breathe

    • Calm

    • Be

    • Believe

    • Soothe

    • All is Okay

    • Notice


    Fortunately, there are never ending ways to decorate rocks. You might have seen the kindness rocks movement of the last several years. Local towns decorate and leave rocks throughout the community. Those who find the stones can re-hide or keep them. Many communities require finders to replace their kept rocks with new ones.

    Decorating or adding a word to your anxiety rock can help remind you how to calm your nervous system.
    You can decorate your anxiety stone with paint, fingernail polish, sharpies, and more.

    Those who participate in kindness rocks, or who otherwise decorate stones, have developed unique artistic methods. One of my favorites is the mandala drawing or dotting techniques.


    Mandalas have a surprisingly long history in psychology and mental health. Carl Jung, an early pioneer in psychology and dream interpretation, loved mandalas. He believed they were a manifestation of the inner self. No two created were alike, much like snowflakes.


    Many artists use pens, markers, paint, or dotting tools to create rock mandalas. The result is often quite beautiful and awe-provoking. These are frequently offered on crafting sites like Etsy, or you can create your own.


    I often use simple writing tools to add words and decorations to my stones. Fingernail polish also works quite well. You can simply paint patterns and words, or you can drop the polish into a bowl of water and dip in your rock. If it works, a fun abstract pattern will stick to your rock.


    Other ways to decorate rocks include simply painting them, using stencils or engraving tools, or specialized pens and markers.


    I also once had a client who used a tumbler machine to smooth out rocks. This gave them a particularly comforting and soothing texture.


    Alternatively, rocks themselves can be pieces of art. They might be used to create the mandala (like in the photo below), or as stacks or designs on the beach. These activities can also be grounding and help calm anxiety.


    Rocks can be used as a part of a larger piece of art as well, like this mandala. Image by Kendra Couplan, Pexels

    Alternatives to Anxiety Stones

    If rocks aren’t your thing, or you don’t have one with you, here are some alternatives that can work as a substitute.

    • Keychains

    • Small stuffed toys

    • Stress balls

    • A favorite pen

    • A piece of hard candy

    • Small figurines

    • Massage tools


    You can repeat the mindfulness exercise from earlier in this article, simply using the alternative object. If you have a comfort item you use already, you can also apply the same principle to it.


    Grounding stones are just one of many options to calm high anxiety symptoms. They offer a concrete, tangible way to practice mindfulness and calm the nervous system. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways you can use anxiety rocks to soothe mental health symptoms. The ultimate question is, will anxiety stones work for you? There’s one simple way to find out.


    Interested in this as an Activity?

    Since I first published this article, I've had ongoing interest about using the grounding stones for groups, community events, students, workplaces, and more. With that in mind, I've created a grounding stone activity kit. It includes a poster, worksheet, audio meditation, and editable templates. Learn more here.



    Jennie Lannette, LCSW, is a licensed, practicing therapist in Missouri, specializing in trauma, anxiety, and related mental health issues. This blog post includes affiliate links. If you click on and purchase a product a small commission will be returned to fund this site.


    • PTSD
    • •
    • Anxiety Stones
    • •
    • Anxiety

    ​

    The Counseling Palette 

    Text: 573/291-7315

    E-mail: jennie@thecounselingpalette.com                      

    BLM.png
    1111.png

    LGBTQ+ Affirming