top of page
Search

Feeling Overwhelmed? 7 Embodied Ways to Stay Grounded When the World Feels Like It’s Falling Apart

Updated: Jun 25


With Free Local Resources in Santa Cruz & Marin


By Dr. Rachel Jordana Horodezky | The Center for Embodiment Medicine


Let’s be real: these are not normal times. Climate disasters, global conflict, political turmoil, rising anxiety—it’s a lot. For many of us, stress isn’t just personal anymore. It’s collective. It’s planetary.

At The Center for Embodiment Medicine, we believe healing starts in the body and unfolds through connection—to ourselves, each other, and the Earth. Here are 7 embodied, trauma-informed, and eco-attuned ways to stay grounded when the world feels like too much.


1. Let Your Body Feel It (Safely)


Stress and grief live in the body. Place a hand on your heart. Feel your feet on the floor. Let yourself shake, sigh, cry, or move. These are ancient ways our bodies metabolize overwhelm.


Try this: Put on music that mirrors your mood. Move for 5 minutes. Let your body lead.


2. Come Back to the Earth


Eco-therapy is more than nature walks. It’s about relationship with the land. Go barefoot. Sit under a tree. Touch water. Let the Earth hold you.

Clinical tip: Nature reduces cortisol, heart rate, and increases vagal tone.


3. Name What’s Real


Hope without honesty is bypassing. Name what’s hard. Journal. Speak it in therapy. Language is integration.


Embodiment prompt: As you speak or write, notice shifts in your breath or posture.


4. Connect to Your People (and Let Them Hold You)


Isolation worsens everything. Even small moments of connection restore the nervous system.


Free community supports:

Try this: Sit back-to-back with someone you trust. Breathe together.


5. Create Rituals for Resilience


When life feels chaotic, ritual brings rhythm. Light a candle. Bless your meals. Make seasonal altars.


Eco-ritual idea: Use natural objects (leaves, shells) to mark seasons and transitions.


6. Move Through It (Literally)


Movement gets emotions unstuck. You don’t need a gym—10 minutes a day helps. Dance, stretch, walk.


Free spaces:


  • MHCAN Santa Cruz – Free peer-led drop-in center with meals and movement

  • Local parks and beaches – grounding through barefoot walks


7. Make Meaning—Even When It Hurts


Eco-grief and climate anxiety are signs of care. Let grief become a doorway to expression, connection, or action.


Inspiration: “The wound is the place where the light enters you.” – Rumi


Free Local Clinical Resources


Santa Cruz County


Marin County


Ready to Feel More Grounded?


The Center for Embodiment Medicine offers somatic therapy, eco-therapy, expressive arts, and trauma-informed care for individuals, families, and therapists.


Call: 831-217-3454

Location:

303 Potrero St, Suite 307, Santa Cruz, CA

76 San Pablo Ave, Santa Rafael, Ca


Medi-Cal accepted via CCAH and PHP. In-person & telehealth options available.

 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page