Grounding the Body | Moving Through Emotion Safely
Following My Healing Journey — Week 4
By Raquel Perez, LPC | Intima Couples and Sex Therapy PLLC | Everyday Therapy
There is a moment many of us know well.
Emotion rises —
and the body tightens.
Your chest constricts.
Your stomach sinks.
Your throat closes.
Your nervous system shifts into freeze, shutdown, or urgency.
And even when your mind understands what’s happening —
your body reacts as if it is bracing for impact.
If you’ve ever wondered:
Why does my body respond like this when I know I’m safe?
Why do I shut down when emotion gets big?
Why does my nervous system feel louder than my thoughts?
You are not broken.
You are embodied.
And your body has been trying to protect you.
In Week 4 of my “Following My Healing Journey” series on Everyday Therapy, I created a guided meditation titled “Grounding the Body | Moving Through Emotion Safely.” This practice is about helping the body remember safety while emotion moves — not by suppressing it, not by analyzing it, but by grounding through it.
As a licensed therapist and the founder of Intima Couples and Sex Therapy PLLC in Lakewood, Colorado, I work with individuals and couples navigating depression, anxiety, relationship stress, sexual intimacy challenges, and trauma. And one truth I see repeatedly in therapy is this:
Healing happens when the body feels safe enough to stay.
Why the Body Reacts Before the Mind
The nervous system does not operate primarily through logic.
It operates through memory.
Long before you had language, your body learned how to survive overwhelming emotion. If feeling too much once meant being alone… misunderstood… dismissed… or unsafe… your body adapted.
It learned to:
Brace.
Go quiet.
Disconnect.
Push emotion away.
Or shut down entirely.
This is not weakness.
This is intelligence.
Your body was doing exactly what it needed to do at the time.
But here’s the challenge:
When old protective responses continue into present-day relationships, work stress, intimacy, or vulnerability, they can create disconnection — from others and from yourself.
This is especially true in:
Relationship conflict
Emotional intimacy
Sexual connection
Trauma triggers
Depression and anxiety cycles
The body remembers pain.
But it also remembers healing.
And grounding is one of the ways we teach the nervous system something new.
What Grounding Actually Does
Grounding is not about ignoring emotion.
It is about anchoring while emotion moves.
In this meditation, we move through three embodied stages:
1. Arriving Through Breath
We begin by allowing the shoulders to drop, the jaw to soften, and the breath to deepen. The breath becomes an anchor — steady, rhythmic, dependable.
With each inhale: I am here.
With each exhale: I am supported.
This simple rhythm begins to calm the sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight) and gently invite the parasympathetic response — the state where integration becomes possible.
2. Grounding Into the Earth
We shift attention to the places where the body meets the earth — feet, seat, back. We imagine roots extending downward, not forcing, not pushing, but simply finding their way.
This imagery supports co-regulation with the environment. The earth becomes steady. Unmoving. Patient.
Inhale grounding.
Exhale tension.
When the body senses support beneath it, it becomes more willing to soften.
3. Staying With Emotion Safely
Instead of pushing emotion away, we turn toward it gently.
Where does it live?
In the chest?
The belly?
The throat?
We breathe around it — like water flowing around a stone. The emotion doesn’t disappear, but it is no longer isolated.
This is where transformation begins.
The body learns:
I can feel this and still be safe.
This is nervous-system repair.
The Body Remembers — And It Can Learn Something New
One of the most powerful lines in this meditation is:
The body remembers pain.
But the body also remembers healing.
In trauma-informed therapy — whether we’re working through anxiety, depression, relational ruptures, or sexual disconnection — we are not trying to erase emotion.
We are helping the nervous system build capacity.
Capacity to:
Feel sadness without shutting down.
Experience desire without bracing.
Stay present during conflict.
Remain connected during vulnerability.
Move through grief without losing yourself.
This is especially important in relationship counseling and sex therapy. Emotional safety and bodily safety are deeply connected. When the nervous system is braced, intimacy can feel threatening. When grounding increases, connection becomes more accessible.
How Ketamine-Assisted Therapy Supports This Work
In my practice in Lakewood and across Colorado (virtual sessions available), I also offer ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) as a complementary modality for clients navigating depression, trauma, anxiety, and relational wounds.
Ketamine-assisted therapy works differently than traditional talk therapy alone.
It can:
Reduce rigid defensive patterns
Increase emotional openness
Allow access to memory and insight without overwhelm
Support neuroplasticity (the brain’s ability to form new patterns)
When paired with grounding practices like this meditation, ketamine-assisted therapy can help the body experience emotion with greater spaciousness and safety.
But whether through KAP, traditional psychotherapy, couples therapy, or guided meditation — the core remains the same:
Safety allows insight.
And insight allows change.
Creating Safety for Insight
My work — both in therapy and through Everyday Therapy — centers around one pillar:
Creating safety for insight.
Because when you feel safe enough in your body, you begin to access wisdom that has always been there.
You don’t have to force healing.
You don’t have to rush it.
You don’t have to push emotion away.
You can ground.
You can breathe.
You can stay.
And over time, your nervous system begins to trust:
I can move through emotion without losing myself.
Continuing the Practice
If this meditation resonates with you, I invite you to continue this work gently.
I created a free resource called:
Sacred Spaces: Creating Safety for Insight
Inside, you’ll find:
Grounding practices
Nervous-system education in simple language
Reflection prompts
Tools for building emotional safety in your body
Guidance for staying present during difficult emotions
You can download it here:
And if you’re feeling called to deeper support, I offer:
Individual therapy for depression and anxiety
Relationship counseling and couples therapy
Sex therapy for intimacy and desire concerns
Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy in Lakewood, Colorado
Virtual therapy throughout Colorado
You do not have to navigate this alone.
Final Reflection
If emotion feels intense lately, consider asking yourself:
Where does this live in my body?
What would grounding look like right now?
What happens if I don’t push it away?
Your body remembers survival.
But it also remembers love.
It remembers steadiness.
It remembers being held.
And you are allowed to move through emotion — without bracing, without disappearing, without losing yourself.
You are held.
And your body remembers how to come home.
