Drop Anchor
A three-step grounding exercise from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for anxiety, overwhelm and dissociation.
Drop Anchor was developed by ACT therapist Russ Harris as a way to stabilise in moments of high distress without fighting your inner experience. It is built on a core insight from ACT: trying to suppress or argue with thoughts and feelings tends to amplify them. Drop Anchor does not ask you to change what is happening inside — it asks you to get present enough to act.
The technique takes its name from the metaphor of an anchor at sea. When a storm hits, an anchor does not stop the storm — it keeps the ship steady enough to ride it out. That is what this exercise does.
The A-C-E protocol
Acknowledge your inner experience
Notice and name what is happening inside you without trying to change it. You might say to yourself: there is fear here, or I am having the thought that something bad will happen, or I notice my chest feels tight. You are not judging it or trying to fix it — just acknowledging it is there. This step is often the hardest, because the instinct is to push difficult feelings away.
Connect with your body
Deliberately bring your attention to your physical body. Press your feet firmly into the floor. Sit up slightly and feel the chair or surface beneath you. Wiggle your fingers and notice the sensation. Take one slow breath and pay attention to the feeling of your chest or belly moving. You are using your body as an anchor to the present moment, separate from the storm of thoughts and feelings.
Engage with the world
Turn your attention outward. Look around and name five things you can see. Notice two sounds. Feel something you can touch. You are deliberately engaging with the world as it is right now — not the world of your thoughts, but the actual, immediate, physical environment around you. This is the step that completes the anchor.
The goal is not to feel calm. Drop Anchor is not a relaxation exercise. The aim is to be present enough to act in line with what matters to you, even while difficult feelings are still there. Calm may follow — but it is not the target.
Why it works
Drop Anchor works because it interrupts a self-reinforcing loop. When anxiety or distress peaks, attention narrows onto the threat — real or imagined. That narrowing cuts you off from the present moment and from the context that would otherwise help you regulate. The A-C-E protocol deliberately expands awareness: first inward (acknowledging what is there), then into the body (grounding physically), then outward (connecting with the environment).
The first step — acknowledging without fighting — is drawn from ACT's defusion and acceptance principles. Research consistently shows that experiential avoidance (trying to suppress or escape difficult thoughts and feelings) maintains and amplifies anxiety over time. Naming what is there without resistance often reduces its intensity, even briefly.
This technique is compatible with a range of therapeutic approaches and is used in ACT, trauma-informed care, DBT and somatic therapy contexts. It is particularly well-suited to people who find purely physical grounding techniques (such as sensory scanning) feel dismissive of what they are experiencing emotionally.
When to use it
- During anxiety spikes — when thoughts are racing and you feel overwhelmed
- When dissociating — to reconnect with your body and surroundings
- Before difficult conversations or situations — to arrive regulated
- After a triggering event — to return to baseline without suppressing what happened
- In therapy — as preparation for processing work, or after an intense session
- Between sessions — as an independent regulation practice
Other grounding techniques
- 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding — sensory anchoring through the five senses
- Butterfly Hug — bilateral self-tapping for anxiety and EMDR preparation
- Temperature grounding — hold ice or splash cold water to shift physiological arousal quickly
- Box breathing — a 4-4-4-4 breathing pattern that builds vagal tone
- Physiological sigh — a double inhale and long exhale for rapid stress relief
The best grounding technique is the one you will actually use. Navigate lets you try each of them without pressure, find what works for you, and use them independently between sessions.
Try Drop Anchor in Navigate
Navigate includes a guided Drop Anchor tool that walks you through the A-C-E protocol with gentle pacing and a quiet timer. Free to use — no sign-up required.
Open Navigate