If you suffer from bouts of anxiety or happen to have a panic attack what can you do to instantly feel grounded? I am going to share the 5 steps to feeling grounded that really work. This is the 5-4-3-2-1 technique. It uses five senses to get your thoughts out of your head and into the present moment.
5 – Sense of Sight
Look for 5 things you can see. Look at the small details. Concentrate on those details. This could be as simple as looking at the leaves on a tree or the texture of the carpet under your feet.
4 – Sense of Touch
Find 4 things you can touch. Feel the textures beneath your fingertips. Is the item smooth, rough, wet, dry, stationary, or moving?
3 – Sense of Hearing
Listen for 3 things you can hear. Are the sounds loud or soft? Pleasant or annoying? Fast or slow?
2 – Sense of Smell
What 2 things can you smell? Close your eyes and take a moment to inhale the air around you. Maybe you smell the shampoo you used this morning or the skin lotion you applied before getting dressed?
1 – Sense of Taste
Name 1 thing you can taste. Did you eat an onion bagel this morning? I often suggest to people that they carry mints or mint-flavored gum as that particular flavor really opens up the senses.
5 Steps to Feeling Grounded
These 5 steps to feeling grounded can be used anywhere, at any time. Please give it a try and let me know how you did. Would you be interested in a laminated card with these steps written on it?
3 responses to “5 Steps to Feeling Grounded”
I appreciate this post. Over the holidays, I wasn’t having an anxiety or panic attack, but I had a very hard time feeling present. I was hyper aware of this and wasn’t sure what to do, I think this would help in those moments as well.
Hi Sami,
Thanks for your comments. I can appreciate that feeling of not being in the present. 5-4-3-2-1 works well in that situation. I find that if I can experience the world around me and get out of my head it really improves my state of mind.
[…] took my grandson to the park. While there I did a little practice of the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique I wrote about a few days ago. I know I need to practice what I preach. It is much easier telling […]