“5-4-3-2-1 De-Stress qnd Ground Yourself” by Joan Y. Edwards
It seems there are many things that take your personal peace away from you. There are many situations in our world that make you anxious. To break out of the cycle of anxiety, you may have to confront your fears. Doing that may be very stressful. So full of stress that you don’t even want to think about the problems you are facing. But you think about them. You worry about them. They don’t go away.
I searched online last month during one of those moments when I got stressed out to the maximum…little things, big things, unusual things, weird things, sad things. I found this technique: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Calming Technique. It worked for me. Then when I was doing it, I got confused about how many to find for each sense. So I started naming 5 for each one. In that case, it would be called: 5, 5, 5, 5, 5!
Perhaps it will work for you. There are several videos and explanations. Dr. Elisha Goldstein said, “”Shift your focus…where your focus goes that’s where your energy flows and your brain grows.” Here’s a link to his video which I think explains the technique best: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1CBHilnPYGI/ I hope it helps you. Shifting your focus is what helps lessen your stress.
Name 5 things you can see. You can also note the color, shape, or size.
Name 4 things that you can feel. Touch 4 things. Note the texture or temperature: The texture of your sweater. The smoothness of your skin. The coldness of ice. Sharpness of the wind in your face.
Name 3 things you can hear:
(high pitch, low pitch, soft, loud) birds chirping, people talking, noises, chatter, hum, banging, music, harsh grating sounds. Dishwasher singing. Dog barking.
Name 2 things you can smell. Perfume, flowers, food cooking.
1 thing that you can taste.
I hope this method helps you be calmer.
Naming 10 things you are thankful to God and others also lessens stress and anxiety. In his book “What Happy People Know,” Dan Baker argues that you can’t be in a state of appreciation and fear, or anxiety, at the same time. The amygdala, the fear center of the brain isn’t able to work as well during times when we are actively appreciating things, people, and situations. A spirit of thankfulness keeps anxiety downsized. It at least changes your focus. You change your focus. You change your emotions. If you are negative minded and your start thinking about all the things you are thankful for. For those brief moments, you have changed your focus on the positive. It makes way for more good thoughts. These good thoughts times may bring about solutions to keep the bad thoughts and situations from increasing and may help some of them disappear. Or at least help you manage them so you are not so overwhelmed by them..
Here is a link to a video from Therapist Aid called “Deep Breathing Exercises:” https://www.therapistaid.com/therapy-video/deep-breathing-exercise. These deep-breathing techniques may also help you de-stress. Taking deep breaths and exhaling slowly helps you center your mind and calm your emotions.
References:
1. Dr. Elisha Goldstein: “5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1CBHilnPYGI
2. Boys and Girls Club Denver. “5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique PDF:” https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=5-4-3-2-1+grounding+technique+pdf
3. Therapist Aid.com. “Deep Breathing Exercise (video) https://www.therapistaid.com/therapy-video/deep-breathing-exercise.
4. Therapist Aid.com/ “Cycle of Anxiety” (video): https://www.therapistaid.com/therapy-video/cycle-of-anxiety-video
Please leave a comment. Share what works to help calm your nerves and your mind. I love hearing from you.
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Joan Y. Edwards, Author
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