5 Ways to Use Your Senses When Anxiety Strikes
Using Your 5 Senses When Anxiety Strikes
Right now many of us are being challenged by an array of negative emotions washing over us without rhyme or reason. Turn on your TV, read a newspaper, walk past someone on the street or listen to the radio, you cannot it seems, escape the news that is Covid.
Anxiety, distress and depression are unfortunately fast becoming a normal state of being for many of us. So how do you manage these states and distract yourself from what you’re experiencing and refocus on what’s happening in the present moment?
Acknowledge your situation
The first thing is to recognise and acknowledge your situation, let's use anxiety as an example.
As someone who may experience anxiety you may become annoyed when anxiety strikes. “I don’t have time to have an anxiety attack right now”, “of COURSE this has to happen now”, “I’m meant to be meeting someone today but I’m not sure I want to risk it” or “I am so sick of these anxious moments, I wish they would just go away”, “When is all this going to end!”
When anxiety pays us a visit, it brings with it a sense of doom. Our hearts race, our minds get busy concocting all different awful scenarios, our breathing becomes shallow and we can sometimes feel light-headed. Suffering anxiety is not fun.
Whatever the trigger may be, we suddenly find ourselves cocooned in a storm of feelings that nobody else can see. Whether you’re at work at your desk, or frozen at the kitchen sink, or standing at a set of lights – your stillness contradicts everything that is going on within your mind at that moment.
Take a deep breath and acknowledge where you are in that moment. Then use this grounding technique to help create space from distressing feelings you are experiencing.
Let Your 5 Senses Ground You
This particular technique involves using your five senses and is often referred to as the ‘5-4-3-2-1 coping technique’.
This technique is designed specifically to be easy to implement and effective in drawing your attention to this moment. It helps to calm your breath, settle your thoughts and brings your mindfulness to the present.
Working backward from 5, use your senses to list things you notice around you.
To get started, take in a big breath from your belly:
5. SEE – Look around you and find five things you can see.
4. FEEL – Notice four things that you can feel e.g your feet in your shoes, the itch in your arm, the clothes against your skin.
3. HEAR – Take note of three things you can hear. Traffic outside, the wind in the trees or your neighbours’ dog.
2. SMELL – Breathe in and list two things you can smell.
1. TASTE – List one thing you can taste.
You may want to say these out loud as you go, or just confirm them silently, to yourself.
Make an effort to notice the little things you might not always pay attention to, such as the colour of the flecks in the carpet, the hum of your computer or the colour of the leaves on the trees.
If you need help with your stress or anxiety and want to develop positive habits, clarity and change then click on the button below and enable your journey of self discovery.