5-4-3-2-1 Strategy

I have been sharing a few coping skills for when we feel overwhelmed. I explained how I am continually asked in my work for tools to help centre and ground us when we are triggered into an anxiety state.

This is another great strategy for calming someone in a heightened state of anxiety. It is the 5-4-3-2-1 strategy. And the premise is that we engage all our senses to connect us in the present moment. (Anxiety tends to trap us in a cycle of rumination and worry or fear and our thoughts get trapped. This exercise is to release that feedback cycle.)

Look around you. Find the following and name them:

5 things you can see (the sun, furniture, another person etc)

4 things you can touch (anything nearby you)

3 things you can hear (clock ticking, other conversations, coffee-machine, rain etc)

2 things you can taste (toothpaste residue, coffee etc)

1 thing you can smell (cut grass, printer ink etc)

Any variation or sequence of this works fine, and even if you cannot find them all, the act of looking for them grounds the person in the here-and-now, and slows their response to stimuli. Hugely effective.

Try it and feel free to share around with anyone you feel may value it.

P.S. this also happens to be a great exercise if you have children that are wound up or anxious. It can even be a good little game on a long car journey. It gets them into the idea of focusing on themselves and their surroundings.