The 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique

Hey, everyone. I'm Kristen, the anxiety therapist. And today I want to share a grounding technique with you called the 5-4-3-2-1 Technique. And basically, what grounding is, is bringing ourselves back to the present moment. So, when we feel anxious, we spend a lot of time in our heads, right?

We're overthinking, we're ruminating, and we're kind of thinking about the worst case scenario, things of that nature. And a lot of that is irrational and it's future oriented. So the idea of grounding is bringing ourselves back to the present moment because that is really all that we have control over. And once we feel a little bit more grounded and regulated, we can think a little bit more rationally and logically and that anxiety can subside a little bit. So grounding kind of falls under the umbrella of mindfulness, which is, again, an idea that we can be in the present moment and act as observers.

And so, we're observing without being judgmental or without over identifying with our thoughts and feelings. And so, with this technique, what we're doing is basically shifting our focus to our surroundings and using our five senses to do that instead of what is causing us to feel anxious. So, you want to start by just finding a comfortable place to sit and then just look around you and notice. So, you want to start by noticing five things that you can see. So, these might be your hands or a car parked outside, or maybe the lamp on your desk.

Then you want to identify four things that you can physically feel. So maybe it's your feet planted on the ground or the softness of your sweater, things of that nature. Then three things you can hear. So, I can hear the clock ticking, or maybe it's the hum of the air conditioner or somebody talking on the phone in another room. And then two things you can smell.

So maybe you have a cup of coffee on your desk that you can smell, or you can smell your freshly shampooed hair. And finally, one thing you can taste. So, if I just ate a granola bar, I can still taste the remnants of that in my mouth. Maybe you can taste minty, gum or garlic from your lunch, things like that. So basically, you want to run through this list from five to one and just use your five senses to really bring you back to the present moment.

And that can help you get out of your head and really help ground yourself and allow your anxiety to kind of subside a bit. So, I hope you found this exercise helpful. Definitely give it a try whenever you feel like you're kind of caught up in your thoughts. And feel free to leave a comment and let me know how it goes. Or ask a question if you have one.

Follow me on social media @catharticspacecounseling or you can subscribe to my YouTube channel, The Anxiety Therapist and if you live in Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin or Florida and would like to work with me, I do offer free 15 minute phone consultations. And you can schedule that through my website, catharticspacecounseling.com. So let me know how it goes. I hope you all have a great week, and I'll see you next time.