I commonly hear that when feeling anxious it is difficulty to think about anything other than the theme of our anxiety. And don’t get me wrong, I appreciate how difficult it can be as our brains are biologically wired to ensure that we focus on the “threat”. After all in caveman times this is what kept us alive!! However, I would like to share a technique that can help when we are not really faced with actual danger. When we are feeling anxious our minds have almost certainly shifted into the future. We may have lots of “what if (insert catastrophe) thoughts or we may be feeling tons of adrenaline flooding our system. The rationale behind the technique I am going to show is that by getting our mind back in the present our anxiety brain will start to see we are not in danger, and this will then lead to a reduction in anxiety symptoms.

The 5,4,3,2,1 technique

1. It may be worth starting with a 5-5-5 breathing method. This is when we breathe in for 5 seconds, hold for 5 seconds and then breathe out for 5 seconds. I would encourage you to keep with this until you notice some reduction in anxiety.
2. Now look for 5 things that you can see. You can pick large or small items but really focus to a level you have not before. So for example when out on a walk don’t just look at the grass but focus on every individual blade.
3. Now look for 4 things you can feel. Activating your sense of touch may help with the physical symptoms of anxiety. You may want to try and focus how your clothing feels, the texture of your home furniture or the sensation of cold water from the tap.
4. Next up it’s 3 things that you can hear. Focusing on sound can help ground us in the moment. See if you can pick noises from different sections of the house or different directions if doing outside.
5. Now we are going to try 2 things that you can smell. Now you can either attempt to take in simple smells in your location or you can go and search for them such as finding out the Yankee candle that was given as a birthday gift.
6. The final part of the activity is 1 thing that you can taste. This can be either what you can currently taste in your mouth and focusing on that or you can go and grab something in the house and focus on the taste in a way that you have never before (chocolates are great for this 😊

Key tip:

To get maximum benefit it is important to pick items that require some level of concentration. If we can really immerse ourselves into the activity, then our anxiety brain can see nothing dangerous is happening and therefore anxiety will steadily reduce. Enjoy 5,4,3,2,1 and please let me know how it goes for you in the comments section!