Using your senses to calm anxiety

What

Using your senses to help you ground yourself during moments of high stress or anxiety

Why

By using your senses you are allowing yourself to step out of your mind and reconnect to the world around you. Often when we are in an anxiety attack we are very much stuck in our heads. We have horrible thoughts about impending doom. By becoming aware of our senses we give ourselves a moment to step back from our thoughts and focus our attention on something else.

How

You do the following:

-> Name 5 things you can see

-> Touch 4 things around you – hold them for 5 seconds each

-> Listen to 3 things you can hear

-> Smell 2 things that are around

-> Taste 1 thing

Tip

You can do this exercises a couple of times in a row if you feel anxiety creeping back up after you have finished the exercise.