5-Minute Anxiety Reset: Breathe, Ground & Release

Overwhelmed right now? This 5-minute reset uses proven down-shift techniques to calm the nervous system fast: a physiological sigh, extended exhale breathing, and a short grounding scan. Unhook from looping thoughts, return to the body, and feel steady enough to continue your day.

Transcript

If you're overwhelmed right now,

Stay with me.

Let your shoulders drop,

Unclench your jaw,

Feel your feet or the seats supporting you.

We'll signal calm to the body.

Inhale through the nose,

Then a second small sniff in.

Now exhale slowly through the mouth,

Again inhale,

Long exhale.

One more time,

In,

And a long gentle exhale.

Notice the calm.

Breathe in through the nose for four,

And out through the mouth for six.

In for four,

Out for six.

Let the long exhale tell the nervous system,

Safe.

If thoughts pull you away,

That's okay.

Come back to the next out-breath.

Name,

Silently,

Five things you can see,

Four things you can feel,

Three things you can hear,

Two things you can smell or imagine smelling.

One thing you can taste or the feeling of the breath in your mouth.

Keep breathing.

When a worried thought appears,

Label it gently,

Thinking.

Feel where the energy sits in the body,

Throat,

Chest,

Belly.

Breathe into that spot on the inhale,

And soften around it on the exhale.

Nothing to fix,

Sensation changes on its own.

One slow breath in,

And a longer breath out.

Notice the ground holding you,

You can return to this any time.