Hello,
And welcome to this short meditation to ease any feelings of anxiety or stress.
If you're feeling stressed or anxious,
Those feelings can often feel insurmountable.
It turns out,
Though,
That just like the brain can easily become anxious,
It can be equally as simple to activate calm.
This simple meditation you may repeat as many times as needed,
Wherever you are,
And you can use the practices we move through today to ground you in the present moment and get you feeling better quickly.
So let's get started.
Wherever you are now,
Gently close your eyes and take a deep inhale through the nose,
Gathering up any stress or tension.
Forcefully exhale out the mouth,
Releasing everything.
Do this for one or two more breaths on your own,
And when you're done,
You may gently open your eyes.
To start,
Begin to look around you,
And out loud or to yourself,
Name five things you can see.
Try to get into a bit of detail,
So instead of just saying chair,
You may say brown leather chair with a beaded pillow,
Or gray couch with a cozy blanket.
Look around and name five things you can see.
Now become aware of four things you can touch.
Maybe it's the feeling of carpet beneath your feet,
Soft and cool,
The texture of your shirt,
Or the warm teacup with the curved handle that fits perfectly in your hand.
Name four things you can touch at this moment,
Taking your time to really feel the sensations of each one.
Acknowledging now three things you can hear.
Perhaps it's the air conditioning cooling your home.
Maybe it's my voice guiding this meditation.
Perhaps it's the sound of boiling water in the kitchen.
Tune into three things you can hear,
Zeroing in on the sound.
Now noticing two things you can smell.
If it's not immediately obvious,
Tune into subtle fragrances like the smell of your hair or your cleanly laundered clothes.
Maybe it's the lingering scent of breakfast or the smell of nature around you.
Name two things you can smell and tune into the scent.
Finally,
Become aware of one thing you can taste.
Maybe it's the lingering taste of coffee or tea,
Saltiness from a meal,
Mint from brushing your teeth.
Tune now to one thing you can taste.
As we prepare to close,
Know that this simple meditation is called the 5-4-3-2-1 technique.
Name 5 things you can see,
4 you can touch,
3 you can hear,
2 you can smell,
And 1 you can taste.
It's a simple distraction and grounding technique to ease anxiety and center yourself.
You can use this wherever you are and repeat as many times as needed.
Closing now,
A deep breath in and gentle exhale out.
I hope you're feeling calmer and have a wonderful day.
Namaste.
