Hello wonderful being,
I'm Aneesha and thank you for choosing me to be your guide today.
Today I'm going to share with you my favorite emotional regulation technique which is 5-4-3-2-1 grounding.
Grounding techniques are strategies designed to help individuals reconnect with or ground in the present moment and more than a technique think of it as a game.
In this track first we will do the practice together and then I will explain why it works,
What are the benefits of doing this,
When to use it and when not to use it.
So before we begin the practice let's check in with ourselves,
Take a moment to turn your attention inward and notice how are you feeling right now,
Name the most dominant emotion present in your body right now.
Now consider the intensity of this emotion on a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 means that this emotion is not present at all and 10 means that it is the most intense.
So how would you rate the strength of this emotion present in your body?
Now we know exactly where we are so let's start the practice,
Take a deep breath in coming home to this present moment and a slow breath out letting go of the need to be anywhere else or to do anything else other than this.
If your eyes were closed you can open them and look around,
As you look around identify five things that you can see right here right now,
This could be anything in your immediate environment,
It can be a clock,
A plant,
A picture,
A book or something you usually overlook perhaps the particles floating in the air seen in the sunlight or the shadow formed by the reflection of light,
So name five things you can see right now,
Good this one was very easy so let's move on to the second step,
Now focus on your physical sensations notice four things around you that you can feel right now in case you were not able to find four things then let me give you a hint so did you notice the texture of your clothes usually we devote so much time deciding what clothes to buy or deciding what to wear today but then we forget about them for the rest of the day similarly did you notice the warmth of the sun on your face or the coolness of the air on your arms or the pressure of the chair you are sitting on or if you are standing then the ground beneath your feet oftentimes we are so lost in our mind that we lose the connection to our body so this step helps re-establish that connection next listen attentively for three sounds that you can hear at this moment apart from the sound of my voice good so if you were not able to name all the three sounds then let me redirect your focus so did you notice the sound of the traffic outside or the hum of a fan or an AC in your room or even the birds chirping nearby also were you able to notice the sound of your breath the very thing keeping us alive okay now focus on your sense of smell so you can do so by taking few deep breaths to identify two scents or smell around you it can be the smell of nature or pollution depending on where you live or are currently it can be an air freshener or the smell of food being cooked in your kitchen so try to find two smells in your environment if you are not able to detect any smell then to connect with your sense of smell you can also try smelling your skin so there might be this lingering smell of a soap or moisturizer that you applied or you can even try smelling your hair or clothes or you can even try smelling your hair or clothes okay now we will go to the last step of this exercise so focus on what you can taste right now this could be something you are currently eating or drinking if you are not eating anything then it can be the lingering taste of toothpaste from brushing your teeth or from what you last ate and if and if there is no taste then become curious what does that feel like that feel like you know what does not having any taste feel like so in order to connect with your sense of taste you can try to eat something or drink something and notice is it sweet or salty or sour or maybe bitter so you can try eating something later when you repeat this exercise for now connecting with how having no taste feels like is enough okay and you did great now take a deep breath in and out letting go of this practice now I invite you to check in again with yourself take a moment to notice how are you feeling right now is it the same emotion that you were feeling at the start of this practice or has some new emotions emerged as a result of the practice if you are feeling the same emotion then notice has there been any change in the intensity of that emotion very good now to end this practice bring both your hands to your heart and thank yourself for taking this time to make your nervous system feel safe and calm you can open your eyes if your eyes were closed and connect back with the environment around you okay so now let me explain what we just did and how exactly does this practice works so as I mentioned at the start this is a grounding technique and grounding techniques activate the parasympathetic nervous system which fosters a sense of safety promotes relaxation and helps counteract the stress response because when the stress response is triggered the body enters a state of hyper arousal which is flight or fight or it enters a state of hypo arousal which is shut down or maybe the body gets stuck in between these two states that is freeze so engaging the senses helps to redirect our focus from overwhelming thoughts and emotions back to the present moment where there is no threat present we need to remind the body to connect with the surrounding to realize that see there is no threat around me now that you know how this works let me tell you this there is no limitation to this practice it can be repeated multiple times anywhere anytime so feel free to repeat this track as many times as you need to practice along with me I would recommend you to practice this particular technique for the rest of the week so that this way you will be able to develop a habit and it will become easy for you to use this technique immediately in times of crisis regularly practicing this technique can offer several advantages it can help significantly lower anxiety levels it reduces overstimulation it also help manage flashbacks and intrusive thoughts associated with PTSD and it improves overall mindfulness contributing to better mental health so no matter what state you are stuck in whether it is fight plight freeze or shut down using this technique will benefit you and the only time I would recommend not to use this technique is when you are stuck in a situation that requires immediate action or focus for example driving remember everyone's journey to inner peace is unique and while this technique offers a powerful pathway to that peace it might not be the perfect fit for everyone so if this technique didn't work for you don't worry there is a tool out there for you feel free to explore other techniques on my profile to find the right fit for you and incorporate that technique into your daily life and if you did found this track helpful then please consider supporting my work with a small donation your generosity helps me create more content to guide others on their path to emotional regulation so thank you for listening see you soon take care bye
