Distress Tolerance And The Five Senses

This practice is adapted from my book, "Embodiment and the treatment of eating disorders: The body as a resource in recovery" (Cook-Cottone, WW Norton, 2020). Use this meditation to help you ground and connect to your surroundings. It can be most useful when you feel like things are unraveling and you need to re-connect with the here and now. This can help you center and calm as well as distract you as you ride the wave of overwhelming urges or feelings.

Transcript

Hi,

This is Catherine Cocotone,

Author of Embodiment and the Treatment of Eating Disorders.

The body is a resource in your recovery.

I am reading from script 9.

3,

Distress Tolerance,

The Five Senses.

Find yourself in a seated position.

Press your feet into the floor and press your sitting bones into the chair and then begin to breathe.

Once you feel you have connected to your body and breath,

Do the following.

Five.

Acknowledge five things you see around you.

This can be anything,

A table,

A chair,

A picture on the wall,

The sky through the window or the window itself.

Acknowledge five things you see around you.

Four.

Acknowledge four things you can touch near you.

This can be your chair,

The floor,

Your hands touching each other or the sleeve on your shirt.

Pause and acknowledge four things that you can touch near you.

Three.

Acknowledge three things you can hear.

This can be a sound coming from you,

Maybe your breath,

From the room you are in or from outside of the room.

Acknowledge three things that you can hear right now.

Two.

Acknowledge two things that you can smell.

This can be an essential oil that you have,

A plant in the room,

Your tea or coffee or the shirt you are wearing.

Pause here and acknowledge two things that you can smell.

One.

Acknowledge one thing you can taste.

This can be the taste of tea or the coffee that you just sipped or some dark chocolate or a life saver in your desk or bag.

Pause here and acknowledge one thing you can taste.

Coming back to your feet on the floor,

Your sitting bones on the chair,

Your body breathing,

Your heart beating and take a big breath in and a big breath out.

And then a big breath in and a big breath out.

Thank you for practicing.

Reviews

Basic and perfect
Keep it simple
Thank you