Trauma-Sensitive 54321 Grounding Exercise

This is a simple mindfulness exercise designed to use the five senses to help you ground into the present moment. It can be used at any time that you would like to feel more present and can also be helpful for moments when you feel overwhelmed with emotion. This exercise may also be useful for those that experience traumatic stress responses such as intrusive memories and minor dissociation. The language in this exercise is designed to be trauma-sensitive.

Transcript

Welcome,

My name is Caitlin Bright and this is a trauma-sensitive 5-4-3-2-1 exercise.

This is a mindfulness exercise you can use in any moment that you would like to feel more present and it can be particularly helpful for moments of intense emotions.

Typically,

When we're feeling very sad or depressed,

We're often thinking about the past and when we're anxious,

We're often worried about the future.

This tool can help you come into the present moment and disconnect from these past and future thought processes.

This tool can also be helpful for coping with trauma reactions such as intrusive memories or feelings of dissociation to help you ground into the present moment away from the traumatic memories.

You can do this meditation at any time and in any space you like.

You might do this indoors,

Outdoors,

Sitting,

Lying in your bed,

Walking through the grocery store,

Or even driving in your car.

All of the guidance I will offer in this exercise are simply invitations and suggestions of what you might notice.

You may notice other sensations or at times not notice anything at all.

Feel free to just observe your own experience as it is showing up.

For now,

If you like,

Maybe find a position that feels comfortable for you today,

Always feeling free to move into a different position at any time during the exercise.

So settling in,

You might start by noticing five things that you see around you.

So just starting by taking in the environment that you're in.

So if you're indoors,

You might notice a book on a shelf,

A lamp.

If you're outdoors,

You might notice the color of the sky today,

A tree nearby.

But just noticing what you see in the space around you and seeing if you can note five different things.

When you're ready,

We'll shift our attention to noticing four things that you feel with your body.

So for this part of the exercise,

We're not necessarily looking to notice sensations inside of the body,

But rather noticing where you're connected with the space around you.

If you're sitting or even walking,

Noticing your feet on the floor or the ground below you,

Maybe noticing your back against the chair or perhaps the texture of the clothing that you're wearing.

Seeing if you can identify four different sensations that you feel with your body.

If you like,

We'll shift our attention to noticing three things that you hear.

So at this point in the exercise,

Just seeing if you can let the sounds that are happening in the environment around you start to flow in.

If you're indoors,

You might notice the sound of the air conditioning humming.

Perhaps the sound of cars driving by.

If you're outdoors,

Maybe noticing the sounds of birds or the wind blowing through the trees.

And if it's particularly quiet where you are right now,

Maybe just noting the sound of my voice.

When you're ready,

We'll move our attention to noticing two things that you smell.

So at this point,

If you like,

Taking a full breath in through the nose and just noticing any scents.

You can also here notice the absence of a scent.

Or if you like,

You can also add a scent here,

Finding maybe a candle,

A lotion,

Or an essential oil that you enjoy the smell of and taking a full breath of this scent.

Perhaps noticing if it smells sweet or earthy.

Just noting.

And when you're ready,

We'll shift our attention to one thing that you taste.

So here again,

You may just start by noticing if there's any particular taste in your mouth right now.

Perhaps the taste of your toothpaste from brushing your teeth this morning.

Or the taste lingering from your cup of coffee.

Or you might also notice the absence of a taste.

With this part of the exercise,

You could also add in a taste.

Taking a sip of a drink if you have one nearby.

Perhaps a coffee,

A tea.

Or even just tasting the flavor of your water.

Now that we've moved through all five of the senses,

Maybe taking a moment here to just notice how you're feeling now.

Try not to make any judgments good or bad about what you notice,

But rather just noticing perhaps if you feel more or less present than when we started.

You may notice some difference,

You may not,

But just taking a moment to take it in.

And if you like,

Here at the end of our practice,

Perhaps taking one more full breath in and releasing.

Thank you so much for joining me.

And keep in mind that this 5-4-3-2-1 exercise can be used whether through this recording or on your own,

At any time and in any space that you'd like to feel more present.

Reviews

Soothing and effective - gratitude for your session. 🙏🍁🍂

A simple, grounding skill for reconnecting to our bodies when we’re activated. Super helpful.

Really enjoyed this. I needed some more time to find 5 & 4 things though.

Your voice was so calming. I was able to be more present by the end of the meditation. Thank you so much! 🙏🏼

Very useful thank you ❤️

Useful grounding, esp for folks who dislike closing their eyes in meditation.

Perfect, simple & effective way to bring yourself to face the present instead of an unnecessary living in the past!

This is awesome! Thank you so much 🙏🏻🌷

This was very helpful, so grounding... thank you 🙏🏻

Found this to be an excellent meditation. Catlins voice is reassuring. The meditation itself flows smoothly

Wonderful. Thank you

Thank you, I feel calmer now. I wake up feeling anxious for some reason. I will use this meditation often.

Thankyou for a simple and effective method to ground myself.

I loved this grounding exercise, it was calming and centers you in the present moment.

Thank you 💙🙏💙

A trail to follow. Gracias 🙏🏻

Thank you ✨ I will be using this in future to calm my anxiety when it crops up 💫

Very helpful! Thank you ☺️!

Thank you very much 🙏 very helpful especially after today's therapy session