Five Senses Practice For Anxiety Relief

The five senses – Hearing, Seeing, Smelling, Touching, and Tasting – represent our earliest sensory experiences in the world, and can be a great focal point for meditation. Our sense faculties can foster clear perception. This meditation can be used by anyone at any time to steady your presence, and particularly by anyone suffering from anxiety, fear, or panic. This meditation is highly effective at calming the mind, relieving anxiety, and centering our awareness into the present moment.

Transcript

Namaste and welcome to your meditation.

This is Gil Elhart and I'll be leading you through a five senses meditation.

Our five senses,

Hearing,

Seeing,

Smelling,

Touching,

And tasting,

Represent our earliest sensory experiences in the world.

And yet we've neglected to see how these sensory windows give us insight into the present moment and the richness and wholeness of our existence.

Therefore,

Our five senses can be a great focal point for meditation.

This particular meditation can be used by anyone at any time to steady your presence.

It's particularly helpful for anyone suffering from anxiety,

Fear,

Or panic.

Let's begin.

Come to a comfortable seated position.

If you prefer to lie down,

That's also fine.

Allow your eyes to relax and bring your attention to your breath.

It's natural with our attention on the breath that we'll begin to deepen it.

Allow this deepening to occur.

We'll now begin to gently call our attention to each sensory window,

Going one experience at a time.

First,

Bring your attention to your sense of sight.

Take in everything that you can see around you.

Allow your eyes to be open and yet still relaxed,

But carefully note the colors,

The shapes,

And textures that surround you.

Observe areas of movement that may attract your attention.

Or are there areas of stillness that are also available to you in your sense of sight?

As you take in the objects around you,

Be non-partial about them.

Simply appreciate the visual input you're getting from your surroundings.

Appreciate how light reflects off of objects.

There's different casting of shadows.

Take everything in that you can with your sense of sight.

Gradually shift your attention back to your breath.

And now place your awareness on your sense of sound,

Your sense of hearing.

What can you hear in your environment?

Perhaps even any stillness or any silence that's present for you.

Observe.

But notice all the sounds,

The hum of an air conditioning unit,

The natural sounds in your environment,

Your own breathing.

Focus on the sounds as a neutral witness without identifying or judging them.

Simply notice what you can hear.

Feel how these sounds are settling your mind and thoughts into the present moment.

Slowly and gradually bring your attention back to your breath.

Allow your mind now to connect to your sense of touch.

Start with the places that your body is supported by the earth,

Or the floor,

Or the cushion that you may be sitting on.

Absorb the support and the contact you have with these objects.

We are always connected to things.

Notice your clothing.

Even notice the feeling of the hair on your body.

Observe every subtle feeling of touch that is present for you.

Everything that you can sense through touch is grounding you in this present moment.

You can reach out with your hands and place them in contact with the floor or the ground.

And feel how this is helping ground your presence in your physical body.

Draw a deep breath into this grounded support and gently release the breath.

Continue to feel the support beneath you.

Feel what you are making contact with.

And slowly shift your attention to the flow of your breath.

Now bring your attention to your sense of smell.

Begin to draw in each scent that is present in your environment.

Whether of your own smell or that of your clothing,

Whether enhanced by perfume or a deodorant,

Or completely natural.

Likewise,

Breathe in the aromas of your current setting.

Maybe the smells are relatively neutral,

Or perhaps they are strong,

Or maybe you noticed something very distinct that you didn't notice moments ago.

You are also welcome to enhance your environment by burning incense or scented candle,

Or diffuse essential oils to enhance this meditation.

Our sense of smell can really draw us into being present,

To observing what is in our environment in a different way,

A very unique way.

And the use of essential oils or scented candle can really influence and uplift our mood and our energy.

Appreciate everything that you can sense through the sense of smell.

Staying present and connected to your breath.

Gradually deepen the breath.

Still perceiving the aromas that may be present in your environment.

We'll now call our attention to our sense of taste.

Observe any flavors that are present on your tongue or in your mouth at this time.

Again,

Your experience may be neutral or there may be something distinct,

Such as an aftertaste from food or beverage.

Often spices can linger in the mouth and settle onto the palate for a long while.

Appreciate any lingering aftertaste,

Without judgment being a witness.

And even a neutral taste is something to notice.

That's what's present for you right now.

It is often said that our sense of taste is the most intimate of our five senses,

So linger here for a while,

Letting the experience keep you present in this moment.

Finally bring your attention to the movement of your breath.

When we begin to notice a pattern of worry or a pattern of anxiety taking hold,

We can return to our five senses and these grounding questions.

Anxiety has a way of spinning us out of the present moment,

Often into the future.

So connecting with our five senses anchors us in the present moment and can alleviate feelings of worry,

Anxiety,

Or doubt.

What can you see right now?

What is visible for you in your environment?

Let that ground you in the present moment.

What can you hear at this moment?

What sounds are present in your environment at this time?

Take them in,

Let them ground you,

And create a rich experience.

Notice what you can feel.

What is making contact with your skin,

With your body?

Feel the ground that you are resting upon and sense the ever-present pull of gravity keeping you connected to the earth.

Observe what you can smell.

Are there any pleasant or unpleasant aromas?

What can you tune into with your sense of smell and how can it ground you,

Connect you to this moment in time?

Lastly,

Are there any tastes?

What can you sense through your sense of taste?

This can be an especially helpful question to ask yourself as you eat,

To be fully present and experience the taste of each bite of food before rushing to the next.

So use it in your meal time to make meal time more meditative and enjoyable.

Feel free to use these five questions going through your five senses to help ground you,

Connect you to the richness of your experience,

Expand your awareness,

And draw all of that sensory information into one state of awareness into your present experience of your life.

From here,

Notice if this has brought you a greater sense of calm or clarity.

And please take this level of presence into the remainder of your day and utilize your senses to ground you in the present moment in times of doubt or worry.

Thank you for joining me for your meditation today.

I hope that this meditation has brought you a sense of peace to your life.

Namaste.

Reviews

You made me very calm

Thank You, James! I felt the calming effect growing inside from the first sense we explored. ❤️🇨🇦

Loved this meditation. 🙏🏼♥️

Very helpful approach; commands focus throughout. Thank you🙏🏼

Thank u
Beautiful meditation
Blessings of gratitude and abundance!

An easy walk through the senses.

A Really wonderful practice! Thank you so Beautiful and grounding Love connecting to my senses..... smell is my favorite. Namaste 🙏

Relaxing thank you

Great Meditation! Absolutely can be used at any time! Love its simplicity! Thank you for sharing! Definitely a keeper! 🌻

Very refreshing and calming. Thank you. 🙏❤️

I’ll need to listen again I went straight to sleep. Lovely voice. Thank you 🙏

This was a wonderful grounding experience. Thank you!

Very helpful, thank you!!

Very good for grounding!!!

Great instruction, a little slower when transitioning from moving one sense to the next would have been appreciated. Your voice was very pleasant and friendly.

Excellent exercise! I feel so calm and relaxed now! I'm going to try to implement this into my everyday life when I feel anxious. Thank you!

A good change from breath-based meditation. Calm and simple instruction.