Hello,
My name is Hilary Lafon and I'm so grateful that you have joined me today to explore a simple meditation named 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
This is a great quick easy meditation that you can use if you're in an SOS situation,
If you need relief immediately,
If you have anxiety or doubt or fear or you're just overwhelmed.
This meditation can be done anywhere from 5 minutes to 20 minutes.
It can be a standing meditation,
Walking outside or it can be done inside sitting down or laying down.
This is a great meditation if you need to recenter yourself before you go to another work meeting,
Maybe you're running from meeting to meeting.
It can literally be done in 2 minutes if you're about to turn the door handle on a meeting and walk in.
So let me walk you through this quick guided meditation to help relieve stress,
Most importantly connect yourself to your body,
To the present moment.
When we think about anxiety,
Generally it's worrying or thinking about the future or if we're upset or depressed or sad or sometimes ruminating on the past.
This quick 5,
4,
3,
2,
1 exercise can root us in the present moment by helping us focus in on our 5 senses.
The senses we're going to focus on are sight,
Sound,
Feel or touch,
Smell and taste.
So I'll give you a moment to come into a comfortable position or pop in your headphones,
Walk outside,
Go for a quick little walk,
Maybe you want to lay down,
Sit on a comfy chair.
Getting comfortable in only the ways that you know what works for you.
Tailor this to your needs,
It's your experience.
So let's jump right in.
A lot of times we start with intentions,
We start with feeling our body and our breath but let's get right to it.
You know sometimes we are in such a stressful situation we need immediate.
So what do we do?
Let us start with 5 things that we can see.
So yes of course,
Breathe,
Take deep belly breaths,
Let the breaths come in,
Saturate your body and as you exhale relieving some tension but as you're breathing notice 5 things that you see and be very specific.
Starting with the first thing,
Notice the color,
The texture of the color,
The vibrance,
The different shapes.
Going on find another,
Something you can see,
Maybe it's color focused so maybe you move from something red to blue to black to white,
Maybe it's shape focused,
Square,
Circle,
Triangular.
Focusing the colors and what you see around you,
Breathing in,
Allowing the thoughts of the past and the future to melt away.
We're focusing right now on what we see in front of us.
Pick a third thing that you see,
If it's far off in the distance trace it with your vision in your eyes,
Breathing steadily,
If there's any tension in the body release it,
Pick another thing to look at,
Your fourth object.
We're rooting in the present moment,
We're grounding,
Anchoring ourselves to the here and the now,
Not letting our minds wander on the future or the past.
Alright pick the fifth thing,
Notice it,
Gaze upon it,
Breathe deeply.
If you are sitting down now is the time where you can close your eyes,
If you are walking around or too busy in your mind to close your eyes,
Keep them open.
But now we're going to focus on four sounds,
An easy one can be the sound of my voice,
The sound of the headphones buzzing in your ear.
Just notice one sound,
Having the sound root you in the present moment,
Inhaling,
Exhaling completely.
Pick another sound,
A second sound.
It could be another sound in the room,
The AC,
A fan,
Plumbing,
If you're outside it could be a little bit more distant,
An animal,
A bird,
A dog.
Breathing and relaxing and settling.
Pick a third sound,
You might have to go out just a little further maybe into the room outside of what you're in,
A different office room.
Allowing your body to soften and relax,
Remembering that you are okay.
Any anxiety you feel will pass as all emotions do.
And one last sound and I'll be quiet for a moment for you to really pay attention to these four sounds.
Coming back to your awareness,
Let's do and find three things that we feel in our skin.
This could be our clothes,
Our palms on our skin,
The tops of the hands if your palms are face up.
It could be wind,
Air,
It could be the grass under us,
The bedding,
The seat.
And one,
Two,
Three things that you feel in your skin.
Breathe and settle,
Noticing if what you feel brings comfort or discomfort.
Not trying to change anything,
Just noticing,
Anchoring ourselves in this present moment right here,
Right now.
Allowing the distractions of the past and the future to be a distant memory.
Now let's move on to smell.
Inhaling deeply,
We're going to find two smells.
Imagine breathing in completely,
Maybe you've just had lunch,
Breakfast,
Dinner.
Maybe you smell your coffee or tea,
Your own lotion,
The sweet scents of flowers outdoors,
Grass,
Dirt.
Pick two smells.
Having your body to soften,
Relaxing into this exercise.
And lastly,
Let's move on to taste.
Goes hand in hand with smell.
What do you taste in your mouth?
For some of us we taste nothing and that's okay.
Pleasurable,
Unpleasurable,
That's not the point.
Just noticing,
Anchoring.
We are safe right here,
Right now with our senses.
We are okay.
So as we end our time together,
Remembering that the 5,
4,
3,
2,
1 exercise is finding five sights,
Things that you see,
Four sounds,
Sounds that you hear,
Three things you feel on your skin,
Two things you smell,
And one thing you taste.
So let's end our time together with three inhales and exhales.
So exhaling all your breath out,
Inhaling together deeply through the nose,
Exhaling sighing it out,
Two more times together,
Inhale and exhale.
Last time,
Inhale and exhale.
Thank you for allowing me the precious gift of your time.
Until next time.
