Hello and welcome to this meditation that will help relieve feelings of overwhelmment and anxiousness by grounding you back into the present moment.
My name is Wana and I am honored to guide you back into your senses.
Begin by finding yourself in an upright seated position that allows for a straight spine and deep easy breathing.
Close your eyes and slowly breathe in through your nose,
Mouth closed,
For a count of 5 seconds.
Now breathe out through your nose for 5 seconds,
Allowing your breath to leave your body the same way it came in,
Slowly and gently.
So inhale in 1 2 3 4 5 and exhale out 5 4 3 2 1 In 1 2 3 4 5 and out 5 4 3 2 1 Notice how your heart rate begins to slow down.
Breathe in 1 2 3 4 5 and breathe out 5 4 3 2 1 Repeat this pattern on your own,
Feeling yourself get into a deeper state of calm with every breath cycle.
If you notice any thoughts interfere with your breathing,
Don't get attached to them,
Don't identify with them,
Just simply notice them and then let them go,
Returning to your 5 second breath count.
We will now engage in a full sensory technique known as the 5 4 3 2 1 method that will help alleviate anxiety symptoms and even panic attacks by helping you reconnect to your body through your senses.
I'd like you to go ahead and open your eyes.
Take a moment to take everything around you in while staying right where you are.
Start noticing and naming 5 things around you,
Mentally taking in one object at a time.
Notice the size,
Shape and color of each item,
And how it relates to the rest of its environment.
If you're in a very empty room,
Focus on parts of your body or else the walls around you.
Go ahead and laser in on your first object.
Take in its size and shape.
What colors do you see?
Move on to another item in the room and do the same thing.
Take in its dimensions.
Great,
On to the third.
Mentally register its size,
Shape and color.
Fourth now,
Same drill.
How does the object compare to what is around it?
And lastly,
The fifth.
From here,
Let's ground even more through 4 things you can touch.
You can close your eyes and go inward as there's no need to get up and move around.
You can be seated right where you are.
Simply place your hands on the top of your legs if they aren't there already,
Or else whatever you happen to be sitting on.
Your hair or clothing could be great options too.
Pay careful attention to what you feel as you touch these 4 things.
Take in the texture.
Is it soft or rough?
Heavy or light?
Flexible or hard?
Wonderful.
We will now move into 3 things you can hear.
Center in on 3 sounds you can pick up.
While you may be tempted to signal out the loudest noises first,
Such as distant traffic or conversation,
I invite you to go deeper by listening for subtler and quieter background noises that often go unnoticed,
Such as soft wind,
The hum of your fridge,
Or even the beating of your heart.
Listening for these more discreet sounds can help you in becoming more mindful.
Are some sounds more rhythmic while others more abrupt?
Which do you prefer to pay attention to?
There's no right or wrong answer here.
Whatever feels best for you.
Okay great,
Moving on to smell.
Sort of sounds like an inhale.
Go ahead and focus on 2 things you can smell.
Now I know this can be a bit challenging,
But if you're wearing perfume,
Get a whiff of that in,
Or else get a general sense of the smell in the room.
Alternatively,
You can soak in the scent of your hair or the skin on your hands.
Finally,
Focus on what you taste.
What does the inside of your mouth taste like?
You may have never asked yourself that question before,
So you may be a bit stumped.
But don't overthink the answer.
You only need be curious about what answer comes to mind.
Perfect.
You can now take this moment to notice how much more present you have become as compared to when you entered this meditation.
Remember that your body can only ever be in one place,
While your mind,
As you know,
Can totally run astray.
By shifting your focus to your immediate surroundings,
You can get out of your head and into your body,
And then out.
Soak that in for a breath or two.
When you feel ready,
Slowly open your eyes and connect once again to your surroundings.
Thank you for joining me in the 5-4-3-2-1 method,
A very powerful grounding technique.
Be sure to return to this practice anytime you wish to reconnect to the present through your body and your senses.
As always,
Do let me know how your meditation went,
And follow along for more to come.
It's been a pleasure grounding with you.
