Grounding practice.
This is a practice for centering yourself,
For grounding your body,
And for bringing attention to the here and now.
When you are in a state where you feel like your nervous system has been activated,
You're feeling overwhelmed or anxious or even slightly panicky,
This is a practice that you can do.
Begin by just pausing and becoming aware of what's around you and identify five things that you can see in your immediate environment.
This might include if you're inside the walls of the room you're in.
It might include artwork or a plant or even a light fixture.
If you're sitting down at a desk it might include your computer or a pencil or a pen.
You can also include your own body.
You can look at your hands,
Your feet,
If there's someone in the room.
Five things you can see.
Next,
Four things you can touch.
And you can start with your own body.
Touching your hands,
Touching your clothing,
Touching with your feet the floor beneath you,
Touching if you're sitting in a chair the chair you're in or even a cup or a water bottle.
Four things you can touch.
And now three things that you can hear.
Let your awareness move out into your surroundings.
Perhaps you can hear something outside if you're inside.
You'd be able to hear birds or the weather.
You may hear other voices around you.
You can even pause and hear your own breath or your own body tapping or moving.
So bringing attention to three things that you can hear.
And now we turn to our sense of smell.
Bring attention to two things that you can smell.
You can just begin by breathing in deeply and just noticing any aromas in the air around you.
And you can bring a piece of clothing to your nose and smell the scent on the clothing.
Or if there's any food or drink in the room that you're in,
Smelling the food or drink.
If you're outside maybe it's smelling a plant.
So bringing your attention to two things that you can smell.
And finally bringing your awareness to the sense of taste.
One thing that you can taste.
And it might be just the taste of whatever it is you ate or drank last in your mouth.
If you have a drink of water or a piece of food nearby,
Tasting or savoring something that you can put in your mouth.
And this practice is helpful as a mindfulness practice for bringing attention to the here and now in moments that feel difficult when we feel like we're in distress or overwhelmed.
And doing this practice will help you bring yourself back into more skillful and logical thinking.
You can remember it very easily as five four three two one.
Five things you can teach,
Five things you can see,
Four things you can touch,
Three things you can hear,
Two things you can smell,
One thing you can taste.
I hope this is helpful for you.
