You already know about the practices that can increase your calm and wellbeing over time. Meditation, yoga, going for a walk, getting good sleep are all well and good but what happens on those days?
You know the ones I’m talking about.
No matter how much you plan, prepare, and self-care, life and work still have a way of throwing us a curveball.
This handy practice is something you can stick in your back pocket for when your stress levels rocket.
The 5-4-3-2-1 Technique
This technique works because it combats what naturally happens when we start to feel anxious. Anxiety speeds us up and brings us up and out of our body. The best antidote is to slow ourselves down and drop us back into our body and the present moment.
Here’s how:
The 5-4-3-2-1 technique gently, yet swiftly, guides us back to our body and current surroundings. This is important because when a person is in fight-or-flight mode, we often lose touch of our body and surroundings. By engaging with our senses, we are able to re-inhabit our bodies, naturally calming ourselves down. The technique is a simple countdown. Follow the steps below.
How to use the 5-4-3-2-1 technique to calm down when you are stressed:
Complete the following steps out loud or in your head.
Name 5 things you can see right now.
Name 4 things you feel, physically, right now. Example: your feet on the floor.
Name 3 things you hear, right now.
Name 2 things you smell, right now.
Name 1 thing you taste, right now.
By the time you get to one, you may notice that you have slowed down and have more access to relaxation in your body. Once you are in this state, stay with it for 30 seconds.
Bonus: Take another moment here to practice some belly breaths or take yourself through a body scan.This practice will train your nervous system to be more flexible and strengthen your ability to calm yourself down in the future. The more that you practice this, the more natural it will become and the more easily you’ll be able to keep your cool, even on those days
Written By FitPros Wellbeing Speaker, Sara Anderson https://saraanderson.co/about/ Read more about Sara HERE.
Contact us today to schedule one or more sessions with Sara!
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