It happens often without you noticing it. You are sitting there, maybe with friend, maybe in class, and you start to think about it. The thing, whether its school work, appointments, or whatever else is the cause of stress, it sneaks into your thoughts. You keep thinking about it, stressing over every little aspect, and you feel yourself floating away from the moment in time, and floating into your thoughts, floating into your anxiety. In that moment you are not present in what is going on around you. You are not existing in that moment, but instead in your head. No matter how hard you try to refocus it is just no use. You are too far away, too distracted. You become frustrated, just wanting to be able to turn it off, and move on, but anxiety is not that easy.

While this part of stress and anxiety can be the hardest part to control and move past. There are ways to “ground” yourself and bring you out of that perpetual cycle in your head. “Grounding” literally implies bringing you back down to earth which may seem like a funny way of thinking of it, but for people who have struggle with this phenomenon, it is accurate. Bringing yourself out of your headspace and back into reality can be a useful way of combating anxious thoughts.

One of the easiest grounding strategies is called “5…4…3…2…1” and it both distracts you from whatever is taking up your headspace and brings you back into the present moment. The sequence has you check in with all five senses and make lists. Start with sight, and list five things you can see. It could be things like, “I see the tree outside,” or “I see the cup on the table.” Next move to touch and list four things you can feel in that moment. This could be anything from your feet on the floor to your hands touching something. Next list three things you can hear. These could be things like the people talking next to you, or the birds outside. Now list two things you can smell. If you struggle with this step just list two of your favorite smells. Examples for this include, the beach or a crisp fall day. Lastly list one thing you can taste. Again, if you cannot taste anything in that moment, list your favorite taste, for example, pizza. In the moment you may get frustrated if you cannot think of examples, but it is important to stick with it all the way from five to one. You will find that when you stick with it and finish what you started you will feel both calmer and more present.

https://copingskillsforkids.com/blog/2016/4/27/coping-skill-spotlight-5-4-3-2-1-grounding-technique