Anxiety is something most of us have experienced at some degree or another. A big event or a buildup of smaller stressful life situations may trigger you to having the feeling of anxiety — for example, a death in the family, work stress or ongoing worry about finances…the reasons for feeling anxious are different for everyone.
There are easy techniques that can bring you back to feeling ease and calm. I am going to share with you the 5 Senses Technique that I have used myself and now use it with my clients. And the best part is these techniques can be done quickly with no one knowing you are doing it.
The point of this technique is to bring you back into the present moment and into your body. Anxiety always stems from fear, fear of the unknown. When you are focused on the present moment there is usually, almost always nothing happening to be afraid of. I mean if you are being chased by a bear ok, the normal response would be fear - that’s good fear to keep you alive. The rest of the fear is useless and causes you a lot of stress for no good reason.
5 Senses Technique
You can do this anywhere, anytime and fast….or slow. Whatever feels good. This is an excellent technique for anyone, anytime.
Start by focusing on your breathing. Slowly breathing in and out long, deep breaths. When you have control over a few breaths begin the technique:
5: Acknowledge FIVE things you see around you. Look at the object, say in your mind or out loud what it is and then move to the next object. For example : “water bottle…..phone…..pen…..sunglasses……table” breathing….
4: Acknowledge FOUR things you can touch around you. It could be your hair, a pillow, or the ground under your feet. When you touch these object, be sure to feel them. Take a second to feel it and take note of how it feels before moving onto the next object. It can be as simple as feeling the pillow and noticing it’s soft, feeling the table and noticing it’s hard or cool….breathing….
3: Acknowledge THREE things you hear. If you tune into a sound that you particularly enjoy hearing, stay with it for a while. And continue the rest of the exercise when you are ready. Remembering to breathe…
2: Acknowledge TWO things you can smell. You may need to take a brief walk from where you are to find a scent you could smell such as the soap in your bathroom, or nature outside. Still taking a nice relaxing breath in and out…
1: Acknowledge ONE thing you can taste. Now, this works best if you have something close by, you don’t want to stop in the middle of this technique to go order food. If you don’t have anything close by then focus on the taste that is inside of your mouth. What does it taste like? coffee, breath mints, breakfast?
The Anxiety Solution
This technique is very simple and that is why it works. It will stop anxiety when it comes, but it will not stop you from feeling anxious again. Often there is no valid reason, it’s just old wiring and old beliefs that aren’t serving you. Your brain is wired the way it is because of the life you have lived and it made sense at the time, but now these old stories are running in the background of your mind and are the force behind all of your thoughts.
To learn how to have freedom from anxiety for good check out Higher Self here.
