Grounding With the 5 Senses

A practice card

When your mind is somewhere else — the past, the worst case — your senses are still here. Counting them brings you back.

When

When anxiety or panic pulls you out of the room, and you want to be back in it.

Count down

5 things you can see

4 things you can touch

3 things you can hear

2 things you can smell

1 thing you can taste

Name each one — out loud if you can. Tap a dot as you do.

Why it works

Anxiety lives in the future, and panic in the body’s alarm; both pull attention inward. The senses only report the present. Naming what they report gives the thinking mind a small, concrete job — and that is often enough to take it off the alarm.

You were here the whole time.

Fifteen things, counted. You can do it with your eyes open in a meeting, and no one will know.

This is a teaching, not treatment. If you’re struggling, a doctor or therapist can help. If you’re in danger right now, call your local emergency number or a crisis line (in the US, call or text 988).

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