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5 Senses grounding can be a miracle for people suffering from anxiety and prone to anxiety attacks. Feeling anxious from time to time is a normal response that everyone goes through at some point in life.
Anxiety can kick in before giving an important presentation, having your first day at your school or job, or when faced with some other stressful situations.
The following are the symptoms of anxiety 1that can allow you to understand your behavior when faced with stress.
Symptoms of Anxiety
Not everyone faces a similar situation, and what is troubling for one is not necessarily trouble for another, which is why no one can experience the same symptoms. Below given symptoms are of a wide range, and if you suffer from some it can not provide a clear indication if you have anxiety or not.
- Sweating
- Trembling
- Blushing
- Inability to speak
- Difficulty in concentrating
- Rapid heartbeat
- Trouble falling and staying asleep
- Nausea
The best option to deal with anxiety, when you feel it starting to take over your life is to consult a doctor without further delay. They will look into your symptoms and identify the type of anxiety you can be suffering from.
Types of Anxiety
1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
It is a state of anxiety where negative thoughts and feelings of worry take a constant place in the mind.
2. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
A series of obsessive thoughts compel you to perform activities that, when not performed perfectly, can make you feel anxious.
3. Phobic Disorder
As the name suggests, this type of anxiety is based on the phobias of people, the most common being the phobia of spiders.
4. Panic Disorder
Panic attacks occur in panic disorder when triggered. The trigger could be anything at any time.
When anxiety starts becoming severe, anxiety attacks are bound to happen and can be scary when you do not know how to calm yourself down. Before delving into how to calm yourself during an anxiety attack, let’s find out more about anxiety attacks.
5. Anxiety Attacks
Anxiety attacks happen when faced with some stressful situation; it needs a trigger. At the same time, no trigger is required for panic attacks which are way more severe than anxiety attacks. Anxiety is a state of worry; if the task or circumstances you were worrying about are eliminated, the anxiety attacks subside.
When you undergo an anxiety attack, your feelings are overwhelmed to the point where you do not know what to do.
At this stage, the 5 senses grounding exercise 2comes as a rescue.
5 Senses Grounding Exercise
The 5 senses grounding technique is widely used by everyone to battle the constant state of worrying. It calms you down by following 5 simple steps.
The steps involved in the 5 senses grounding exercise use our senses to manipulate our brain into thinking that everything around you is fine, which truly is, the anxiety inside you makes us believe otherwise.
Before following the 5 senses grounding technique, follow your breathing. Take slow, long, and deep breaths, as it somewhat allows a relaxed state of mind.
The five steps involved in the 5 senses grounding technique are:
See
The first step in the 5 senses grounding exercises is completed using your sense of sight. Look around yourself and try to identify 5 things.
The things can be anything, ranging from the wall pattern, pen stands, photo frames, or lamps. If you are outside, try looking out for birds, street signs, cars, or anything that gives you a sense of belonging.
Touch
The second step in the 5 senses grounding exercise uses the touch sense. Touch any four things that you can find around you. You can try by touching tables, phones, laptops, or water bottles.
If you do not have anything around you, your body parts can also be an option. Touch your hair, hands, legs, and feet; even the floor can also be used.
When touching objects around you, try to think of the parts it is made up of, and try to feel their surface. This momentarily takes your mind off for some time.
Hear
Sense of hearing is used in the third step of the 5 senses grounding technique. Try to listen to three sounds near you. The sound of someone tapping a foot, cars speeding by, footsteps, clocks ticking, or birds chirping.
Try focusing on these external sounds as they will allow you to stop your inner train of thoughts, which can have a huge impact in lessening the anxiety attack.
Smell
The fourth step in the 5 senses grounding technique is using the sense of smell. Pay attention to your surroundings and look for two things with a scent attached.
This can be a difficult step as it is not easy to easily find scentful objects around you. You can move around and go outside for this step, and there are many scents available once you are outside.
Identifying objects with a scent will completely take your mind off the stress and worrying situation, and instead, take the current task at the present moment.
Taste
The final and last step in the 5 senses grounding technique is using the sense of taste. Try to get a taste of any one thing available around you. It can be anything chewing gum, mint, cookies, coffee, tea, or any comfort food that you think will help you relax.
The 5 senses grounding technique is more beneficial if every step mentioned above is followed stepwise.
Grounding Techniques
Various grounding techniques can help when undergoing an anxiety attack or emotional stress. The 5 senses grounding techniques allow you to come to your senses by utilizing the capabilities of your senses; it is basically a full circle.
The most important advantage of using the 5 senses grounding exercise is that it can be performed almost anywhere when you feel anxious, without any obstructions.
This is a big help as it can be performed before a big presentation, in a social situation, or while experiencing an emotional and stressful time.
If you liked this article, here is something you may like.
- Freud, Sigmund. “Inhibitions, symptoms and anxiety.” The Psychoanalytic Quarterly 5.1 (1936): 1-28. ↩︎
- De Tord, Patricia, and Iris Bräuninger. “Grounding: Theoretical application and practice in dance movement therapy.” The Arts in Psychotherapy 43 (2015): 16-22. ↩︎
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