Our physical body is how we interface with the rest of reality, the five senses like tethers anchoring us to the moment. Discover a simple grounding technique when emotions and thoughts become too overwhelming.
Being overwhelmed with emotions and anxious thoughts can happen to all of us. Finding presence in situations like this is a coping skill you can learn. This article explores the 54321 grounding method you can easily apply to your coping skill set.
How Does The 54321 Grounding Method Help With Anxiety?
All of us, at some point or another, have experienced overwhelming anxiety. Whether you’re trying to rein in runaway thoughts at 3 am or you’re struggling to cope with escalating work demands, anxiety is always characterized by one thing: it pulls you out of the present moment. When we’re consumed with worry, stress and anxiety, it’s our thoughts that race. The human mind, marvelous machine that it is, can conjure up a whole universe of possible scenarios, terrifying outcomes, fears and “what ifs.” But, most of this “thought traffic” inhabits either the past or the future – not the present. There are plenty of effective ways to combat an anxiety spiral, including medication, therapy, and adopting a mindfulness practice like yoga. But the beauty of the 54321 grounding technique is that you practice it in real-time, right here, right now. The Body Lives In The Present “What if I fail and everyone judges me?” “I’m afraid. I can’t do this.” “I shouldn’t have done that…”
Anxious thoughts like these may feel objectively threatening, but are nothing more than electrochemical flutters in the brain, skipping right over the present moment and dwelling on past regrets or future fears. If we are being steamrolled by thoughts, we disconnect from the present and get carried away, like a small boat being tossed on choppy waves. But if we can remain aware of the present, we can cultivate better emotional health.
There is only one way to reconnect to the present: through the body.
The body can only ever be in one place, and that’s the here-and-now. While your mind can untether and run itself ragged on any number of anxious thoughts, your body is never anywhere else but here, with your breath. If we want to calm anxious thoughts and reorient to the present, we must do so via our five senses. This is where the 54321 grounding technique can help.
How To Anchor Yourself With The 54321 Grounding Method
The 54321 grounding technique is simple, yet powerful. Like gradually attaching anchors to the boat, this method slowly pulls you back to earth.
First, take a moment to become mindful of your breath. Just a few deep breaths invite your body back into the moment, slowing everything down. Then, become aware of your environment.
Look For 5 Things You Can See: Notice the wood grain on the desk in front of you. Or the precise shape of your fingernails. Become aware of the glossy green of the plant in the corner. Take your time to really look and acknowledge what you see.
Become Aware Of 4 Things You Can Touch: The satisfyingly rough texture of the car seat. Your cotton shirt against your neck. If you like, spend a moment literally touching these things. Maybe notice the sensation of gravity itself, or the floor beneath you.
Acknowledge 3 Things You Can Hear: Don’t judge, just hear. The distant traffic. The voices in the next room. As well as the space between sounds.
Notice 2 Things You Can Smell: If at first you don’t feel like you can smell anything, simply try to sense the subtle fragrance of the air around you, or of your own skin.
Become Aware Of 1 Thing You Can Taste: The lingering suggestion of coffee on your tongue, maybe?
Repeat this process as many times as necessary. Take your time and notice how you feel afterward. No matter how far your mind wanders, the present moment is always here, waiting for your return. The 54321 grounding technique can help pull anxious mental energy back into the body, grounding and calming it so that you can release stress and focus again, in the here and now. Insomnia, cravings and addictions, stress management, PTSD flashbacks and panic disorders can all be de-fused, slowed and calmed this way. Any time the mind dissociates from the moment, carrying us off with it, reconnecting with the senses can pull us back again. Anxiety is disembodied, but root back into the body and you give yourself a way to manage anxiety. A Calm Mind Is An Effective Mind
Naturally, grounding in the present moment doesn’t magically make all your problems disappear. But with a balanced, grounded mind, you can better explore those challenges in life that you may wish to address, not with anxiety, but with calm, centred awareness. There’s plenty of scientific evidence to support the idea that the brain simply works better when it’s relaxed. The limbic, or emotional brain, is like a “router” for incoming information. When we’re stressed, incoming information is passed to the unconscious “monkey mind,” where we respond reactively and unconsciously. But, when we are calm and composed, our amygdala and hippocampus feed sensory information through our “higher” executive brain, allowing us to think and behave with calm rationality instead. This means that even if you’re facing a genuine crisis, your best option is always to cultivate tranquillity and composure. This 54321 grounding method is not simply a trick to distract a hyperactive mind. When practiced frequently, you may notice more long-term benefits. You may find that fears and anxieties are seldom based in reality, but are mere stories you tell yourself – albeit very compelling ones! You may gradually observe that when you fully inhabit the present, you feel safer and calmer, and less liable to getting whisked along with racing thoughts. The 54321 Grounding Method: An Antidote To Anxiety?
This technique is about mindfulness and brings us into the powerful yet simple grace of the ever-flowing moment. Things are seldom as bad as your thoughts might tell you they are. You learn to savor your sensations, noticing the graceful pace of things, the uncomplicated “suchness” of life. Isn’t it comforting to know that the moment is never late, never rushed, but always arriving just where it is, perfectly on time in every instant, over and over again?
Even when you’re not tackling anxiety, you may be tempted to absorb yourself in the moment anyway, watching how life ticks along pleasantly, whether you stress about it or not. Become more adept at giving yourself permission to step outside of your thoughts for a while. Notice your brain working, and how your body responds. Can you let thoughts pass, just as they are?
Our physical body is how we interface with the rest of reality, the five senses like tethers anchoring us to the moment, which makes the 54321 grounding method so powerful. In time, you can develop the opposite of anxiety: trust. As long as you have breath in your lungs, you are alive and well and fully embedded in the present. In fact, this is where you have always been!
By Isabelle Pikörn
InsightTimer