Fight against anxiety

“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”

—Epictetus

A great exercise that I used to fight my anxiety as a young kid it was the 5-4-3-2-1. And these days I was reading some information over the anxiety and mindfulness (World Health Organization) and I said that this is a great inspiration for the new podcast’s episode. So what it is all about?

You can go through the exercise guided by my voice - here or you can download and use the visual and do it on you own. This is an easy mindfulness exercise. It will support you to fight anxiety, organizing your brain to bring the focus in the present - on the things around you in a calming mode.

Use it as a mindfulness or a grounding exercise - in a way that it will serve you. 5-4-3-2-1 technique it is meant to fight anxiety using all the senses to connect you with your surroundings.

Name out loud each element from below. Between each thing you enunciate, take a deep and aware breath. This will regulate your breathing pattern and help you calm down.

Identify things as follows:

5 things you see - around you, on the window, or you can even choose a color and name the elements that surround you in that hue.

4 things you hear - might be in the house, or outside - important is to name them out loud.

3 things you can touch - without moving from where you are.

2 things you can smell - (here might be easier if you close your eyes - when one sense it is close - the other become more aware) it can be any smell - as long as you notice it and name it.

1 thing that you can taste - might be the coffee that you had for breakfast, something that you crave for - anything is good as long as you can feel the taste and name it - it matters.

Take another deep and aware breath and you can go on with your normal routine.

You can download the visual representation of the exercise to print it and have it in your wallet or journal - somewhere you can access it as a reminder to take a short calibration break during a busy schedule. This small ritual it will improve your centre of attention and the ability to focus on the things you need to do during the day. Bonus - create a habit of taking a 10 minute break to every 50 minutes of hard work. During the break do some yoga, pilates, mindfulness, have an easy snack, or just look for a while at something green or nature - any of these practices will allow your brain to concentrate better on the activities of the day, making you more productive.

Photo by Joice Kelly on Unsplash