Ever have one of those eye-of-the-hurricane type days? Where the whirl wind of life and responsibilities swirl around you - you're not sure how you will keep up with the demands - and aren't even sure where to start! Try taking a moment to ground yourself.
Grounding refers to the act of purposely bringing ourselves back to the present moment instead of the swirling thoughts in our head. This is normally done by focusing on our physical environment. grounding can be accomplished in many different ways, but one of the easiest and most common is the 5-4-3-2-1 technique.
This technique asks us to focus on each of our senses one at a time - to immerse ourselves in that sense for a brief moment. To look for 5 things we can see that we may never have noticed before. To really see those items and pay attention - the interesting shadow - the bright blue in the centre of a flower. To feel the texture, temperature, weight of 4 things around us - perhaps the breeze on our skin. To listen to 3 sounds we might not otherwise notice. To smell 2 scents in the air around you. And to taste, or remember the taste of, 1 thing. Can you imaging what biting into a lemon would taste like - or really pay attention to a bite of your lunch?
Taking a moment to ground yourself might just help provide that little pause needed to reduce the swirl of thoughts and to start you calmly in the right direction.
