This technique involves diverting attention from anxious thoughts by focusing on the five senses. (Envato Elements pic)
Every day, we’re faced with various sources of stress, not only work-related but also financial or personal. Some of the time, these pressures can lead to anxiety.
This is where the “5-4-3-2-1 method” comes in. Drawing on meditation and mindfulness, this technique was developed by Ellen Hendriksen, a clinical psychologist working at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders at Boston University.
In a nutshell, it uses the five senses to calm the mind.
The reason it’s so popular is that it’s easy to practise on a daily basis, whether in the privacy of your own home or in an out-of-sight corner of the office. So, if you’re having an anxiety attack or feeling the first physiological signals, simply focus on your senses in five steps.
Start with sight: look around you and observe five things in your environment. This could be an object on your desk, or a feature of nature if you’re outside.
Once you’ve spotted them, move on to identifying four things you can hear, such as an outside noise or a ringing phone.
Next comes touch: find three things you can feel with your skin, like a piece of jewellery or the wind in your hair.
Then find two things you can smell, and finally, one thing you can taste – for example, you could take a sip of a beverage.
This exercise distracts your mind from anxious thoughts by focusing on the features of your environment. “Bringing our attention to our senses grounds us in the present, and counting the items interrupts the spinning of our thoughts,” Hendriksen explained in 2018.
Nevertheless, it requires practice, as meditation expert Gaëlle Piton told Marie Claire. “Everyone can use it for the ‘little’ anxieties of everyday life, but you’d still require additional support for major anxieties,” she noted.
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