Sometimes when our mental health is not playing ball and anxiety starts to creep in, it could be hard to find a sense of calm right away, especially amongst that mental storm you’re experiencing in the moment, but you have a powerful tool at your disposal that grounds yourself in the present moment, five in fact: your senses! Let’s show you how you can use the five senses to calm anxiety down.
Smell
Focus on the smells around you. It can be useful at this point to light a scented candle or use essential oils such as chamomile or lavender. There’s plenty of ways to get the smells that you love and a provider like Wellington Fragrance offers so many different essential oils. When engaging this sense, you need to close your eyes and take in the aroma slowly but surely, allowing it to fill all of your senses.
Sight
When we are stuck in the pit of anxiety at that moment, we need to find something visually soothing. Taking the time to gaze at it and allowing your eyes to rest on the details can steer us away from any anxious thoughts. We need to remember that anxiety is about us worrying either about the past or the future, and when we are engaged in some form of mindful practice, we’re not able to consider anything else. If you can find a calming image such as a piece of art or a color that is soothing within your midst, don’t worry about staring at it but allowing your gaze to soften.
Hearing
To engage this sense, close your eyes and tune yourself into the sounds around you. Taking the time to slowly quieten down and pay attention to the rhythms of your breathing and any sounds of silence can help you to focus on something beyond your anxiety. Take the time to let the sounds wash over you rather than you forcing yourself to listen to something that is or isn’t there.
Touch
A soft material like a cozy blanket or soft fabric and closing your eyes while feeling the texture, the temperature, and how the sensation is on your skin can help you to ground yourself in that moment.
Taste
Sometimes disclosing our eyes and focusing on what we can taste in our mouth can help to calm our nerves. If you are someone who struggles with anxiety, getting into the habit of drinking chamomile tea can over time help you to feel better in yourself. When doing this, we need to pay attention to the flavors, perhaps closing our eyes and transporting ourselves away from that stressful moment.
There are so many different mindfulness techniques out there, but one of the most successful is engaging your five senses because it’s not just about distracting yourself but about going inwards and engaging with yourself rather than thinking about the past, future, or what is going on outside of you. This can be very useful, especially if you’ve tried something like meditation and it didn’t work for you.
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Such great post with helpful tips. Thank you for sharing. 😊
Pastor Natalie (Examine This Moment )
Letstakeamoment.com