Episode 29: A Quick Reset for an Overwhelmed Mind
- Tina Boogren
- 8 hours ago
- 5 min read
Description: This week, we’re doing a sensory reset together. The 5-4-3-2-1 method is a simple, powerful way to ground yourself in the present moment, ease stress, and calm an anxious mind. Join Tina in practicing this quick technique so it becomes a tool you can rely on whenever you need it.
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Transcription: Hi, and welcome to Self-Care for Educators. This is episode 29, and I am your host, Tina Boogren. In this episode, we are actually going to do a sensory reset together. Here's what I thought. I thought we could actually do it together so that you build a little muscle memory around this. So you know what this feels like. So you can take it with you as you move throughout your week.
Many of you probably know this strategy and have utilized it, but for some of you, it might be new or maybe it's something that you've heard or seen somewhere, but you haven't actually done it. And I just think it's so, so powerful. I use this when I'm feeling really anxious and it just kind of regrounds me and I find it just to be an incredible tool in my toolbox. So, let's do it together.
So, here it is. So, what this is, it's just, it's quick, it's intentional and It's just a sensory reset. And what it does is it's going to engage our senses to bring us back to the present moment. And what that does is it's going to reduce our stress, restore our balance. This is really, really helpful, as I said, when we're feeling anxious or overwhelmed or a little scattered or emotionally drained.
So this is called the 5 4 3 2 1 method. And how this works is we're going to focus on just one sense at a time and it's going to be really helpful, as I said. Okay, so here's what's going to happen. What I want you to do is first get yourself comfortable if you can. You can do this anywhere. I like to do this at the airport and no one even knows I'm doing it. So it doesn't have to be anything too formal. What you might do right now just to really ground yourself is get both feet on the ground and maybe kind of sit up straight if you can and that's it. I don't want you to overthink this.
So the first thing that I want you to do is, I want you to identify five things that you can see right now in your head or out loud. List them. List five things that you can see right now. I'm going to pause so you can do that…Brilliant.
The next thing I want you to do is, I want you to list four things that you can touch, four things that you can touch. So literally, reach out, touch them if you can and list them while you are touching them. Go ahead. I'm going to pause so you can do that. I'm doing this right beside you…Beautiful.
The next thing is three things that you can hear. Three things that you can hear. Pause for a second and list what are three things that you can hear right now. I'll let you do that…Perfect.
The next thing are two things that you can smell. Two things that you can smell. I hope they're pleasant. I'll pause so you can do that. Two things you can smell.
And then one. What's something you taste? What's something you taste?...Good.
So that 5 4 3 2 1, 5 things we can see, 4 things we can touch, 3 things we can hear, 2 things we can smell, something we can taste. That's it. And here's what I'll do sometimes if I'm feeling really, really anxious. I'll just cycle through that. a few different times and don't get caught up. You can't do it wrong. Right? And sometimes we're like, Oh my God, I can't, I can't, I don't know. I can't smell anything really. And that's okay. Right? It's not about perfection and taste. A lot of times when I get to taste, I kind of giggle because I'm like, Oh God, gross. All I taste is like this. old coffee in my mouth, right? And that's okay, right?
Again, it's helping because it's getting us out of that anxious state oftentimes or that kind of scattered brain. It's just putting us back into our bodies again. So it's helping us to shift our focus from that stress to the present moment, right? What we're doing is we're activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which is our body's relaxation response, which is just really, really, really helpful.
And what I love about it is we don't have to close our eyes. It's not a formal meditation. If we don't have access to like our earbuds and to be able to sit down in that space where, like I said, it's that formal kind of meditation. Sometimes if I try to just. sit and breathe and calm myself down that way, it doesn't really work because my thoughts are erasing too much. So this gives my brain an assignment and that can be really helpful, right? The five, four, three, two, one, five things I can do here, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Don't worry too much on, like, wait, which sense is, wait, I'm supposed to do five. Was it five things that I can touch? Or is it five things that I can see? Who cares? It doesn't matter. You can't mess it up. Really all it is, again, It's just a way to get kind of back into the present moment, reduce that stress, restore balance. It's just such a great tool to have on hand.
Here's what I know, especially as educators, it can be a great tool to have on hand when you're working with kiddos that are feeling pretty anxious, right? You sit down next to them and you just say, “Hey. Tell me five things that you can see right now,” right? And you kind of walk them through this. It works for little people and big people and big people and little bodies and little people and big bodies and everything in between. I love this strategy.
So keep this on hand. Keep this in your back pocket. Use it when you need it and I hope that you find it helpful as a little strategy that you can pull out as needed. Practice it every day so it becomes kind of your go-to to have on hand at those times when you need a little break and you need to kind of shake up your current thought pattern.
I'm cheering so hard for you. Thank you so much, Adrienne. Thank you, Solution Tree and Marzano Resources and you, my badass self care squad. Make it an incredible week. Feel my hand on your back as you move through this week and do incredible things. You're beautiful. You're perfect. I love you.