In this month’s column, we explore a popular exercise that many find helpful for feeling less anxious amid stressful and emotionally turbulent moments. Known as 5-4-3-2-1, it is part mindfulness practice, part relaxation practice and involves turning attention in a particular way to each of the five traditional senses: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste, one after the other. Doing so tends to focus attention and steady the emotional roller coaster that has become a part of everyday life.
Below I will describe the practice, after which I’ll share a link so that you may learn a little more about the technique. As this is a popular practice, you can find many online articles and videos discussing and describing it.
There are various mindfulness practices that zero in on focusing attention on an object, such as the breath or a region of the body or a sound. These practices invite one to turn attention in a particular direction with the intention of remaining attentive to what one observes. When the mind wanders, as it surely will, the noticing of such mind wandering prompts a return to the object.
The 5-4-3-2-1 technique carries some of these mindfulness components. Because it is primarily shared as a relaxation or grounding practice, less time is spent observing the object as a training of attention. Rather, the tactical shifting of attention among sensory objects helps you maintain a steadier attention and, in doing so, become less captured by mental content that can be a source of agitation.
The tactical shifting of attention involves actively seeking out a set number of objects in the external environment for each of the primary senses. Specifically:
This technique helps you to tactically home in on specific objects arising in the present moment. By doing this, you constrain the movement of attention, which tends to facilitate a more steady emotional state. The above structure takes into account the ready availability of objects in each sense’s field, with the visual field most abundant and the taste field more limited. You may find you prefer a different order and can be creative in how you structure it.
It can be helpful to begin with a few slower, deeper breaths. You can practice with your eyes open (especially useful at the start) or closed. As a grounding technique, it is helpful to spend just a few moments within each sense field before moving on to the next one. The more curious you are about what you observe and the more detail you gather about the object, the steadier your attention. By the time you get to the end, you may well find that you are feeling a little more relaxed and less agitated. So that you might get a sense of this, take a few moments and practice 5-4-3-2-1 now.
If you are interested in learning more or sharing information about this technique with others, click this link for a short video clip review. At the end of the clip, you’ll learn how 5-4-3-2-1 can be both a settling technique and a mindfulness practice.
