A Cheat Sheet for My Brain: Remembering the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique
For my neurodivergent brain, remembering grounding exercises is hard. I created my own tool: a short video that acts as a visual mnemonic for the 5-4-3-2-1 technique.
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I live with an anxiety disorder and emotional dysregulation. In moments when my internal world becomes a storm, I’m often told to use tools to find my center again. One of the most common is the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique.
It’s supposed to be simple. You start by naming five things you can see. But after that, my mind often goes blank. What comes next? In the middle of the storm, the frustration of forgetting a tool that’s meant to help only makes the noise louder. I just lost.
I realized I needed a cheat sheet. First, I wrote the five words on a piece of paper and put it on my wall. A physical anchor. But I needed something I could carry with me, something I could access even when I wasn’t in my room. I needed a cheat sheet for my brain.
My memory works visually. In sequences. So, I created this short video for myself.
It’s a simple loop: SEE. FEEL. HEAR. SMELL. TASTE.
Each word is layered over one of my own photographs, a piece of my world. The sky for sight, the ripples of the sea for sound. It’s a tool built from my own art.
Now, when the anxiety hits, I don’t have to struggle to remember the steps. I just play this video in my mind. The sequence is there, clear and calm. It’s a file I saved directly to my brain, a personal mnemonic that guides me back to the present moment.
Sometimes the most effective tools aren’t the ones we’re given, but the ones we redesign for ourselves.