Anxiety spikes are physical: racing heart, tight chest, shallow breath. Your nervous system is doing its job—it's just doing it too enthusiastically. Naming what's happening interrupts the automatic response.

Grounding brings your attention back to the present moment, which signals to your brain that the threat has passed. It shifts you out of fight-or-flight and into your senses, where the nervous system can settle.

Look around and name five things you can see. Say them out loud or in your head—the colour of a wall, a book spine, the shape of a shadow. This anchors your attention outside the spiral.

Four things you can touch—the chair under you, your feet on the floor. Three things you can hear. Two things you can smell. Each sense you engage pulls you further into the present and out of the fear response.

Finish with one thing you can taste—a sip of water, the lingering flavour of coffee, or the inside of your mouth. This completes the sensory circuit and gives your nervous system a clear signal that you are here, and safe.