Last updated on October 19, 2025
Many will be familiar with the common grounding method often referred to as 5-4-3-2-1 grounding, for those not familiar the idea is that you identify a number of different things you can sense for each of the different senses, usually these are;
5 things you can see
4 things you can touch
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste
However, I’ve always struggled with this, not just because I could never remember the order of the senses, but also because I wouldn’t always be able to sense the number of things required in each sense.
When my therapist recommended I create myself a small flashcard or something to remind me of the order of the senses, something clicked in my brain and I realised that if I could carry something around with me to remind me of the things to sense, I could also carry things for me to sense.
In essence, if you can’t find sensory stimuli in the wild, store bought is fine.
Thus my grounding tin, pictured below, was born. It contains the card with the sense prompts, stickers for things to see, small scrap materials in a fabric pocket for things to touch, 3 mechanical keyboard switches that have slightly different sounds when pressed, two small vials of different essential oil scents that have roller balls at the opening to apply to my skin for easier smelling, and an empty space where I intend to keep a sweet treat or other small individually packaged snack in for the thing I can taste.
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