Five things around you

Find a position you can stay in for a few minutes. Sitting is fine. So is standing, or lying down.

If it feels right, close your eyes. If not, let your gaze rest somewhere low and still.

Keep your eyes open for this one.

When your attention is pulled in every direction, thinking harder rarely helps. What helps is giving it something simple and real to land on. Your senses are always here, so we'll use them.

Start with sight. Look around and find five things you can see.

Don't hurry. Let your eyes rest on each one for a moment. Its shape. Its colour. Where the light falls on it.

Pick one of those five and look at it more closely, as if you'd never seen one before.

Now touch. Find four things you can feel.

Your feet in your shoes, or on the floor. The weight of your body in the chair. Your hands, where they're resting. The air on your face.

Choose one and stay with it. Is it warm or cool? Rough or smooth? Still, or moving slightly?

Now sound. Find three things you can hear.

Start with the loudest. Then something quieter. Then the quietest sound you can find.

Let the sounds come and go without labelling them as good or bad.

Now smell. Find two things you can smell. If nothing stands out, just notice the air as you breathe in.

And taste. One thing you can taste, or simply the feeling inside your mouth.

Take a slow breath in.

And out.

Now let your attention widen to everything at once. Sight, sound, touch, all together, without picking any one out.

If thoughts pull you away, that's fine. Pick one sense, and come back.

Notice whether things feel a little less crowded than when you started.

When there's a lot going on, you don't have to handle all of it at once. Just the next thing in front of you.

Take one more slow breath.

When you're ready, carry on.