Eight minutes, four segments. Written to be usable in a corridor, a car park or a bathroom — the places people actually are when they need it.
Wherever you are
45 sec[brisk and practical, almost businesslike — this is not the moment for a soft voice]
You don't need to sit down, close your eyes or find somewhere private. This works standing in a corridor, in a car, or at a desk with people around you.
Keep your eyes open. We're going to use the room you're in, so you'll need it. [pause for 5 seconds]
Feet, seat, hands
2 min[three points of contact, each named and then given a moment — keep it moving]
Start with your feet. Press them into the floor — properly, so you can feel it in your legs. Hold it for a few seconds. [pause for 10 seconds]
And release. Notice the floor is still there, holding you up, and has been the whole time. [pause for 10 seconds]
Now your hands. Press them together, or grip the edge of something — a desk, a chair, your own arms. Squeeze for five seconds. [pause for 10 seconds]
And let go. Feel the blood come back into them. [pause for 12 seconds]
Name the room
3 min 30[this is the core — make them actually look, and leave enough time to find each thing without letting the pace sag]
Now we're going to use your eyes, because looking at real things is one of the fastest ways back.
Find five things you can see. Not a glance — actually look at each one. Notice its colour and its edges before you move to the next. [pause for 30 seconds]
Now four things you can hear. Take the far ones as well as the near ones — traffic, a fan, someone talking two rooms away. [pause for 25 seconds]
Three things you can feel against your skin. Clothes, the chair, air on your face. [pause for 25 seconds]
Two things you can smell, even faintly. And one you can taste. [pause for 25 seconds]
Everything you just listed is here, now, and none of it is the thing you're worried about. That's the point of the exercise.
One breath, then back
1 min 45[end practically — they have somewhere to be, and pretending otherwise wastes the work]
One breath now. In through the nose, and let the out-breath be longer than the in. Just one. [pause for one full breath]
Roll your shoulders back once. Put your feet flat again. [pause for 10 seconds]
You can run this on your own in under a minute once you know it — feet, hands, five things you can see. That's the whole thing, and it works without headphones.