Can five sensory cues really help calm your nervous system in under a minute?
In this closing episode of the October Stress Series, Jessica Colarco, LCSW, reflects on what we’ve learned about stress and how to tend to it with compassion. She guides listeners through the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique — a quick, sensory-based reset that helps shift the nervous system from stress to safety.
Jessica reminds us that healing isn’t about eliminating stress or being perfectly calm; it’s about practicing presence, one breath at a time. She also offers a preview of November’s Burnout Series, where she’ll explore what happens when stress lingers too long and how we can reignite purpose and joy.
Key Takeaways
Understanding stress as the body’s natural response to danger or demand
How chronic stress impacts mood, sleep, digestion, and relationships
Healing through awareness and small, consistent practices
Guided 5-4-3-2-1 grounding exercise to calm the body
Preparing for the upcoming Burnout Series: recognizing signs of burnout and rebuilding balance
Healing Practice of the Week
Try the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Reset
Notice 5 things you can see
Notice 4 things you can touch
Notice 3 things you can hear
Notice 2 things you can smell
Notice 1 thing you can taste
Keep small sensory items around — like essential oils, gum, or a fidget — to make this practice easier anytime stress arises.
Connect & Reflect
Take a few moments to journal:
What helped you stress a little less this month?
How can you bring more calm into your daily routine next week?
Stay Connected
Follow Healing Is My Hobby wherever you listen to podcasts, and share this episode with someone who could use a little more calm today.
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Next month: The Burnout Series — how to notice the signs, restore your energy, and rekindle your spark.
Transcripts
Jessica Colarco (:
Hi friends, it's Jessica and welcome back to Healing is My Hobby.
As we wrap up the month of October, we're closing our stress series, a month
we explored how stress shows up in our minds and bodies and the many ways we can begin to heal from it. As I've talked before, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that stress is not something we can eliminate. It's something we learn to tend to with awareness and compassion. Today, we'll do a brief reflection together.
I'll share a simple tool you can use anytime stress sneaks in, and I'll also give you a little preview of next month's Burnout series. Over the past few weeks, we've talked about what stress really is. Our body's
danger or demand. We discussed how chronic stress can impact our mood, sleep, digestion, and relationships.
We also learned that healing from stress doesn't mean becoming zen all the
learning to listen to our bodies. Notice the cues and gently respond. Maybe this month you try journaling, breath work, or just pausing for a moment of stillness. If so, take a second to celebrate that. Healing isn't about doing it perfectly. It's about practicing presence one breath at a time.
Today's tool is called the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding reset. It's quick, easy, and it can help your nervous system shift from stress to safety. So let's do it together. Notice five things you can see around you.
Notice four things you can touch.
Notice three things you can hear. We know one of them will be my voice. Notice two things you can smell.
and notice one thing you can taste.
If you are struggling to find a few of these things, this is where I think it's a great tip to have stuff around. I always have little aromatherapy oils, mints or gum to have something to taste. You can also have little fidgets in your pockets or things around you. that's also something that we can note, is it's like, ⁓ I would like to have a few more things around me because smelling something I found was calming
simple practice helps anchor you in the present moment, reminding your body that you are safe right now. It's one of my favorite tools for stress because it requires nothing but awareness.
As we move into November, we'll be diving into our burnout series. We'll explore what happens when stress lingers too long, when our body, mind, and spirit say enough. We'll talk about signs of burnout, how to replenish your energy, and ways to reconnect to purpose and joy. I'll also share some of my own experiences with burnout and the steps that help me rebuild balance. Because healing is not just about calming stress,
It's also about rekindling your spark. Thank you for joining me throughout this month of Healing from Stress. I hope you're walking away with more tools, awareness, and gentleness for yourself. If you've enjoyed this series, share it with someone who might need a little more calm in their life. And don't forget to follow Healing is My Hobby so you don't miss our Burnout series next month. Remember, healing doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be practiced.
Take a deep breath and let's keep healing together.
