Right now
If it is a lot at this moment, start here. Nothing to set up, nothing to read first.
Breathe with this
Follow the shape. Four counts in as it grows, seven counts held, eight counts out as it shrinks. A long out breath is the part that does the work.
In, hold, out. Around three rounds is usually enough to feel a change.
Come back to the room
Out loud or in your head. Slowly. There is no right answer.
- Five things you can see. Say what they are.
- Four things you can feel. The floor, the chair, cloth, air.
- Three things you can hear, including the quietest one.
- Two things you can smell, or two smells you like.
- One slow breath, all the way out.
A minute each, from the library
Four steps you can do in ten seconds in the middle of anything: stop, take one breath, look at what is actually happening, then carry on.
It fits inside an argument, a shopping queue, the second before you send a message you will regret. The value is not the breath itself, it is the…
Say it plainly whenever you teach anything: the way I am showing you this is not the way it has to be done. Change it until it works for you.
Anyone who has failed at the standard version of something several times will not try again unless they are told clearly that adapting it is allowed.…
Cold water on your face, especially around the eyes and cheeks, slows things down fast. Splash it, or hold a cold flannel there for half a minute.
This is one of the few things that works when you are too far gone to concentrate on anything. It asks for no skill and no privacy beyond a tap. Lean…
If this is more than a hard moment
Inshirah is not a crisis service and there is nobody reading this page. If you are thinking of harming yourself, or you are not safe, please reach a person now. It is not an overreaction and you are not wasting their time.
- Immediate danger, anywhere Your country’s emergency number. North America 911. Britain and Ireland 999. The European Union and Turkey 112. Australia 000. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar 999. India, Nigeria and Russia 112. Malaysia and Bangladesh 999. Egypt 122. Pakistan 15.
- If you cannot speak safely in the UK Call 999, wait for the operator, then press 55. Silence on its own does not bring help. Pressing 55 does.
- Canada and the United States Call or text 988. It is a statutory service and it is free, 24 hours, every day.
- Britain NHS 111, then choose the mental health option. Free, 24 hours, and it reaches your local crisis team.
- Anywhere else A hospital emergency department has to see you and is open at three in the morning. So does your doctor, in the day.
- Immediate danger Your local emergency number.