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What might help right now?

A little comfort, however you find it.

These are comfort tools. They are not a diagnosis or a treatment, and they will not fix everything. Use what helps, skip what does not, and stop any time. If you are in crisis, call or text 988 (U.S.) or see urgent help by country.

Grounding exercises (optional)

Self-guided comfort
Five things you can notice
  1. Look around and name five things you can see.
  2. Name four things you can feel, such as your feet on the floor or the chair under you.
  3. Name three things you can hear.
  4. Name two things you can smell, or two smells you like.
  5. Name one thing you can taste, or take one slow sip of water.
Slow breathing
  1. Sit or stand in a way that feels okay. You can close your eyes or soften your gaze.
  2. Breathe in through your nose for about four counts.
  3. Breathe out slowly for about six counts.
  4. Repeat for a few rounds. If counting is uncomfortable, just let each out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath. Stop whenever you like.
Winding down for sleep
  1. Dim the lights and set screens aside if you can.
  2. Let your shoulders drop and unclench your jaw.
  3. Breathe out a little longer than you breathe in, a few times.
  4. Tell yourself one thing that went okay today, however small, and one thing you can leave until tomorrow.
  5. If sleep does not come, rest anyway, or get up and do something quiet until you feel sleepy. If sleep trouble goes on for weeks, a health professional can help.
Feet and hands
  1. Press your feet gently into the floor and notice the contact.
  2. Rest your hands on your lap or a table and notice the temperature and texture.
  3. Look at one object nearby and describe it to yourself in detail.

Journaling prompts (optional)

Self-guided comfort

There is no text box here on purpose. Write on paper or in a private notes app. This page does not save what you choose. Like most websites, our hosting provider may keep standard server logs.

  • Right now I notice…
  • One thing that has helped before is…
  • Something small I can do for myself today is…
  • A person I could reach out to is…
  • What I would say to a friend feeling this way is…

Calming audio (optional)

Nothing here plays automatically and no audio is hosted on this site. Each exercise above is written out in full, so you can use it without sound. If you open a video, turn on captions with its CC button. If a sound makes you feel worse, switch it off.

Search YouTube for guided breathing ↗ · Search Spotify for calming sounds ↗

Sources and review dates

This page does not diagnose or treat anything. This page does not save what you choose, and it has no forms, accounts, or mood data. Like most websites, our hosting provider may keep standard server logs. Links open other sites, which have their own policies.