My name is Lisa and I have panic and anxiety attacks.
The one thing I found always helped was grounding. It was introduced to me originally by the NHS and then further instilled by counsellors and therapists. This was my saving grace, it was the one thing that worked, every time, as long as I remembered to do it. I use the 54321 grounding technique and this is what the Calm Charm ™️ is based on. The known and proven grounding theory works because your brain cannot physically concentrate on the past or a perceived threat whilst concentrating on the details of objects etc in the present.
The issue I had was that during panic and anxiety attacks, I could never remember which senses to use how many of, I’d find myself trying to sniff 5 things and hear 25 others. It was a mess. All the more frustrating was that I knew it was going to help but I just couldn’t remember. I had printouts, saved posts, images… all sorts but again, I could never find them at short notice. I’ve tried fidget cubes and fidget spinners however I didn’t need something to fidget with, I needed something to help bring my mind back to reality.
I made a little charm that reminded me of which senses to use and put them in order of use. Low and behold, the Calm Charm™️ was born.
I tried it myself for a few months and then with various friends and people in my network, I knew that it worked and wanted to be able to provide it to others. I now provide them as anxiety bracelets, keyrings and charms.
Lisa Jones
Founder of The Calm Charm™️
The Calm Charm has a charm that represents each of the senses and I even managed to get some calming scents onto the fabric flowers to provide something I can smell just in case I didn’t want to sniff my top in public. (Strong smelling Fabric Softener!).
All you have to do when feeling anxious or panicked is work your way through the charms, one by one. Notice:
5 things you can see ~ represented as an eye or owl
4 things you can feel ~ represented as a hand or paw
3 things you can hear ~ represented as a bird, musical note or instrument
2 things you can smell ~ represented by a flower or coffee cup
1 thing you can taste ~ represented by an item of food or fork
That’s it!