Mind Check
A short, evidence-based self-screening using the same questions clinicians use worldwide — so you can understand what you’re feeling, with words for it, before deciding what to do next.
What This Means
Curious about your broader patterns of awareness and reactivity? Try the Consciousness Self-Assessment.
Right Now, Right Here
Pick one. You don’t need to do all of these.
🫁 4-4-4-4 Box Breathing
Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4, breathe out for 4, hold for 4. Repeat 4–6 times. This slows your heart rate and signals safety to your nervous system.
🚶 The Short Walk
Stand up and walk — even just to another room and back, or around the block. Moving your body interrupts the stress response and gives racing thoughts somewhere else to go.
2–10 minutes👀 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding
Name: 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can taste. This pulls your mind out of the spiral and back into your body and the present moment.
2–3 minutes🌬️ The Physiological Sigh
Take two short inhales through your nose (one big, one small top-up), then one long, slow exhale through your mouth. Repeat 3 times. This is one of the fastest known ways to calm the body, backed by recent breathing research.
30 seconds🦋 Butterfly Tap
Cross your arms over your chest, hands on opposite shoulders. Gently and slowly alternate tapping left, then right, like a butterfly’s wings, for about a minute. This bilateral movement is used in trauma therapy to settle the nervous system.
1 minute💪 Progressive Muscle Release
Starting at your feet, tense each muscle group hard for 5 seconds, then release completely. Work upward — calves, thighs, stomach, hands, shoulders, face. Notice the contrast between tension and release.
3–5 minutes✍️ Brain Dump
Grab any paper or your phone notes app and write, without editing or stopping, everything in your head for 2 minutes. Don’t reread it yet. Getting it out of your head and onto a page often quiets the loop.
2 minutesIf this feeling isn’t passing
If you’re having thoughts of harming yourself, or this distress doesn’t ease, please reach out to a crisis helpline or a trusted person right now — you don’t have to manage this alone, and immediate, free, confidential support exists.