Practices
Practices: Short Exercises to Calm Down and Name a Feeling
Self-help exercises: they are not a substitute for advice from a therapist or doctor. EmoAtlas does not diagnose any condition.
Contents
Practices are short exercises of one to three minutes: some help you calm down right now, others help you work out what exactly you feel. None of them saves or sends what you tick.
In short: breathing and grounding are open to everyone, on these pages and in the app. The other five exercises in the app's Practices tab are part of the Plus subscription; the same exercises are built into blog articles, where you can do them without signing in.
Calm down now: free
Two exercises people reach for when things are hard this minute. We don't put these behind a paywall: they are open on the site and in the app's Practices tab.
Breathing with a longer exhaleFree
In for 4, out for longer, with an optional hold or box breathing. The shape sets the pace. 1–3 minutes when you feel on edge.
1–3 minOpen: box breathing →
5-4-3-2-1 groundingFree
Five steps through your senses: 5 things you see, 4 you can touch, 3 sounds, 2 smells, 1 taste.
2–3 minOpen: 5-4-3-2-1 grounding →
Make sense of a feeling
Five exercises about precision: naming the emotion, rating its intensity, finding the word on the wheel. In the app's Practices tab they are part of Plus, where everything sits in one place and opens in one tap. In blog articles the same exercises are open without signing in; each card links to one.
How am I right now: a mini checkIn the app: Plus
Six questions about this moment — your state zone, words for the feeling and one small step.
1 minTry it in the article “How Do I Feel? A One-Minute Emotional Check-In” (no sign-in) →
Plutchik's wheel of emotionsIn the app: Plus
Tap a petal — the wheel turns to it and shows its shades, the opposite emotion, blends and a journaling question.
1–2 minTry it in the article “Feelings Wheel” (no sign-in) →
Name the feelingIn the app: Plus
Emotion, shade, intensity — and a ready line for your journal. At 7 out of 10 or higher, pause first.
1 minTry it in the article “Emotional Awareness” (no sign-in) →
A 3-minute wheel exerciseIn the app: Plus
Five timed steps: body, petal, intensity, neighbours and what the signal is about.
What are you feeling right now?In the app: Plus
Pick words from the list of emotions — we'll put them on a card you can save or send.
1 minTry it in the article “List of Emotions” (no sign-in) →
How to choose a practice
| What's going on | Where to start |
|---|---|
| A surge of nerves, heart pounding | Box breathing: counting gives your attention a job |
| Thoughts speeding up, hard to come back to "here" | 5-4-3-2-1 grounding |
| "Something's off" but there's no word for it | The emotion wheel or "What are you feeling right now?" |
| A strong emotion and an urge to decide something at once | "Name the feeling": at 7 out of 10 or higher, pause first |
| You want to know how you are today | The "How am I right now" mini check |
Any exercise gives you more if you write down the result: what it was like before and after. In EmoAtlas, logging mood and feelings takes a few seconds, and after a couple of weeks you can see which practices actually help you.
What practices don't do
Frequently asked questions
Which practices are free?
Breathing (including box breathing) and 5-4-3-2-1 grounding, on the site and in the app. The other exercises in the app's Practices tab are part of Plus, and in blog articles they are open to everyone.
Are my answers saved?
No. The exercises run in your browser: nothing you tick is saved or sent to a server. An entry goes into your journal only if you make one yourself.
Do I need an account?
Not for the practices on the site. You can start the journal without an account too; an account is for syncing between devices.
How are the practices in the app different from those in the articles?
They are the same exercises. In the app they are collected in one tab next to your journal; in the articles they sit inside text that explains what the exercise is for and how to read the result.