Soothe Your Anxiety In Less Than 20 Minutes

This meditation was designed to help manage your anxiety in less than 20 minutes. It may be used both during moments of anxiety and to prepare you in advance for such situations. You may do this either seated with your feet on the floor or lying down with your knees bent. It is not a substitute for medical care.

Transcript

Hello,

Hello this is Bara and I am so grateful for the opportunity to take you through this meditation that helps manage anxiety.

This is great if you're in a moment where you're feeling that anxiety or an anxiousness or it's also great to prepare yourself for future moments where you might be feeling that way.

This will show you tools that you'll have available to you at any time in the future whether you bring this recording back up or choose to just go ahead and do this on your own.

I'd love for you to get in a comfortable position right now either seated with your feet on the ground or laying down with your knees bent so your feet are on the ground on your bed,

Your floor,

Your couch,

Wherever you're laying.

As you get into that position I just want to say a few things.

One is that one of the really cool things about energy is that it does not know space or time which means that in this moment no matter where you are,

Who you are or aren't with,

You are not alone.

I am here with you even if it doesn't look like it.

I really want you to try to receive that.

I'm here with you,

My love,

My caring,

It's here with you right now in this moment.

Another thing I want to say is that our goal here is to manage your response to your anxiety.

If at any point anything that I say makes you feel more anxious or you start to get overwhelmed then it's perfectly okay to either ignore that part,

Come out of the whole thing and focus on something else to come back to your breath,

Whatever you need to do in that moment.

You just showing up here by hitting play,

By taking this moment and this time to be with me,

That is inviting healing energy into your life.

You are getting something out of this even if you can't follow everything that I'm saying specifically.

With that in mind now I'm gonna assume that you are positioned comfortably.

If that's not true just hit pause and come back when you are.

Okay so I want you to feel your body resting where it's resting in this moment.

Allow yourself to sink in a little bit closer to the earth,

Feeling its support beneath you right now.

Feeling that connection between your feet and the earth and any other body parts that are supported right now.

Really invite them to sink in.

In just a moment we are going to take some deep breaths together and I'd like you to bring them in through your nose and pull that breath all the way down as low in your body as it can go.

Try to pull it all the way down into your pelvic floor if that's accessible to you.

And remember you don't have to do anything perfectly right now.

Okay there's no pressure here but if you can breathe into that space that's gonna provide you and your body a little bit of support.

Okay so let's take a deep breath in together,

Filling up all the way down,

Holding for just a moment and sighing that breath out.

Again we're going to breathe in presence,

Exhale any stories our minds trying to tell us.

Breathe in this moment,

Exhale everything else.

For the next little bit all we have to do is be right here together.

Other thoughts will probably come in.

It's a very human thing to happen.

When they do try to just notice them and see them for what they are.

Maybe it's a story,

You can maybe name that in your head.

Maybe it's a memory,

You can name that.

Maybe it's a sound.

Just try to name that if you can and don't worry about it if you can't or if you forget to.

If you haven't yet allow your breathing to resume its natural pace and notice where it's most present in your body.

Are you feeling your breath mostly in your chest,

In your belly,

In your nose?

Just focus your attention there for a few moments.

Note the sensation in that space as your breath goes in and as it goes out.

This breath is always with you and anytime your mind wanders off you can invite it to come back and focus right here.

Simply on this breath.

Now if you're still feeling it I want you to put a hand where you are mostly feeling this anxiety in your body.

It may take a moment,

You may need to tune in for a second and ask.

You can do it out loud or in your head.

Where are you feeling this anxiety right now?

Bring your hand to that space and notice your breath right there.

Is that part of your body moving at all as you breathe in and you breathe out?

Are there any sensations that are really present right now?

Is there any tingling,

Butterflies,

Tightness,

Compression?

Just notice what's there.

At this point you might ask,

Is this really where you're experiencing your anxiety or is it even greater somewhere else?

And if it is,

Move your hand now to that space.

Notice the breath there and the sensations right there.

Now I want you to ask this anxiety.

You can ask into that place right below your hand,

Is there anything you want me to know right now?

You might get a simple response like,

I'm scared.

You might get a couple or a whole bunch of stories that start coming up in your head.

You might get nothing at all.

I invite you,

If you have moved into your head,

To move back to this part of the body.

You can even thank the mind as you do that.

Thank you mind for trying to protect me.

This isn't helpful right now.

I'm going to come back to my body.

Bring your mind or your attention right back to that space.

Does it need you to just notice that it's there?

That it wants attention?

Does it need you to rub your hand gently over this space and soothe it?

Would it like you to breathe a little deeper into that part of your body?

Go ahead and do whatever it asks.

And if it's nothing,

Just take some breaths into that space.

And if your mind's wandered off,

Come right back to that space and to its needs.

You can repeat this exercise.

Ask if there's another part of the body that needs tending to now.

If you notice that the anxiety has moved,

Or if you ask that and get a yes,

You can move your hand to that space.

Notice the breath there.

What does this space need?

And provide it.

Such a beautiful gift that you are giving to your own body,

To your own anxiety.

This is not the easiest thing you could be doing right now,

But you are doing this for you.

And I am so proud of you for that.

You can continue to keep your breath in that space if you like.

You can stay in this and continue with this exercise if you need it more.

When you're ready,

When those physical sensations have been tended to enough,

I invite you once again to bring your attention to where your body rests on this earth,

To feel the sensation of that support beneath you.

That support is always there.

And it's shared by me,

Everyone else.

This earth is always supporting us.

Take some deep breaths in,

Breathing up that support from your feet to your belly and your chest.

And on your exhale,

Feeling yourself sink down a little deeper,

Accepting that support a little bit more.

Take a few cycles of breath,

Just like this,

Breathing in that support,

Exhaling a little further into it.

One more time.

I'd like you,

If you're ready,

To put your hands over heart center.

Bring your attention here for a moment.

As you take some time for gratitude.

Thank yourself for showing up here and taking this time instead of running away.

You face this anxiety.

You can even thank it if you like.

It was probably trying to look out for you in some way.

You can say thank you.

And if you like,

You can say,

And I don't actually need you right now.

But thank you for being there for me.

Maybe another moment of gratitude for this earth,

For anything else you want to express gratitude for in this moment.

Now begin to move your body in the way that feels good.

Maybe it's stretching out your arms,

Your legs,

Or your fingers and your toes.

Begin to feel your body in this space,

In the room that you're in right now.

And when you're ready,

You can open your eyes if they were closed and come back to this present moment.

Thank you for sharing this time with me.

It's really a gift to be able to support you in what you're going through.

May you be well.

May you be happy.

May you be peaceful.

And may you be free.

Namaste.