Reducing Anxiety

When anxiety arrives, it can convince you that it has taken over everything. In this gentle practice, you're invited to meet anxiety with curiosity rather than resistance.

Instead of trying to push anxiety away, you'll be guided to notice where it lives in your body, acknowledge it with kindness, and then gently discover the places within you that already feel safe, calm, or simply neutral.

You'll acknowledge the parts of you that feel activated, while also discovering the parts that remain peaceful, grounded, and untouched by anxiety. By resting your attention there, you begin to strengthen your connection with safety already present within you. This is a brave practice, but it will grow your confidence enormously.

If anxiety has been feeling all-consuming, may this gentle practice remind you that there are places within you that remain calm, steady, and safe.

Transcript

Welcome to this meditation brought to you by Okia, Where we help you create your very own place for connected well-being. Let's start this practice for reducing anxiety by tuning into your beautiful breath. Breathe in slowly and deeply in through your nose. Exhale slowly and evenly out through your nose or your mouth. Your breath may be a little short as you start this practice. Don't worry too much. Just aim to lengthen and extend the breath a little more each time you breathe in and breathe out. Start to let your thoughts melt away as you enjoy the simplicity of just focusing on your breath. Release all of your responsibilities, Your to-do lists. Anything involving the past or the present. Simply take this time for yourself. To breathe in slowly. In through the nose. Exhaling fully out through the nose or the mouth. Each time you breathe in, Allow your body to expand a little, Your face to relax. Your chest to become open. Your belly to move freely as your breath moves up and down through the centre of the body. Each time you exhale, Let go a little more. Let go of everything that no longer serves you in this moment. Let your breath now settle into a natural rhythm and I'd like you to bravely and courageously allow space for your anxiety to be present. Although this may be scary or the last thing you want to do, It's important to allow your anxiety to be present in your body and acknowledged by you. Start to do a very gentle and slow scan. From the top of your head. Heading towards your feet. And I'd like you to identify all sensations of anxiety in your body. Keep breathing deeply as you move through this practice, Being brave, Allowing your anxiety to come to the surface and let it just be there. We're not focusing on your thoughts or your fears or your worries. We're simply noticing your physical or somatic areas of anxiety in the body. I know your mind will keep trying to get your attention, Just focus on your body for now, Scanning very slowly and smoothly down over the face, The neck, The shoulders, Note all of those parts of you that are feeling anxious. Knowing it's okay. As we continue this practice you are developing your resilience to acknowledging and being with your anxieties. Keep scanning the body and taking notes of small or larger parts of you affected by anxiety. As if you were to imagine drawing a line around the shapes or the parts of you that are feeling anxious. Don't forget to scan the back of your body. And your sides. Keep breathing courageously as we continue this practice. Just notice the parts of anxiety and move on. Keep scanning. Heading down closer and closer towards your feet. Using your breath as your anchor. Notice but without getting attached to your anxious parts. Moving on, Heading now all the way down the lower legs. Ankles and feet. Now call to mind all of the spaces in the body that are feeling anxious. And say I see you. I hear you. I feel you and I honour you. People are allowed to be here, But I know that you do not serve me. Take note of all of the parts of the body that have this imaginary line around them that you've marked them out. Notice how it feels to become aware of the anxiety in your body. And now what I'd like you to do is notice and search for all of the parts of your body that are completely unaffected or unfazed by your anxiety. Start again scanning from the top of the head. And notice your hair, Your eyebrows, Your ears. Wherever it may be you'll be sure to find many places in the body that are not suffering from anxiety. They are places within you that feel neutral. Time. Or even content. Keep scanning slowly and notice the difference in experience this time. As you move down centimetre by centimetre. Noticing all of the parts of you that feel safe. And calm and neutral. I know that anxiety feels all-encompassing, And it feels like it completely takes over your body. It makes you feel frozen, Activated and stuck all over. But in this exercise, Even if you can find only small parts, I want you to bravely remember that anxiety has not consumed all of you. In fact there are quite a few parts of you that feel calm and neutral and at peace. While your anxious parts of you want to get your attention, They want you to focus on them. Now we're focusing on the calm and neutral parts of your body. This is like a short reminder to say hey, I found a safe place within myself. I will not allow you to totally consume me. And although you try and get my attention. I know where to find safety and calmness in my body. Scan the rest of your body, Reaching all the way down to the tips of your toes. Remembering to search for the back of your body and your sides, Your insides, Soles of the feet. And then choose one place in the body to rest your awareness. One place that feels the most content. The most peaceful, The most unaffected by any anxiety. Just rest your awareness here by continuing to focus on this part of the body. As you keep breathing deeply, Use this calm part of your body as an anchor. A reminder that I'm safe here. I can rest here. Here in this part of the body, I feel no anxiety. Here in this part of my body, I feel safe. And from this part of your body. I'd like you to focus particularly on your exhalation. And do your best to breathe out all of those shapes and outlines of anxiety, Remember being in your body. And let them move out of your body now as you breathe out deeply and consecutively. Slow long exhalations letting go of your anxiety. Calming your nervous system with your breath. And visually seeing these parts of you that were previously anxious, Moving now out of the body completely through your exhalation. As you breathe in, Breathe in a sense of peace and stillness, Just like the part of your body where you've chosen to rest. And as you breathe out continue to exhale any physical sensations of anxiety. Breathe out your dread. Your worry, Those knots in your tummy. Breathe out and allow your throat and your chest to relax. Unfurl the muscles in your face. Make your hands relax, Your shoulders open. Continue to settle with each cycle of breath. Keep breathing and letting go until you've released as much of your anxiety as you can. For now I'll leave it here. I want to honour you for your courage and bravery in facing your anxiety. And I hope you have learnt through this practice that you can face it, Acknowledge it and move through it in a way that finds safety within your body. Even though anxiety often tries to trick you and feels like it is all-encompassing. Thank you for listening to this meditation.