Meditation For Stress And Anxiety Relief

Anxiety is the body’s reaction to danger, threat or a stressful situation. Adrenaline is rushed into our bloodstream to enable us to run away or fight (fight or flight response). It often kicks in when it is not needed (when the danger is in our heads and not our reality).

What happens in the body when we feel anxious?

Racing and irrational thoughts
Feelings of detachment and dissociation
Eyes widen, dry mouth, body heats and sweats
Heart rate increases and heart palpitations
Hands tingle, legs tremble (jelly legs)
Bladder relaxes
Light-headed, dizziness
Breathing is fast and shallow
Stomach issues (IBS/digestive issues)
Muscle tension
Feelings of exhaustion and weakness

We all feel anxious at times, and a certain amount of anxiety can help us to be more alert and focused (prior to an exam or during a driving lesson), however we can work towards understanding our thoughts, emotions and behaviours to alleviate anxiety.

Transcript

Welcome to today's meditation.

We are going to begin by bringing our attention to our breath.

Please close your eyes when you are ready and make sure that you're in a comfortable position.

Breathe in through your nose,

Deep into the belly and slowly out through your mouth.

Please continue to breathe in and out during this meditation.

We are now going to bring our attention to our mind and our body.

We can often feel detached,

Disconnected and dissociated from ourselves.

When we feel anxious,

It is natural to want to fight against this feeling.

Our defense mechanisms and coping mechanisms often want to resist the feeling of anxiety.

The more we resist it,

The more overwhelming it can feel.

Just bring your attention to your breath.

Breathe in slowly and deeply through your nose.

Exhale slowly and deeply through your mouth.

Just continue to breathe in and out in your own time.

Just for a moment,

I want you to think about a time recently when you felt anxious.

Instead of resisting that feeling,

Just come back to your breath.

We don't have any control over other people or external circumstances.

However,

We can always come back to our breathing.

Breathe in through your nose,

Pause and breathe out through your mouth.

Our exhale is the part of the breathing technique that will help you to feel more at ease and more relaxed.

We are now going to focus on colour and visualisation for the next few breaths.

As you breathe in,

I want you to think of the colour blue for calm and as you breathe out,

I want you to release the colour grey for anxiety.

Breathe in blue,

Breathe out grey.

Continue to focus on this for another three to five breaths.

Breathe in blue and breathe out grey.

We are now going to think about accepting the feeling of anxiety instead of resisting it.

Acknowledging that it is okay to feel this and it is also okay to release it.

Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.

You can now continue to meditate in your own time or you can bring your attention back to your body,

Open your eyes and come back into the room.