Find a comfortable position either sitting or lying down.
Take a moment to check in with your body.
If you could be five to ten percent more comfortable,
What would you do?
Take this time to ensure your body is fully relaxed and supported for your session and press pause here if you need to.
When you're ready,
Gently allow your eyes to close and begin to notice your breath.
Breathe in through the nose for a count of one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold at the top and then let the breath come out through your mouth,
Sighing the air out of the lungs.
And once again,
Breathe in slowly through the nose to a count of one,
Two,
Three,
Four and hold.
And then exhale slowly through the mouth,
Relaxing the jaw,
Neck and shoulders.
Gently let your breath return to normal,
Simply allowing yourself to observe the air moving in and out of the body.
Feel the air moving through your nostrils.
Feel your chest and belly rise on the inhale and fall on the exhale.
Notice how your body breathes for you,
Works for you,
Takes care of you and notice how there's nothing you need to do,
There's just a sense of allowing the body to do its job.
Now,
Moving your attention to the anxiety that you're feeling today.
We'll take a few moments here to simply be with this feeling,
Just allowing your anxiety to be with you,
Breathing with it,
Knowing that despite this anxious feeling,
Right here,
Right now,
You're safe.
Start to notice the area of your body that's holding most of this tension.
Is it in your chest,
Your stomach,
Your head?
Notice where the anxiety or tension resides,
Where it lives and breathe.
Notice,
Does this feeling of anxiety have a shape or texture?
Again,
Just noticing and breathing here as you notice.
Does it have any color?
Notice this also.
Even if it has none of these things,
That's all perfectly okay.
Just breathe and as you do,
Allow your breath to expand,
To hold a little more space for this feeling.
And taking another breath,
When you're ready,
To the count of one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And hold.
And exhale through the mouth,
Feeling a little more tension release from your body.
If you can,
Place one hand on the spot in your body that you're focused on and the other hand on top.
And gently encourage your breath more deeply into this area.
Hold your anxiety with tenderness and gentleness.
And breathe.
Anxiety is often simply a mask,
A protective mechanism just trying to keep us safe.
Sometimes it's easier to sit in our anxiety as opposed to really exploring what's underneath.
Perhaps anxiety has become familiar to us.
The good news is we can release ourselves from this trap.
And breathe.
Thank you,
Anxiety,
For keeping me safe.
I see you and appreciate you for all that you've done.
But now I'd like to ask you a question.
Gently ask your anxiety what emotion it's trying to keep hidden from you.
And breathe.
It's safe to ask this question.
You're safe.
Your body is safe.
What emotion might be lying just underneath this sensation of anxiety?
Is it grief?
Sadness?
Fear?
Maybe it's boredom.
Anger or frustration.
Breathe.
There's no rush or pressure to find the answer to this question.
And if something's coming through,
There's no need to go all the way into the emotion.
Simply breathe into the edges of what you're uncovering.
Everything is welcome here.
Just notice what's here.
If tears come,
Let them fall.
If it feels like too much,
Take a step back and just notice your belly and chest rising and falling.
Again,
You are in control.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Thank you,
Anxiety,
For helping me open a door to what I'm really feeling.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
And now gently ask these feelings and sensations if they have any messages for you.
What does your body most want you to know right now?
We'll take a moment of stillness here as you breathe and listen.
Breathe that body wisdom in.
And if nothing came through,
That's okay too.
You can always ask again later.
Take a moment here to notice what's released,
What's still here,
And if the feeling of anxiety has lessened.
Welcome everything.
Take a deep breath when you're ready,
Drawing the breath from the bottom of your spine all the way through your belly,
Your chest,
And up to the top of your head.
And hold.
And then exhale out through the mouth.
And just notice if it's easier to breathe.
Notice if the breath is moving more fluidly through your body.
Know that you can commune with your anxiety in this way any time it presents itself,
Any time you feel you've lost control or you need to regroup.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Slowly wiggle your fingers and your toes.
Roll your shoulders back a few times maybe.
And slowly open your eyes when you're ready.
There's no rush.
Take a moment to reorientate yourself in your space.
Maybe take a stretch or a yawn.
And congratulate yourself for taking this time for your mind and your body.
