Hello,
And welcome.
If you're listening to this practice,
There's a good chance you're experiencing some kind of anxiety around health and body sensations.
Maybe it's a flutter in the chest,
A pressure in the head,
A strange feeling in the stomach,
Or a pain that just won't go away,
And your mind,
Being the very efficient thinking tool that it is,
Is trying to figure out what it all means,
Racing ahead and jumping to all kinds of conclusions.
Maybe you start scanning your body for more signs,
Or searching online for answers,
Or perhaps even imagining worst-case scenarios.
And before long,
Your nervous system is fully activated,
And what began as a small sensation,
Now feels really frightening and overwhelming.
If this is something you experience,
I want to tell you something very important.
You are not broken.
Your mind and your body are doing exactly what they were designed to do.
They are trying to keep you safe.
The difficulty with health anxiety isn't that your mind is trying to protect you,
It's that your body's emergency systems have become very sensitive,
And they tend to answer small triggers with disproportionate reactions.
So,
What we are going to do today is not forcing anxiety to disappear.
Instead,
We're going to help your nervous system regain some measure of calm and balance.
This practice isn't about getting rid of symptoms.
You don't need to control your breath.
You don't need your mind to be still.
You don't even have to feel calm for this to work.
Your experience can be exactly as it is,
Right here,
Right now.
So,
Find a comfortable position,
Sitting or lying down,
And let your hands rest wherever feels easy for you.
And if it feels okay,
Close your eyes or lower your gaze.
Just notice that you're here,
Breathing,
Alive,
In this moment.
Begin by noticing the rhythm of your breath.
You don't need to change it.
Just feel the air moving in and out of your body,
And notice where you can feel the breath most prominently.
Maybe in the chest,
In the belly,
Or around the nostrils.
Whatever you notice is perfectly fine.
Let's try something a bit counterintuitive.
If there's an uncomfortable or frightening sensation in your body right now,
Simply try to acknowledge them instead of trying to stop or distract yourself from them.
You could tell yourself silently in your mind,
Something is happening in my body right now.
Not,
This is dangerous.
Not,
This must mean something terrible.
Just,
Something is happening.
And notice how your body reacts when acknowledgement replaces fear.
For the next few breaths,
Stay with that thought.
Acknowledge the sensation with curiosity.
Like you're observing something interesting.
Does the sensation change or stay the same?
Does it move or stay still?
Does it tighten or does it loosen up a bit?
Our bodies are not static.
They adjust moment by moment.
And you are experiencing just that.
If worried or anxious thoughts arise,
Like what if this is something serious,
Simply label them,
Call them thinking or worrying.
Then return to your breath.
In and out.
In and out.
You do not need to find an answer to the thoughts.
You're just not following it right now.
And every time you return to your breathing,
Your nervous system steps out of the emergency state.
Let your shoulders soften.
Let your face relax.
Let your hands unclench.
Maybe imagine reducing another tiny bit of tension with each out-breath.
Nothing dramatic.
Just a softening.
And another.
And another.
The goal here isn't to eliminate your sensations.
It's to show your nervous system that you can feel sensations without immediately going into an emergency state.
Over time,
This teaches your body something powerful.
Sensations can come and they can go again,
With you remaining grounded.
Thoughts can arise with you simply noticing them.
And uncertainty can be present with you calmly existing alongside it.
For the next few breaths,
Widen your awareness a little bit.
Feel not only the sensation,
Feel not only your breathing,
But feel the whole experience of being here,
Now.
Your body being supported.
The air moving around you.
The rhythm of your heart.
Even with uncertainty,
This moment is here.
And you are here with it.
Take another breath in.
And a long breath out.
And when you're ready,
Open your eyes or lift your gaze.
Take a moment to notice how you're feeling now,
Compared to when we started the practice.
Maybe the anxiety softened a little.
Maybe the sensation shifted somewhat.
Or maybe everything feels more or less the same.
All of these observations are okay.
What matters is that you practice responding to your body with presence instead of panic.
And each time you do this,
You retrain your nervous system.
You teach it that sensations don't always require going into emergency mode.
You can return to this practice anytime anxiety arises or your mind starts spiralling.
And if you want to go even deeper,
You're welcome to join my course,
Finding Peace with Uncertain Bodies,
Calming Health Anxiety.
In it,
You'll find a variety of mindfulness and nervous system tools to calm fear of illness and health anxiety.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
And remember,
Even in uncertain bodies,
Moments of calm are possible.
