Calming The Worry Habit

If worry has become a habit for you, join Andrea for a calming practice that can help you settle your system and meet your worries with compassion. You can simply listen to Andrea’s words or let your own inner wisdom offer the reassurance your mind needs.
Music by Chris Collins

Transcript

Welcome.

Take a moment to really arrive here.

Let your body settle into a comfortable position.

And notice the surface beneath you,

And all the places that your body is being held right now.

You can close your eyes if you haven't already,

And bring your attention to your breath.

You can continue breathing at your own natural pace,

Or if you'd like,

You can deepen your breath a little bit more.

You can slow it down a little bit more if that feels good to you.

With each exhale,

See if you can relax your body a little bit more.

Imagine now that you could turn toward the part of you that feels worried,

Or that tends to worry.

Maybe an image comes to mind of what this worried part looks like,

Or maybe it's more of a sensation.

Whatever comes to you is just right.

Notice what the voice of worry looks like,

Or feels like,

Or even sounds like.

If you are able to get an image or a sense of the worried part,

Take a moment to notice the part that's observing it.

Who or what is observing the image or the feeling of worry?

You might get an image or a sense of the observer,

Or maybe you're just aware that you're observing the part of you that worries.

There's no right or wrong here,

Just go with whatever comes up for you.

In a moment,

I'm going to be speaking to that worried part.

You can let it absorb my words,

Or you can offer it my words in your own voice or imagination.

If it feels right,

You can picture yourself holding the worried part as we offer it these soothing words.

Just go with whatever way of connecting feels the most comforting.

I worry.

I see you.

I feel you.

I sense your little tendrils reaching out,

Attaching to the situations and people that you're worried about.

Sometimes you have many tendrils and topics,

Sometimes just one or two.

Sometimes you worry about a situation and it passes or gets resolved,

And you simply move on to other topics.

You put out your worries like notifications.

What about this situation,

This person,

This body part?

Situation,

Person,

Body part,

Whatever you're latching onto.

Like pop-up windows and alerts that don't fully close,

Leading to a system that can't fully relax.

You learned this pattern innocently,

And even though it may feel very familiar and automatic,

It's not helpful,

And it can be changed.

Habits can be changed.

Thought loops can be loosened and released.

I understand why you worry.

You worry because certain situations,

People,

And possibilities matter to you.

You're trying to help.

You're trying to predict.

You're trying to keep us safe.

You're trying to prepare.

But the truth is,

Worry doesn't actually help.

What helps is unhooking from the looping stories that you habitually spin and returning to the actual,

Factual moment.

What helps is remembering that we really can't control life,

But we can get better and better about letting go of trying to control everything and bringing our focus back to what is truly in our control.

What helps is remembering that everything outside of this present moment is a thought or an image.

The thoughts and images that you often chime in with are usually negative or worst-case scenarios.

It's not your fault that you learned how to worry.

Life gave us plenty of material to worry about,

And it turned into a habit until worry became more familiar than presence,

Trust,

And letting go.

I am the wise mind in this system,

And I am here to teach you,

Remind you,

And redirect you.

Every moment is another chance to choose again,

And I am the one who will make that choice.

I can get outside support when we need it,

But I am the one who is with you 24-7.

It's my job to notice what you're up to and to soothe you and redirect you whenever you need it.

The quality of our life depends on this.

When you start fearfully future-tripping,

I am going to notice it sooner.

I am your loving inner parent now.

I have tools and practices to offer you.

I have access to ancient and modern teachings,

And I will keep gathering and practicing the ones that resonate,

And I will offer them to you whenever you need it.

So you can rest now,

Worried mind.

I am here.

I'm here with you.

The earth is holding us.

The sky is blanketing us.

I am separate from the swirl that you create,

Worried mind.

I will witness the stories that you spin without believing them.

I will fill this body with heart-centered breaths.

I will fill this mind with compassion,

Gratitude,

And presence.

I will choose present-moment reality again and again,

And every moment is a new opportunity.

When you rest,

Worried mind,

This creates space for clarity,

Intuition,

And inner guidance.

This is what I choose for us.

I choose a heart filled with love.

I choose a mind filled with peace.

I choose to meet emotions with compassion.

I give myself grace again and again and again.

I choose to release unhelpful thoughts.

I stay aware of my thoughts,

And I soothe and redirect them when needed.

I pause more and tune into deeper wisdom.

I relax into the stream of flow.

I welcome presence and peace.

I let go of over-efforting.

I let go of trying to fix and figure everything out.

When I'm unsure,

I choose what feels the most loving.

I trust my path,

Whether it's rough or smooth.

I allow things to unfold.

I soften the need to control.

I loosen my grip on outcomes.

I open my mind,

My heart,

And my palms.

I surrender everything to the source that made everything.

Now take a nice,

Slow,

Deep breath.

Imagine an orb of soft,

Soothing light above you.

You can imagine this light in any color that feels comforting to you.

Sense it glowing like a warm sunset.

This light is filled with comfort and love.

See it slowly descending.

Feel this light touching the top of your scalp,

And now flowing gently down through your head,

Through your brain,

Clearing old patterns and creating space for peace.

Let this warm light drift down through your eyes,

Your cheeks,

And your jaw.

Feel this beautiful light moving down your neck and your whole torso,

Filling your torso with soft light.

Allow this light to soothe every layer of your body.

Picture this light traveling down your hips,

Your legs,

Your knees,

Your ankles,

And all the way down to your feet.

See the light sinking into the earth.

Feel yourself held and grounded by the steady energy of the earth,

And blanketed and wrapped in the spacious energy of the sky and the air around you.

You can feel free to rest here as long as you'd like,

And when you're ready,

Gently open your eyes,

Carrying calm,

Clarity,

And compassion with you.

Reviews

This is very useful for the intended situation for me , but also if someone is chronically fatigued and no longer able to ground in nature is there such a thing as grounding only mentally? If so do you have a teaching on it ? They're not negative thoughts, they're just nonstop thoughts..? My room is blacked out and quiet and a nice temperature , but that doesn't help.

Truly excellent. And exactly what I needed to hear this particular evening. The future-tripping observation is an especially keen one. TY 🙏🏼

Lovely parts work…and a great visualization at the end…loved the warm orb of light soothing the body! It’s a track I will share with my family and clients! Thank you!

Calming. Thank you.
You meditations always resonate with me.

Loved the prompts to help quiet the fearful parts. 🙏💜

Very soothing. Many thanks Andrea 🙏❤️💫

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This was really helpful. Could you do one special for climate anxiety? It would be so needed, I find that worry extra hard to let fo of. ♥️ Thank you for your amazing work.

Always a pleasure. Thank you Andrea!

So calming and at the same time being lead to the truth that has the power to radically change being in this body loving this life. Gratitude.

Very soothing. Thank you 🙏🏻

Thank you soo much!!!

Thank you, Andrea! 🙏
Your soothing voice and words helped me this morning, as I navigate being in a round of migraines (day 3).

💖💖💖💖💖

This was beautiful Andrea, thank you. A perfect practice that speaks to me and my IFS work very much. I shall return! 🌸

Love to you 🩵🎄🩵

Thank you Andrea. As always, your meditations are like a bit of anxiety first aid. This new one helped take the edge of some nasty over activation that is causing me some unpleasant feelings.
Blessings 🙏

Thanks for this, very soothing

Very relaxing and comforting. Thank you!

WOW! will return to this again over the next few weeks. Thanks so much, Andrea.