Hi,
I'm Carolyn Ann Budgel.
Welcome to the Daily Insight.
Today's meditation will help you to soothe and transform anxiety.
This is a meditation to help cope with the stress we carry from day to day.
It's for all the tension that has accumulated in the physical body due to stress.
And it's for the worrisome thoughts on repeat.
Together we will explore two simple techniques today.
Controlled breathing and mantra,
Affirmation.
Our physiology and our emotions are constantly changing.
We can guide these shifts in a more positive and empowering direction with a little bit of focus and practice.
So make sure you're sitting comfortably and take a really deep breath to land here.
Conduct a scan from your head down to your toes and notice how you are right now.
How are you feeling today physically,
Mentally and emotionally?
Observe what you're bringing into this meditation and we will assess any differences at the end of the practice as well.
Start to really deepen your breath,
Lengthen your inhales and your exhales through your nose.
Control your breath a little further by silently counting your inhale to four.
And silently counting your exhale to four.
You can decide how quickly or how slowly you count.
What matters is that you elongate your breath for several cycles to invite in a sense of balance and to slow the heart rate.
So just work with that inhaling for four and exhaling for four.
This type of regulated breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system which aids in regulating the heart rate,
Aids in digestion,
Resilience in the face of stress and it promotes relaxation.
Just continue counting and regulating your breath for a bit longer.
Return to natural breathing.
And repeat this mantra silently to yourself.
Let it be.
Rather than pushing away stresses that arise or rather than dwelling on feelings that come up,
Let them all be.
There's nothing else that you need to control right now or to fix right now.
Just practice letting it all be.
It's time to train the mind to think differently.
The brain's plasticity literally changes when we intentionally direct our thoughts.
We can change our minds.
Thinking to yourself,
Let it be.
Gently release that mantra.
Take in your whole body from your head down to your toes and observe how do you feel now compared to the scan that you did at the start of our meditation.
Whatever it is that has changed or that may not have shifted,
Remember that transformation takes time and the more you practice mindfulness,
The more quickly you will catch yourself before stress consumes you.
I hope that you can go out and live these practices with yourself and with others every day.
Namaste.
