Hi,
I'm Carolyn Ann Budgel.
Welcome to the Daily Insight.
Today's meditation will help you to transform anxiety.
This is a meditation to help cope with the stress we carry from day to day.
This is a meditation for the times when we pause,
Amidst our busy lives,
And we feel overwhelmed by just how much tension is living in the physical body.
It's for when we feel defeated by the anxiety that's on repeat in the mind.
Together we'll explore two simple techniques,
Controlled breathing and mantra,
Affirmation.
Soothing our anxieties and finding equilibrium in the nervous system is always possible if we focus.
Our physiology and our emotions are constantly changing,
And we can guide the shifts in a more positive and empowering direction with just a little bit of practice.
So make sure you're sitting comfortably and take a really deep breath to land here in this moment.
Do a little scan from your head down to your toes and notice how you're doing right now.
How are you today physically,
Mentally,
And emotionally?
Observe what you're bringing into this meditation with you.
Take stock of how you're feeling and how you're doing,
And we'll also assess any differences in this at the end of the practice.
Begin to deepen your breath,
Lengthen your inhales and lengthen your exhales through your nose.
Start to control your breath even further by inhaling to a count of four and exhaling to a count of four.
Counting silently to yourself,
And you can decide how quickly or how slowly you count.
What matters is that you elongate your breath for several cycles or for several minutes.
To invite in a sense of balance and to slow your heart rate.
So working with that,
Inhaling for a count of four and exhaling for a count of four.
With this,
You can start to feel more relaxed.
This will help to activate the parasympathetic nervous system,
Which will help to regulate the heart rate.
The parasympathetic nervous system is also helpful in aiding digestion,
Resilience in the face of stress,
And will promote more relaxation.
Thoughts of worry to take over.
Just keep returning your thoughts to counting the length of the inhale to four and counting your exhale for four.
Continue this practice a little bit longer.
Then soften into your low abdomen.
Sense for any tightness that may have dissolved from that breathing exercise.
Now repeat this mantra silently to yourself.
Let it be.
Let it be.
Rather than push away stresses that are arising or other feelings that keep coming up,
Let them be.
There's nothing that you need to control right now or force but simply practice letting it all be.
It's time to stop the inner battle.
It's time to train the mind to think differently.
No effort is required.
Let it all be.
Work with that.
Let it be.
The brain's plasticity literally changes.
Our brains literally change.
We can change our minds when we intentionally direct our thoughts.
Just as you've learned how to act and speak in this world,
You can also learn to create new thoughts and new beliefs.
Our anxieties don't require any more fuel or kindling from us.
Let them all be.
Gently release this mantra.
Release this affirmation.
Let it be.
And do a little scan.
Observe from your head to your toes.
How do you feel now compared to the scan that we did at the start of our meditation?
Transformation takes time and know that the more you practice mindfulness,
The more quickly you will catch yourself before the stress consumes you.
Controlled breathing and simple affirmations are tools accessible in any moment to keep us present and to help us cope.
I hope you can go out and live these practices with yourself and with others that you encounter every day.
Namaste.
