Manage Your Stress & Anxiety

Use this guided practice for stress, anxiety, depression and sleep problems. Being a long practice, you can use it to fall asleep to. The main aim of this talk down is to help realise when your body reacts to certain triggers and how to bring those nervous reaction levels down. Everyone is different, take what you can from this audio session, let your mind find the right healing mechanism for you.

Transcript

This meditation is for anyone feeling the pressures of life in the way of stress,

Anxiety,

Worry or over thinking.

I'd like you to use this time to relax,

Gather more positive thoughts and possibly escape for a while.

It doesn't matter if you drift off whilst listening,

As your subconscious mind will take in the words that i say as you sleep.

As you listen,

Try to focus on my voice,

Interpreting it to help you help yourself.

There may be things that you don't want to confront right now,

That's ok,

When you are ready and in your own time,

Take what you can in order for you to find some peace.

This time is just for you,

It's your time to rest easy for a while.

Use this meditation to aid in contemplating a path that suits you.

Let's talk about stress for a moment.

What is stress?

It's a sense of confused thought that cannot conceive perspective.

In layman's terms,

It could be a decision to do or not do something.

It could be that you don't have enough time to fit things in,

Or a state of overwhelm where perhaps too much is going on.

Bring yourself and your thoughts to the here and now.

See anything that causes stress as if it's in the distance,

Or maybe through an imaginary window.

Give yourself some distance to everything in this moment.

Feel your present body,

The surface you lay upon,

The temperature of the air,

Any soft materials touching your skin,

Allow your body to feel present.

Through observation,

You can detect where the effects of stress have manifested in your body.

Scan your body for any hardened muscles,

Anything tense that makes your mind uncomfortable.

Perhaps your toes are clenched,

Curling,

Holding on to that tension.

Allow and give yourself permission to let go of that worry your toes are holding on to.

Release each toe,

Feel them instantly become cooler as you release the tension.

Maybe point your toes upwards to stretch the top of your foot.

Stress is a worrisome thought,

That is only an indicator of things that need to be done,

Or to find closure on an experience or situation.

Sometimes anxiety rides along that feeling,

But only as things continue to build up inside for you.

To come to the decision that something needs to be done about how you feel,

Is recognition of the need for change.

If you have reached your peak levels of worry,

Then maybe it is time to do something about it,

Because stress comes from unfinished situations.

The longer these feelings have to build up inside,

Can cloud your judgement further down the line.

Take a deep breath in through your nose,

One of acceptance that you acknowledge these thoughts and feelings are there.

Releasing that breath even slower out through your mouth.

Releasing that breath even slower out through your mouth,

Bestows a melting sensation in your chest and shoulders.

Now knowing that something needs to be done,

It doesn't mean that you have to do anything yet,

But if you want that change,

And if you are ready for it,

Then go ahead and do it.

Taking your time to resolve an issue or find peace from an experience of the past is crucial and possibly the kindest thing you can do to help yourself.

You can take however long you want to make baby steps towards that resolution,

Finding the small gems of peace along the way,

Dismantling the tower of worry that has built up inside of you.

As you rest,

Know that you are a good person,

You deserve every positive vibe that the universe sends out.

Maybe it's your time for others to reciprocate what you have sent out.

In life,

No one should expect too much,

Or feel entitled to everything,

It should be a two way conversation,

Where there should be equal amounts of give and take.

If you feel that perhaps there are negative people around you,

Possibly taking advantage of your good nature,

You should vocalise this.

I say this because some people don't know the limits of others,

And sometimes it's a natural miscommunication.

The other person may feel that they are getting something from you,

But in the grand scale of things,

You have given a lot more than they have.

You are the only one giving.

Without the other person knowing where your limit is,

The situation can only decay any relationship that you have with them.

Stress can be observed in the emotional healing process,

Where perhaps there has been a situation in the past which has caused internal pain for you.

That pain can diminish but never be forgotten.

Life lessons are learnt in the healing process,

And you learn more about yourself in these times.

It doesn't matter how long it takes for you to regain your old self back,

Or not to feel a certain way,

The clock of internal repair runs by your time zone.

You can pace yourself at any speed,

Again with baby steps.

Each step you take brings you closer to a certain sense of healing.

Bringing yourself back to here and now,

Take another deep breath.

Feel that fresh oxygen reach your throat and deep inside your lungs,

Relaxing your abdomen as you release,

Even slower,

Out through your mouth.

Let the tension go,

Allow your shoulders to melt even further,

Giving your arms the sense of heaviness and a loosened feeling in the palms of your hands.

Every muscle a little cooler with each consecutive breath that you now take.

From this breath,

As you release,

Allow your hands and fingers to splay into a resting position,

Releasing every bit of tension.

That's it,

You're doing great.

Take a little time for yourself,

Allow a natural realisation to form in your mind,

Where maybe the beginnings of resolution may appear.

Stretch your muscles further just by allowing yourself to escape for a while.

Sometimes we need to be in a different space or far away from our troubles to get the right angle on things,

Here and now,

And in the eye of your mind,

Behind your eyelids,

See the scene of a beautiful sandy beach.

Take a while to explore your surroundings,

You can see this personal oasis in your own mind,

Allow your mind to drift a little into a reassuring time of pleasurable experience.

Breathe in the fresh air,

Smell the salt that the warm breeze carries,

Sense the warm sun on your skin.

Here is a place where you can allow all emotions and feelings to settle,

To rest for a while in this present moment,

The sound of the waves is ever so relaxing,

The warm breeze on your skin is freeing up every muscle.

The fresh air opens your rib cage to allow freedom to breathe ever so relaxing breaths,

The sand that massages your feet and toes calms your every muscle down further into relief.

On this beach,

You observe the red sky of the setting sun on the horizon,

As the sun dips into the ocean,

Feel your stress levels go down too,

As the fresh night air begins to be felt.

On the edge of this beautiful now orange sandy beach is a small forest,

Walking towards it,

You can see that there are a few odd branches laying scattered on the ground,

You pick them up and carry them towards the edge of the beach,

Doing this 3 or 4 times.

Now having collected a healthy amount of logs,

Just to the side of you is some very dry grass,

Yellow and stringy.

You pluck some of this straw looking material and place it with the logs.

Making a few small rocks,

You build a circle in the sand,

A fire place.

Placing a few logs on top of one another in an orderly fashion,

Inside the rock circle,

You grab the dried grass,

Pushing it under the dry pieces of wood.

Taking a quick look around,

On the ground are a couple of broken flint rocks,

With one in each hand,

You crack them together,

Very close to the dried grass,

Sparking a few times on each hit,

Until the grass ignites.

Blowing gently under the logs,

A flame rises from the thin puff of smoke.

You now have a self built fire place to keep you warm as night approaches.

With the sun having set a few moments ago,

The last light of the day is seen.

The once fire lit sky is now darkened by the curtain of night.

Only the glow of the moon shining down on everything gives a sense of calm and peace.

The night brings with it a refreshing cooler breeze,

But the fire you have built will keep you warm.

The waves from the ocean have also settled down.

Now lapping gently on the glistening sand on the beach shore.

Laying down and close enough to feel the warmth of the fire,

You feel at ease.

The sound of the ocean brings your muscles down into contentedness,

And the crackles of the fire reassures you that everything is ok.

Staring and gazing into the flames,

You imagine each log as a worry that may be playing on your mind,

And the flame as your energy that keeps close to each log.

As you stare and gaze more into the shadow making flames,

Your eyes begin to close,

To close for the night.

As the logs burn and the flame stays close,

This is how you can see your stresses.

With any stress that plays on your mind,

You are only guided by them.

Following those thoughts and staying close,

Until the resolution that all the wood is gone,

Then and only then,

The fire extinguishes.

To make any of that happen,

An action needed to be taken,

And that action was from yourself.

The logs and dried grass could not light themselves,

They needed an action,

And that was the action of creating a spark from the pieces of flint that you yourself found.

Only your mind and consciousness can fuel the worry,

And only action can extinguish those thoughts.

As the flames lick each and every log,

Sending a thin plume of smoke into the air,

The shadows send you sleepier,

More relaxed,

More calm.

As each breath of fresh night air is consumed,

Your every outward breath relaxes each and every muscle more and more.

Let go for now,

Sleep the contented sleep,

You are warm,

Safe and at peace in this moment.

Allow the heaviness of true relaxation to further rest your body down and bring your mind to peace.

As you lay there,

Possibly with your mind going through the thoughts that pass,

Allow yourself to shift your focus.

Next to you,

Where you lay,

Is a mirror image of yourself,

But in the form of a puzzle,

It is complete and is a replica of you.

The only difference between you and this puzzle version of yourself is that it has every encouraging and positive trait,

Which should be part of you.

Through the process of laying these pieces on top of you,

You will be replacing anything that seems to be missing.

To proceed in gaining quiet in your mind,

You pick up the first piece of the puzzle,

Taking the head and face version of the puzzle version of yourself,

You place it onto your own head and face.

Feeling your neck muscles relax,

Your mind instantly becomes quieter.

Having a little more peace inside from the relief,

The space to focus,

A freedom of clarity,

You can now think more clearly,

Concentrating only on the present moment.

Allow your head and neck to rest back,

Giving your face muscles the feeling of being liberated,

As they slowly melt into a state of nirvana.

Neither here nor there,

Your face muscles relax in every way.

Taking the next part of the puzzle from beside you,

In the mirror image that is you,

Remove the chest and shoulders,

Placing them on top of yours.

You send your rib cage expand,

Allowing for each breath to become automatically deeper and longer.

A warmth in your heart area of self love is felt,

From knowing that you are now nearing a more peaceful state.

Any stirring that was felt in your abdomen of worry or tension is now slowly dispersing,

Slowing down,

Feeling more relaxed.

Beckoning the left arm and shoulder puzzle piece from your mirror image,

You bring it into place over your left side.

Your wrist flops,

Your fingers soothe into a softer version of themselves and the palm of your left hand feels cooler as it begins to rest down.

With that easier feeling in your left hand and rest,

A slow relaxing wave washes up your left arm to your shoulder,

Your forearm loosening,

Your bicep and tricep deflating and your shoulder slowly rolling down.

A sense of tranquility is beginning to be felt within.

As you take the next piece of the puzzle away from your mirrored self,

You bring it over your hips and lower back area.

Putting it into place,

Your spine,

The base of your back and hips loosen and descend deeply into that perfect resting position.

A feeling of ease and a state of complete bliss fills your heart area as you become to be a little more complete once again.

Reaching for the piece of the puzzle that represents your legs,

You place it over your own and slide it into place.

No faster than putting it into place,

Both your ankles softly relax,

The tops of your feet feeling cooler and each toe tingling with relief.

Your feet feeling heavier from being so relaxed,

Your calf muscles and thighs deep and down,

Descending in the place where they lay.

Now sensing your knees unlocking,

Your legs and feet become even heavier.

Each breath now of sleepy sensations,

Your eyelids preferring to stay closed from being softer and more relaxed.

Now down to the last piece of the puzzle,

Your heavy right hand reaches out.

Picking up the last piece of the puzzle,

Placing it on top of yourself,

Both arms,

Hands and wrists weighing heavily down on the surface you lay upon.

Your chest and shoulders deeply positioned in comfort.

Your body now in an agreeable and very warm safe position.

Beginning to drift off,

Feeling only self love and peace inside.

Now being one with yourself and feeling complete in every way,

Nothing matters.

Except how immersed you can be in this moment.

Beautifully comfortable and sensing a silence inside of pure tranquility,

You drift deeper.

Feeling the ever present and deepening breaths of relaxed sleepiness,

You enter into sleep.

As my voice fades off and away into the distance,

You go deeper,

Heavier and more content.

Resting in relief and the soothing sensation of drifting into sleep,

You drift deeper and just let go.

Close your eyes,

Listen to your breathing.

As you receive another positive intake of breath,

As you breathe out,

Take into consideration your outward exhale.

On purging tension on every expel of air,

Your body unwinds,

Each muscle melting towards your feet.

Allow your mind to slow down as your thought processes begin to capture the essence of a sleepier state.

Unbinding yourself from all and every negative sensation,

As you breathe out,

Everything that holds you back from relaxing can be let go.

Take a moment to pause time,

Observing how your body actually feels.

If there are any areas that need to be consciously shifted to enable you to be more comfortable and less tense,

Then reposition your body to enable the gift of relaxation.

With your body now becoming softer in every way,

Gravitating downwards,

Take your attention but only as an observer to your mind.

As you breathe in the refreshing fuel you need in sleep,

Begin to dismiss any thoughts with your mind now at a slower pace,

Manageable and a bit more silent,

Hear how your breathing has deepened.

Perhaps you may begin to drift in and out of sleep as you lose track of that beautifully faint whooshing sound of air passing in and out of your nose.

Your mind and body start to feel the beginnings of peace inside,

With everything becoming and continuing to be more calm and more relaxed.

Slowly sliding into sleep,

Possibly sensing some relief in your muscles and the quieter side of your mind.

As you close your eyes down for the night,

Feel how your outward breath makes you descend down towards your feet,

Almost slumping into that position.

With each breath out,

Your body relaxes more,

So much so that it feels like you are sliding down into the dimension of sleep.

Let your subconscious communicate to you the sensation of descending,

A feeling of a subtle gradient which becomes your slide into sleep.

Feeling lighter as you draw out the tension from your body and cool your mind,

Slowly drawn down further on the gradient downwards.

It's a smooth journey all the way as you continue on your descent into the state of sleep.

As you continue your descent into the state of sleep,

The further away you are from stress or worrisome thoughts.

As you pour down,

Melting every muscle,

Coasting smoothly into sleep,

You slide into a serene and peaceful darkness behind your eyelids.

On your descent,

You pass every thought that was fatally appearing,

Which now disappears as you decline.

Every thought now falling away from your consciousness.

Sliding through the clouds in your mind,

You are lowering down,

Descending past your own consciousness.

Elevating down even more,

Past the area of your consciousness,

Where the altitude and cloud cover hides the untrue negativities that are now uncovered.

Seeing them for what they really are allows you to bring a little more peace inside,

As you now know,

They have no substance,

Just images in a transparent vapour in the sky of your mind.

Slowing down further more,

Smoothly transitioning under the clouds,

They begin to disperse,

Clearing into your own night sky within.

From passing those negative emotions,

You can see them as thoughts,

And that is what they are,

Thoughts.

Thoughts are like an idea.

To implement an idea,

Proactive steps need to be taken to manifest their intentions,

But seeing as they have no control of the physical world,

Only you have that honour.

Allow those thoughts to fade completely out of your mind.

As you ride down the subconscious level of your mind,

Every breath is filled with belief that sleep is imminent.

Feeling your body slide to the unhurried space of sleep,

You become to feel lighter in yourself.

As your mind is now clearer,

And your body,

Very much so,

More relaxed,

Your head laying back more heavily,

And your neck muscles release into a bliss of freedom,

Sliding further into sleep.

By now,

Your eyes feel heavier,

Maybe preferring to stay closed to enjoy this seamless journey into the galaxy of sleep you hold inside.

You are perfectly safe,

Possibly feeling safer than you ever have,

And the most comfortable from this experience.

Inside there is a knowing that no harm will come to you,

On this way down to sleep.

Knowing this,

You begin to feel weightless,

Almost floating downwards.

As you drift off and fade out of consciousness,

You enter into your subconscious mind,

The place of rest,

Sleep and relief.

Travelling and gliding further,

You reach the end of the slide.

The atmosphere around is a safe one,

And one that your mind accepts.

You are now weightless,

Gliding slowly downwards to a bed inside your own mind.

Here and now,

Nothing can be heard,

It is the most silent place you have ever experienced.

Floating and gliding silently,

Your mind drifts off more,

Your eyelids becoming heavier and heavier with each and every gentle and deepening breath.

Floating down,

Peacefully bathing in every silent sensation of bliss and warmth,

You give in to sleep,

Letting your mind and body completely relax.

As you drift down,

Closer to this plush bed for the night,

Every muscle instinctively relaxes,

And your mind calms to a state of peace.

Deeply content and truly relaxed,

You just let go.

Touching the soft sheets of the bed,

Your whole body enters into sleep,

From feeling weightless to now feeling ever so heavy,

Your body rests on the lullaby material that sings every part of you to sleep.

Your head rests deeply on the pillow below,

Which supports your neck,

Helping those muscles to soften even more.

As your mind drifts off,

So too does every part of your body as you enter into sleep.

All and every muscle lazily rests in the softness of the sheets,

Soft,

Silent and ever so relaxed,

You just let go.

Reviews

Thank you!

Perfect. Just what I needed. Will bookmark. 🙏🏻

This meditation/teaching has helped my mind to shut off thoughts that I am unable to do anything about while lying awake in bed so I can sleep. Thank you, Christian!

Very relaxing Great voice

Nothing but excellence! Your voice is calming, the pace of your speech appropriate. I can’t listen to guided meditations when they quickly speak. I can feel the sunlight of the spirit shining through and your essence of calmness put me right to sleep last night! Namaste 🙏🧘‍♀️❤️🌸

Thank you

This is very effective even when quite tense. 👍Thanks

Thank you.

such a soothing voice. habe only lists ed to your sleep meditations before this. I really enjoyed this one as well. 🙏

I thoroughly appreciate this meditation’s lack of pressure to address specific issues or reasons behind the listener’s stress & anxiety. Being forced to address those topics, at the wrong time, can be a source of stress for me in itself, & my always anxious mind heaved a sigh of relief when I realized that wasn’t the purpose of this meditation.
I also enjoyed the delightfully relaxing talk down to sleep at the end. Thank you!

Excellent definitely recommend for anxiety or anxious mind, great pace and Meditation! 🙏 Thank you!

What a soothing voice!

Very helpful. Thank you!

Another lovely journey, spiraling into the darkness that can be hard to find, Shanti 💜🙏

Thank you for sharing 💜

Calming voice very relaxing your words were very reassuring