Beginning.
By focusing attention into the present.
As much as you are able to at this time.
During periods of anxiety and stress.
We are likely to have chaotic thoughts.
A lot of turmoil in the mind.
A lot of restlessness,
Agitation.
Many situations,
Circumstances,
Things to fix,
Things to change.
So it can be challenging.
To snap into presence immediately.
So be compassionate with yourself about this.
There's no rush.
There's no hurry.
The present moment is always the present moment.
It's not going anywhere.
It's never not now.
So there's no rush or hurry to focus your attention.
Into the here and now.
So let's just gently.
.
.
Bring ourselves into the present.
Gradually.
And slowly disengage.
From all of those stories in the mind.
They are just stories.
We could imagine that we are leaving all of those stories.
Outside of the room or the space that you're in.
Let them be elsewhere.
Just for this time.
Everything can be fixed and dealt with later.
We're just using this opportunity.
Give yourself a little space.
A little room.
So don't engage.
Those stories of the mind,
The situations,
The circumstances.
Nothing needs to be done now.
When we are anxious and stressed everything feels very immediate.
Everything feels like an emergency.
Like it has to be dealt with now.
Everything has to be dealt with now.
This is not the case.
Anxiety is a liar.
It's not accurate Reality is just this.
Just this,
Just now.
So we can disengage.
From those stories.
The narratives,
The situations,
Just leave them alone.
And gently,
Moment by moment,
Becoming more here,
More now.
Let's open awareness.
To the present.
You might find that becoming very aware of the breath is a good place to start Just allow the breath to rise and fall.
And we're not expecting to immediately be relieved of our anxiety and stress.
We're not immediately going to become a Zen Buddha.
That's not the expectation.
Instead,
Just this.
Just be aware of the breath.
Let everything happen naturally in its own time.
The only task is to just be aware of the sensations of breathing.
No rush.
Notice the simplicity of this.
Just the breath.
Now recognize you can only ever feel.
The breath that arises in the here and now.
So the breath is a very powerful.
.
.
Method.
For returning to presence at all times.
If you ever find yourself lost in the mind,
Just go to the breath.
If nothing else,
It helps.
Very good.
Bringing ourselves fully into the here and now.
Remain attentive to the breath.
And also become aware of anything you can hear.
But see if you can just hear natural sound.
Or even the silence.
Without naming anything.
Just a very neutral,
Natural observation of sound.
And then anything you can smell.
What's the scent?
In your space now.
And what is the roar?
Sensation of that sense,
The scent.
Nothing attached.
No associations.
Can go to the taste in the mouth.
And feel the temperature in the room or the space you're in.
Just neutral observation.
And recognise how things have changed.
Before we became very present and aware of the senses,
They were in the background.
But now.
Bring them to the foreground.
The forefront of your attention.
The breath.
Sound,
Scent And just like that,
We are back in the here and now.
Welcome back.
Let's take a minute one minute.
To just see if we can be with the senses.
As the senses.
And I know.
There's probably still a lot of activity in the mind.
Saying you don't have time for this or this isn't working or this doesn't work.
Constant chatter of the mind.
That's okay.
Just be aware of that as well.
Just don't engage.
You can be aware of something but not engage with it.
Just as you're aware of what you can hear without attaching a label.
Be aware of what you're thinking,
But just don't get involved.
There's no emergency.
Nothing needs to happen.
Leave it alone.
But it's there.
That's okay.
We'll take one minute here just to be fully present.
Very good.
Now we are in this.
Much more grounded.
Place.
Much more stable.
Might still be uncomfortable,
But.
.
.
Something has shifted.
That's something.
Now as we continue with this meditation.
If at any time.
.
.
You find that you're becoming lost once again in thoughts.
Stuck.
In a thought stream?
Or stuck on a train of thought?
Just return to the present.
You can even just disengage from my words and what I'm saying and instead just come back to the now.
This is how we retrain the habit of the mind.
Become more peaceful,
Free of anxiety and stress.
This is the training now.
We often think.
.
.
Of anxiety and stress as psychological.
Something that happens only in the mind.
And therefore we try to fix it in the mind.
Ineffective as I'm sure you've found.
We cannot solve a problem of thinking through more thinking.
It's like throwing petrol onto a fire to put it out.
Doesn't work.
The far better approach is to remove the fuel from the fire.
So we ordinarily think of anxiety and stress as psychological.
But I'm inviting you here.
To consider anxiety and stress as something physical.
Purely physical.
Forget psychology.
Don't even think of it as mental health.
Think of it as physical.
Physical.
Just for the duration.
Of this meditation now feeling.
In the body How does the anxiety,
How does the stress manifest for you in the body?
Now in this moment.
Not how it has done in the past or will do in the future,
But now,
In this moment.
How is it for you?
Physically.
What are the sensations?
I know this will be uncomfortable.
But this is.
.
.
Profoundly healing.
Where is it?
In the body.
What are the symptoms in the body?
And go there.
And stay there.
Ordinarily we feel.
Agitated,
Restless,
Tense,
Anxious.
In the body and then go right up into the head.
To try and distract,
To try and get away,
To try and move away from.
Just for now,
Just the next five minutes.
Feel it.
In the body.
What is here?
How does it feel in the here and now in the body?
What are the sensations?
Where are you most affected?
The heart,
The chest,
Throat,
Head.
Are you sweating?
It tighten the joints the back Is the stomach knotted up?
Develop a very clear picture in the body of where stress is being generated from.
Where is the anxiety emanating from in the body?
Bring full awareness to it.
Full and total.
Complete.
Keep breathing.
Now.
Don't try to change the physical sensation.
We have been trying to do that unsuccessfully,
Probably for many years.
Instead,
Just be aware of the sensation.
And that's all.
Just aware.
Just observe.
And being as though this were the very first time you've ever felt.
This sensation.
You don't even know any words like anxiety or stress.
You don't know anything about nervous systems or adrenaline or anything like that.
Just don't worry about that for now.
Instead,
How is it experienced as a sensation?
No words,
No associations,
No attachments.
Just feel,
Just feel.
How has it felt now?
And we're not trying to get rid of it now.
Even if it's uncomfortable,
Just feel.
Breathe.
Presence.
There are no situations or circumstances we're not engaging.
We're just dealing with what is here.
In reality.
Not imagination,
Reality.
Awareness of the very real sense.
And now,
Bringing ourselves into a total acceptance.
We are not accepting the situation.
We still may wish to change the situation.
People.
Jobs,
Relationships,
Living situation,
Health,
All of those things.
We still want to change those.
That's fine.
But in this moment now.
Accept the sensation itself.
Don't bury it.
Don't distract yourself from it.
Don't try to get away.
Just be with it.
As it.
Accept in this moment it is here We cannot deny that now.
There is no doubt that feeling is here.
And this feeling is.
.
.
Fine.
Not a problem.
Fear and pressure in the body in this moment.
It may be uncomfortable.
But is it unbearable?
Is it hellish?
Is it suffering?
Or is it just a physical sensation?
And that's something.
That's something.
It's a little glimmer.
Can you feel your power here?
Power to acknowledge,
Observe,
Accept and allow.
The strength To bear this.
To be this.
As this.
And notice the deeper and more totally you can accept the physical sensation.
The less chaotic the mind is.
The less vivid.
All of those conversations and emotions and.
.
.
Mental images are.
Whenever you find yourself lost in those images,
Go to the physical sensation instead.
Turn away from the mind.
Go into the body.
And do this repeatedly.
Just all the time.
Until it becomes the habit.
At the first sign of stress and tension.
Immediately go to the body,
Go to where it's being felt in the body.
Accept allow Have compassion for yourself.
And bring love.
To the feeling.
Total welcoming acceptance.
And therein,
The sensation is neutralised.
Just another sensation like any other.
This may take some practice.
But once that mechanism is securely in place once that habit is there to recognize to not go into the mind instead go to the body things will change for you and they will change very quickly Thank you for doing this meditation with me today.
I know how hard this is.
Speaking from experience.
This is.
.
.
Do not be disheartened or demoralised if you find that.
.
.
Sometimes it seems to help,
Sometimes it doesn't.
Sometimes it works,
Sometimes it doesn't.
Just keep going.
Keep going.
You're retraining your.
.
.
Body and mind on a very deep level here.
Through this mindfulness,
Through this meditative practice.
I am always surprised by just how deeply the positive change is.
Become.
Permanent.
I'm speaking from experience I used to suffer anxiety and stress to a debilitating extent.
And now.
.
.
Just the ordinary amount of worry and pressure that.
.
.
Healthy person feels.
Through mindfulness practice.
And physical training.
Thank you for doing this meditation with me today.
Take care.
Be well.
And stay present.
