Transforming Anxiety During This Time Of Crisis

Dan put this practise together to help support the global initiatives in support of those suffering with anxiety, fear, and panic in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

It is a practise based around connecting with ourselves first and calming our feeling of anxiety, and then opening that space with compassion to help heal as a comm-unity. We can unite in meditation and send the gift of compassion onto all those who are suffering.

Background music: "Silence" by Ravi Shankar

Transcript

Thank you so much for taking the time to come and sit and practice.

What I called a forgiveness meditation,

But really it's about reconnecting and opening our heart,

Not just for ourselves,

But to everyone else that's struggling around you and recognizing that common humanity within all of us.

This is a truly global pandemic.

It is something that is touching every nation.

I saw a stat the other day,

It's like 160 out of 190 countries this virus has spread to.

What it shows is that color,

Race,

Class,

Culture,

Society,

Age,

Doesn't matter,

That we are all one human species.

If there's anything that we learn from this,

People call it a crisis,

A pandemic,

Is that we are one connected human race.

With this little meditation,

I just want you to get yourself comfortable.

I'm sure you probably already are,

Just relaxing,

Resting into your practice.

Let's take a few moments just to breathe,

Feel the body underneath you.

With that shift of attention,

Just seeing if you can start with just your toes and your feet.

Just resting your attention there for a few moments.

How do they feel?

What do they feel?

I just want you to breathe out and relax.

As you're breathing out,

Just really extending your out-breath and just letting your toes and your feet relax.

Just breathing out and relaxing.

Just letting it go.

And guiding your attention into your legs.

So from your ankles all the way up to your hips.

If you're sitting,

Maybe you can get a sense of pressure.

Maybe you can feel your hands in your lap.

If you're lying down again,

Maybe just feeling the legs being supported by the couch or the bed,

Wherever you are.

Just resting your attention there.

That's all you're doing.

No need to judge.

Nothing really defined.

Other than just resting your attention and noticing whatever is available to you.

Just letting your awareness move about freely,

Interestingly.

And again,

Breathing out.

Just seeing if we can relax our legs.

Just breathe out.

Long and slow.

Breathing out.

Just letting it go and relaxing that part of our body.

And then bringing our attention up into the torso.

From the hips all the way to the shoulders.

Just feeling as much of this part of the body as you can.

How much of the torso can you feel?

Now we're trying to do this without trying to create a sensation.

Just resting your attention there.

Just seeing how much you can feel.

What is it that you feel?

Maybe you feel the breath,

The movement.

There's no right or wrong feelings.

No need for judgment.

And then as we breathe out,

Just breathing out and seeing if we can relax the torso.

Just breathing out long and slow and just relaxing the torso.

Just letting it go.

Letting it relax.

And then finally into the arms and into the head.

Maybe you can feel the warmth of each hand.

Maybe you can feel the arms,

Shoulders,

The head,

The eyes,

The nose,

The mouth.

Just remembering any type of distraction.

Maybe you heard a big fellow of a dog wandering in the room.

You got distracted by the noise of the movement.

Maybe it's thoughts or sounds outside of you.

Just being patient with yourself.

A wonderful part about this practice is catching it as the mind drifts.

Just gently guiding it back into the arms,

Into the head,

The mouth,

The teeth,

The tongue.

Maybe the movement of the breath through the nose.

Tingling in the hands,

Whatever it is.

And just bringing our attention now to the breath.

And doing one long big breath out.

Letting go of all the tension in the shoulders,

The hands,

The arms,

The head.

As best as you can do.

Maybe you'll feel the definitive letting go.

You'll breathe out and you'll feel more relaxed.

Maybe you won't.

Both are okay.

It's the intention that we set behind doing this practice.

Like I said right back at the start,

The real intention of this practice is about compassion for ourselves and for others,

Connecting,

Forgiveness.

I want you to do two more big deep breaths.

But this time we're going to just try and do the whole body.

Just breathing out long and slow.

Just breathe out really long and slow.

All the way to the end of the breath.

Do you almost have nothing left?

Just doing that twice and allowing your breath to come back to its normal rhythm.

What we're going to do is just spend the next minute or two just watching our breath.

Breathing as it gently moves into and out of the body.

Watching the movement of the mind as it talks about,

Reminds you of things that you're supposed to have done today or yesterday.

Just calming that down,

Using the breath,

Bringing that attention back to the breath again.

Doing that as many times as you'd like.

Don't worry about busy mind.

The less we worry about how busy our mind is,

The less busier our mind gets.

It's impossible to out think thinking with thoughts.

So what we do is just train ourselves with the breath.

Train ourselves with the body.

Just getting acquainted with this movement,

This constant movement and change.

Our breath changes a lot more than what we're currently seeing in the world at the moment.

So it's not that we can't deal with change.

It's just sometimes we forget how incredible we are as human beings and let our fear and anxiety overtake us,

Leading to all this panic.

It's easy to criticize and judge those that are hoarding toilet paper and meat.

But they are scared.

They truly are scared.

And yes,

They're only thinking of themselves but unfortunately they may not have been given the same morals and values and upbringings that you have.

And within that it's a wonderful opportunity to bring some kindness and some compassion towards them.

Now if you can't do that at the moment,

If they're really upsetting you,

Frustrating you with greed and ignorance,

That's okay.

Just working with your own feelings of greed and ignorance.

And remember any distractions,

Any sounds.

Occasionally you might hear my dad wandering around upstairs.

Just noticing the steps,

Footsteps and just coming back to the breath again.

Because practice isn't perfect.

It's not supposed to be.

It's not about seeking perfection in any way.

All we're doing at the moment is just watching our breath.

Watching the movement,

Watching the change.

These first real steps into compassion.

Just breathing.

Letting go.

Doesn't need to be perfect,

Just using that breath.

Like this.

Now please,

Just please try and imagine you.

You stood in front of you.

Imagine seeing you stood there in front of you with open arms.

If you're anything like me and you're not too great at visualizing.

Just want you to imagine it.

I don't need to see the visual side of it.

Just imagining you stood there.

Remembering yourself in some way.

And just setting that intention you know.

That even though I can't see me I can imagine me being there with open arms.

And how that might feel.

And as you're imagining standing in front of you.

You take this embrace from yourself.

You just hear yourself whispering.

I wish you compassion.

I wish you happiness and health.

I wish you to be free.

And as you stand in front of you,

You continue to whisper.

I forgive you for being anxious.

I forgive you for panicking.

I forgive you for putting me down about it.

I forgive you for the choices you've made.

And I forgive you for feeling sad about it.

Now please be patient with me.

I know I'll get better.

Everything will be okay.

This too shall pass.

You will never ever have no one.

You'll always have me.

I forgive you for feeling guilty.

I forgive you for being impatient.

I forgive you for hurting.

I forgive you for being emotional.

It's okay and normal to be upset.

I love you.

You are so very important.

You are truly amazing.

Incomparable.

Unique in every way.

There will never be another like you.

Ever.

Love this.

And as your voice begins to rise to yourself,

You hear your words.

There's some authority telling you I can do it.

This anxiety is like breath that comes,

It stays and then it goes.

I can realize that just like my breath it changes in every moment.

That every moment is an opportunity for me to see through fresh eyes.

It's an opportunity for compassion.

I can realize that just like my breath flows out of me,

So will this anxious feeling.

I can realize that these anxious feelings,

They aren't permanent.

They come and they go.

They are transient.

They flow in as quick as they flow out sometimes.

I like to stay and frustrate me but often it's because I let them and that's okay.

I remember my happy times and I know these will come again soon but I won't beat myself up about those days of happiness.

There is no point in comparing how I am now to when I was happy.

They are two totally different parts of my life,

Impossible to compare.

This anxiety,

This sensation,

It's not me.

It's not the true me.

I know me.

As I breathe in,

I breathe in calm.

As I breathe out,

I smile.

As I breathe in,

I breathe in calm.

As I breathe out,

I smile.

As I breathe in,

I breathe in calm.

As I breathe out,

I smile.

As I breathe in,

I breathe in calm.

And as I breathe out,

I smile.

Just keep breathing with me.

Let's breathe through this together.

Just use that breath to bring that calmness,

Harnessing that anxious energy.

I always have in the forefront of my mind that wonderful response from Thich Nhat Hanh when asked about the horrible situation that he went through in the Vietnam War.

And his reply was,

If my heart is filled with anxiety,

Then how can I help?

Just keep breathing in that calm.

Maybe if you breathe out,

Maybe bringing a smile to your face if you want to or feel like you'd like to if you haven't already.

Or just breathing out and get a sense of the smile that's always within you.

It's never,

Never without,

Never outside.

It's always there.

Sometimes it's well hidden.

In these more disruptive times of our lives.

As we now really begin to harness that energy,

Harness that sense of anxiety and fear and starting to do some good with it.

A wonderful practice I remember always getting taught with anxiety is remembering it is part of the human condition.

Because we all feel anxiety in different ways,

It is a part of all of us.

It is our response to fear.

It is a disruptive emotion.

And if we can move outside of the sense that is just I that I'm feeling this and into the we as a common space that all of us may be feeling.

You begin to recognize and feel compassion for others that are struggling with that anxiety with you.

That is not you,

It is us as a collective.

It is no longer this idea of I am,

That it is now the collective of we are.

And we will get through this,

We will struggle through this together.

How we struggle through this,

Set benchmarks,

Point the way for our children and their children's children of how we can come together as a society through compassion,

Through embracing this fear which I know is different from others.

I'm not trying to belittle it in any way,

Just give it an option.

As we move and try and harness this practice into some compassion.

Just want you just in your eyes or in your mind's eye,

Just imagine the color of compassion for you right now.

Maybe it's a healing green or deep red of love,

Whatever it is.

Just want you to imagine in your eyes and your thoughts,

Again if you're like me maybe the color of your compassion is black,

Which isn't a bad thing.

Just imagining this color all around you.

You don't ever have to see the color,

You can just imagine.

I want you to imagine breathing this color directly into your heart,

Breathing straight into the heart.

Every breath that we take this ball of compassion begins to grow and grow within our heart.

It's starting off as this little bubble growing with every breath that we take in we feed this compassion held within our heart.

Letting this ball of kindness grow and grow until we are immersed within it.

I just want you to imagine every breath,

Maybe you can feel the breath go straight into the heart.

Sometimes we really can feel it,

This sense of coldness,

Not that the coldness is a bad thing,

But it's almost like we can breathe the freshness of this next moment directly into our heart.

We're lacing that freshness with kindness,

Breathing that compassion in.

The nice thing to do as well as you're breathing in is just saying the word compassion to yourself or maybe something else that you need just now.

So we breathe that kindness directly into our heart and this ball begins,

Keeps growing and growing.

Maybe like I said just saying compassion as you breathe in.

So it grows and grows.

Again doesn't need to be perfect,

Maybe you haven't got the most perfect word and that's okay.

Right now the most important part is this intention of growing that compassion within us.

Letting it expand with each breath.

Remember any distractions you just come back into the breath again,

Never with criticism.

Everyone loves to wonder,

Loves to know if it's doing it right.

Of course you are.

Now what I want you to do,

I just want you to immerse yourself still in this ball of kindness.

I want you to imagine,

Whilst I'm sure there aren't,

But maybe hundreds of thousands of others all sat in their rooms or their couches or lay down in their beds wherever they are,

All around the world harnessing this ball of kindness.

Just want you to imagine that,

Imagine all these people all around the world all sitting in this ball of compassion.

I want you to just try and connect with them.

Imagine maybe linking out from your heart,

Linking up with everyone in jersey,

All these meditators coming together at once and harnessing,

Harnessing compassion and kindness and connecting with the view of sharing this energy to all those struggling.

Just taking a few moments now,

Just imagining that connection,

One universal energy of kindness.

Now I want you to imagine this universal energy begins to seek out all those that are struggling at the moment,

Those that are isolated,

Those that are suffering,

The ill,

The health carers,

The nurses and the doctors,

Anyone and everyone,

You can harness some of that anxiety and send out kindness,

Connecting with their struggle.

Watching this ball of energy just growing and flooding through streets and into hospitals and homes and seeing your compassion wrap around these people like a warm blanket when it's cold,

Those loving arms of yours wrapping around them and telling them not to be scared.

Well thank you for everything that you've done or that you're never alone.

We are always here.

As a community we've got this far,

All we need to do is believe in ourselves and believe in others again.

Hope underpins all that we do in times of crisis.

This is our opportunity to meet this pandemic with compassion for ourselves and as we're doing just sharing that light of hope for others,

Just imagining that warmth covering them,

This kindness coming out of our bedrooms all over the globe and joining together as a universal blanket of compassion and feeling that warmth,

Feeling that connection and feeling that security.

We will get through this.

Life does not end here.

Now all I want you to do,

I just want you to imagine just leaving that compassion out there.

You've done an amazing thing today just spreading that love,

Harnessing that anxiety,

Connecting with that common humanity and leaving that warmth with them.

Before I finish I just want to offer one of my most favorite quotes,

So pertinent in times like this by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.

The most beautiful people we've known are those that have known defeat,

Have known suffering,

Known struggle,

Known loss and have found their way out of the depths.

These persons,

They have an appreciation,

A sensitivity and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion and gentleness and deep loving concern.

Beautiful people do not just happen.

And now just bringing a bit of attention back into your breath again.

The next breath I just want you to see how much of it you can feel,

How much of the next breath is there.

How much of that next breath.

Feeling it flow in and flow out and watching it change.

Just for the next 60 seconds just resting,

Watching this breath,

Watching movement,

Not worrying about thinking,

Feeling,

Worrying about anything.

And take this compassion with you into the rest of your day.

Thank you so much.

Reviews

Wonderful. I can’t get enough of your meditations they are like a blanket of peace

Absolutely loved this meditation. Fell deeply into it. Will be using this one on a regular basis. Love dans voice

Thanks Dan...very reassuring. Stay safe all xx

May kindness & compassion ripple out to all fellow earthlings, especially all our true heros on the front lines. Namaste 🙏

Calming and healing. I hope all the positive energy and healing reaches around the whole World very soon. Thank you for sharing this sweet meditation. ☮️💖🙏☸️

Really beautiful, calming, and healing! Thank you so much 🙏🏼✨

Thank you!!! 🙏🙏🙏

This moment was amazing to share.
Thank you for the compassionate way you do it.
Bless you
Take good good care of you 🙏💕🌟
Love and light
Caroline