As we begin this practice,
Let's take a moment to welcome and congratulate ourselves in being here,
That we are actually taking this time to be present,
To go inside,
Into our own lives.
Let's take a few moments to feel how we are in the mind and the body.
A mindful check-in,
If you will.
Feeling any sensations,
Any tightness in the body,
Any feelings in your mood,
Emotions.
Just acknowledging anything that is being felt and allowing it to be.
Just feeling how we are with awareness and acknowledging whatever there is to be felt.
Now,
Very gently,
Withdrawing the awareness from the mindful check-in,
Let's bring our attention to the breath.
Being mindful of the breath in the abdomen,
Expanding on an inhalation,
And falling on an exhalation.
Breathing in and out with awareness.
Breathing normally,
Breathing naturally.
Feeling the rise and fall of the abdomen.
This kind of mindful breathing can help calm us down when we're feeling anxious,
Feeling fearful.
Just being mindful of the breath,
Coming in and going out,
Breathing in and out with awareness.
If we find in these moments of silence that our mind has wandered off,
Very gently and compassionately,
Make note of the wandering and come back to the breath in the abdomen.
Breathing in and breathing out with awareness.
Just taking a moment to slow our lives down,
Taking it one inhalation at a time and one exhalation at a time.
Breathing in and breathing out with awareness.
Moment to moment.
Now,
Gently withdrawing the senses from the breathing,
We shift our focus to a body scan.
Feeling into this body,
Into this world of sensations,
Thoughts and emotions,
And acknowledging whatever is being experienced.
Just like a meteorologist will objectively report the weather outside,
We as mindfulness practitioners are like internal meteorologists,
Reporting the weather objectively on the inside.
Whatever it is that we are feeling in the body,
In the mind,
Let's just acknowledge it,
What's being felt,
And let it be.
Whatever arises in the body,
Perhaps at times even in the mind and emotions,
Acknowledging and letting be.
As we go through this body,
We may notice from time to time tension and tightness and even aching.
If we can't allow any of these areas to soften,
By all means allow that to happen.
It's also important to know that if we're unable to soften,
Our practice informs us to let it be.
Allow whatever sensations ripple and resonate wherever they need to go.
The same applies even to our thoughts and our emotions,
Letting them be.
Feeling into the back with awareness.
Now gently connecting the face with the head and the neck and throat,
And with the shoulders,
Arms,
Hands,
Belly,
Back,
Hips,
Legs,
And feet.
Feeling the body as a whole from head to toe to fingertips.
As we breathe in,
Feeling the body rising ever so gently on the inhalation and falling on the exhalation.
As we are feeling into the body and mind,
We may at times continue to experience some anxious thoughts,
Worries,
And fears.
There are times when we can use the practice of mindfulness,
Of inquiring,
Of investigating,
To discover potentially the underlying cause of our fears.
If it appears that even after examining our body and doing some mindful breathing,
We're still persisting with some anxious feelings,
We can bring attention to those feelings themselves now,
To acknowledge what is being felt.
Feeling into the fear.
As I say this,
I want to say this with a word of compassion,
With some gentleness.
Just like on a hot day,
If we would like to go swimming,
We put our toes into the water and react with such coldness.
But through the gradual acclimation of dipping our toes in and out of the water,
We acclimate to the temperature.
And slowly,
Part by part,
Our body becomes accustomed to the temperature of the water and we can go swimming.
Very gently then,
Dipping our toes into the feeling of fear.
Just acknowledging that it's there.
Letting be.
Feeling into the fear with awareness.
There's no need to try to analyze or figure things out.
Just feeling into the experience of feeling anxious,
Fearful,
And worried.
Letting be.
Whatever arises,
Equally acknowledging and letting be.
Feeling into the heart of that very sensation.
Listening with compassion,
With no need to push ourselves any more than we can handle.
Just working right at the edge,
At the edge of our comfort.
Feeling into the anxiety and acknowledging.
As we learn to be with things as they are,
We may discover the underlying cause of our fear and pain.
Now we'll gently withdraw from the mindful inquiry practice and return once again to the breath.
In and out.
Feeling in the abdomen,
The belly expanding on the inhalation and falling on the exhalation.
Breathing in and breathing out with awareness.
Just staying present with each breath in and out.
Just being mindful,
Breathing in and breathing out.
As we come to the end of this meditation on working with anxiety,
Let's take a moment to remember all of those who are being challenged with these feelings.
All those living with fear and worry.
Let us extend our well wishes of healing,
Of peace,
To all those living in fear.
May we take these moments now to congratulate ourselves for proactively turning into the fear and working with them.
May we affirm,
As we acclimate ourselves to the fears,
That we cannot be so challenged by them.
May all beings,
All those anywhere who live in fear,
Remember to be held in a cradle of the heart of the universe,
That we have not been forsaken.
May all beings,
Wherever they are,
May they be free from fear.
May all beings be at peace.
