Hi,
This is Paige.
Anxiety is complicated,
And I don't pretend that a seven-minute practice can cure it,
But it's also reassuring to know that sometimes the simplest techniques—grounding poses and slowed-down breathing—can counter anxiety's nervous tension,
The unfocused worry,
And the heightened sense of unease.
Today's embodied meditation is a short,
Anxiety-soothing go-to.
We'll do this practice sitting.
You could be in a chair,
You could be cross-legged on the floor,
You could be in the seat of your parked car,
Wherever you find yourself.
And simply feel yourself ground.
Testing into the quality of gravity supporting you here.
And then feel your feet touching the floor,
The earth,
The floorboard of your car,
Whatever they're connected to.
Feel them ground.
Notice the quality of the solidity of your legs here,
Touching whatever you're sitting on.
And the sense of your hips steadying themselves,
Anchoring.
And then rest your hands on your belly.
Allow the weight and the temperature of your hands to connect with your belly.
And then also allow the receptivity of your palms to take in the rise and fall of your body breathing.
See how it feels to allow your next inhale to feel as if it could fill all the way into your belly and fill into your hands.
And then gently allow that exhale to recede.
Next inhale almost like you're filling a balloon,
Belly gently expanding into the hands.
And exhale that breath softly receding.
One more of those,
Inhale,
Deep belly breath,
Belly breathing into your hands.
And as you exhale the belly softening,
Relaxing back.
Then put your right hand on your left shoulder.
Let it just rest there.
Right hand on left shoulder,
Almost like it's a little weight there,
Just a comforting holding quality.
Drop your chin to your chest.
And let your right ear then drift over toward your right shoulder.
So perhaps you can breathe right into the left side of your neck as that right hand weights the left shoulder.
Drop your chin all the way back to your chest.
Float the crown of your head up,
Relax your right hand back down.
And let your left hand come to your right shoulder.
Left hand just like a gentle weight,
Comforting little holding quality on the shoulder.
Drop your chin to your chest.
Your left ear will drift over toward your left shoulder.
Space to breathe along the right side of the neck.
Roll your chin back to your chest.
Crown of your head floats back up.
Left hand can relax.
And from here we'll simply hinge forward.
So if you're sitting in a way that you would like to extend your legs,
Maybe even stretch them out,
You can stretch them out a little bit.
Just let your body hinge forward in any way and as much as it feels comfortable.
If you're in a position where you could bend your elbows and rest them on something,
On your steering wheel or your desk or even on your legs,
Then you might just hold your forehead in the heels of your hands.
Press your brow line right into your hands.
One or two more quiet breaths here.
The energy grounding,
The brain stilling,
Hands holding the forehead.
Gently rise back up again.
And just single shoulder rolls here.
Your right shoulder can roll all the way up to your ear and roll its way around back and down.
Do that with the left shoulder.
It rolls all the way up to your ear.
And as you exhale,
Let it swirl around back and down.
And then both shoulders,
They can scoop forward on an inhale all the way up to your ears.
And perhaps a gentle open mouth sigh as you exhale and roll the shoulders around back.
And down.
Find yourself again in a comfortable seat.
You could recross your legs if you extended them,
Adjusting yourself,
Noticing how the energy settles and grounds.
Back to the quality of breathing all the way into your belly on your inhales.
And then gently lengthening out the exhale as you release it.
Inhale all the way into the belly,
Deep grounding breath.
And as you exhale,
Allow that exhale to last just a little bit longer than the inhale did.
One more of those.
Inhale all the way into the belly,
Stabilizing,
Steadying breath.
And as you exhale,
Gently draw out that exhale.
I'm so glad you carved out this short pocket of time for yourself.
And I look forward to being with you again soon.
