Welcome to this guided meditation and visualization for connecting back to yourself when you experience anxiety and to help reduce its effects.
In this meditation,
I invite you to find a safe,
Quiet,
Calm place to sit or lie down,
Making sure that you are warm and comfortable.
With either your arms next to you if you are lying down or resting on your thighs if you are sitting,
Making sure that your back is straight.
We are going to begin with a few minutes of breath work to reconnect ourselves with our body and then to connect with our parasympathetic nervous system.
To begin,
I'm going to invite you to rest your hands on the top of your chest and your diaphragm.
Begin by slowly connecting to your breath,
Feeling your lungs expanding out,
Your chest rising and falling.
If your breath feels shallow,
Begin just to deepen it,
Deepening the inhale till you feel your lungs are comfortably full,
The same way your stomach feels full after a good meal,
Not uncomfortable or straining,
Just full.
As you exhale,
Your shoulders will slowly relax down and if you want to,
Feel free to give them a nice big roll,
Getting them into a comfortable position.
Once you begin to feel like your attention is on your body,
Feel free to drop your hands if you would like and begin just by counting your inhale to a count of four,
Pausing the air in your lungs for a count of four and then exhaling the air out for a count of four.
If at any point during this meditation you can't stay completely to the rhythm of the timing,
Do not worry,
Just do what feels comfortable and stick to your own rhythm.
We're going to begin with the inhale of four counts,
Breathing in two,
Three,
Four and pausing two,
Three,
Four and releasing two,
Three,
Four and inhaling two,
Three,
Four and pausing two,
Three,
Four and exhaling two,
Three,
Four.
Breathing in two,
Three,
Four,
Pausing two,
Three,
Four and breathing out two,
Three,
Four.
Now,
Just being comfortable with that rhythm,
You've brought your breath and body into alignment,
Feel free to breathe however feels best in this moment and just take a moment to acknowledge how much calmer and steady your breath is after that pattern.
Now I invite you,
As you're getting a sense of your body and how it feels after doing the breath work,
To visualise zooming out of your body as if you were watching yourself from above or from in front of you.
See yourself in this moment as you are,
Calm,
Breathing slowly,
Taking deep breaths,
Your eyes closed,
Looking peaceful and relaxed.
Let the feeling of that image settle.
You may experience anxiety and anxious moments,
But you are not anxiety.
You are a person who experiences it.
You can also experience calm,
Courage,
Clarity and contentment.
All of these are available to you.
So we're now going to slow our breath work down even more.
We're going to go for a five count inhale and an eight count exhale.
As I said before,
If you can't keep to this rhythm,
Just create your own that feels most comfortable.
So we're going to breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five and out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight and in,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five and out.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight and in,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five and out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
And in,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five and out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
And just returning to normal,
Comfortable breath.
Just letting your body settle after that rhythm.
Now,
After all of this breath work,
I invite you to spend a moment connecting to how calm and present your body feels or even if it's not those experiences you're having,
Let yourself feel them.
Scan through your body from head to toe and connect with its current sensations and experiences.
Ask yourself,
How do I feel and acknowledge what comes up,
Even if it's not exactly what you're desiring right now.
I'm going to invite you to take your right hand and press your thumb to the fingers to each finger,
One at a time,
Slowly.
And as you touch each of the fingers,
Speak one of the words in this statement.
I am here now.
Every time you touch your thumb to the next finger,
Say the next word,
Feeling the sensations of the point of connection and the position of your hand.
I am here now.
Just repeat that a couple of times while touching your thumb to your fingers.
This is a tool that you can take out of this meditation into your life.
Every time you feel yourself being affected by anxious or worried feelings,
Use this tool.
I am here now to reconnect with this present moment,
Connecting to the sensations and the words.
At that moment,
You may be worried or have fears,
And you may decide if they are a fight,
Flight or freeze requiring one,
Or if in this moment you can breathe through and ask for help.
The present is always available for you.
When you're ready to connect.
So take some big final deep breaths.
Begin by rolling your shoulders,
Wiggling your fingers and your toes.
When you're ready,
You can crack open your eyes and return into the room.
This is the end of the meditation,
And I wish you a calming rest of your day.
Thank you for watching!
