Ease Anxiety And Worry

Hello,

I'm Jen.

Today we will release worry and anxious thoughts by grounding down,

Remembering our strength,

And redirecting misguided energy.

So find a nice,

Comfortable position,

Ideally in a quiet space.

Ensure you have a tall spine,

Tuck your chin slightly,

Lift the crown of the head toward the ceiling.

Begin to settle in here with your hands face down on your knees and breathe in and out slowly and deeply just to ground down.

Check in with your thoughts,

Begin to notice your thoughts,

Even the anxious thoughts.

Don't try to ignore them,

Just notice them,

Watch them,

Let them do their thing.

As you continue to breathe here,

Just notice how your body feels.

And notice where the energy is collecting in your body,

How your body responds to anxiety and worry.

Notice if there are any areas of tension,

Any areas that feel tight or numb,

Shaky.

And as you continue to breathe here,

See if you can breathe even deeper,

Expanding the breath out to these areas.

And as you exhale,

Focus on exhaling the tension,

Exhaling the sensation.

Take a few more breaths like this,

Just really filling the body and really releasing even just a little bit of this tension or this numbness or this shakiness.

Very subtle changes add up to great changes over time.

So be patient with yourself and continue to breathe.

Continue to expand to feel rooted down into the earth.

Now gently bring your right thumb up to block your right nostril and breathe in and out through your left nostril,

Slow,

Deep and complete.

By breathing through only the left nostril,

We're kicking the parasympathetic nervous system into gear,

Allowing the body to calm down.

Ensure that your exhales match your inhales.

And breathing through the left nostril only,

Imagine again this breath expanding throughout your body,

Releasing any tension,

Any worry,

Releasing what you hold in the body,

Breaking this energy up so that we can use it for more productive things.

After your next round of breath,

Gently release the thumb down and breathe in through both nostrils and release through both nostrils.

Continue to breathe slow and deep and just notice any shifts,

If any.

Now bring to mind whatever it is that worries you or makes you anxious.

We're not here to run from these thoughts.

We're here to sit with them,

Acknowledge them.

So bring these worries,

These anxieties to mind.

If you can,

Assign an image to whatever is worrying or bothering you.

Bring this image to the forefront of your mind.

Whatever outcome,

Whatever ailment,

Whatever interaction that is bothering you,

Just bring it to mind.

Don't run from it.

You are strong and supported here.

You are rooted down to the earth.

You are breathing slow and deep.

Now take this image and push it to the back of the mind and bring up a new image,

An image of yourself when you felt confident,

Where you felt strong,

Where you felt you could navigate ambiguity or difficulty.

Imagine a time when you felt you were showing up with grace as your full self.

You'll see this image as well as you can see it and allow it to grow stronger,

More vivid,

More colorful.

Even if it's abstract,

That's okay.

Even if it's just the idea of an image,

That's okay.

Allow it to grow stronger.

And in the background is your worry,

Your projection.

See that beginning to fade,

Beginning to matter less.

As you show up as this ideal self,

This self that you know that you can be,

There is less need to be anxious or to worry.

There is the realization that we can show up even to difficult situations as our best self with grace,

With strength.

Breathe into this image of yourself,

Strong,

Steady.

It may be from an event in the past.

It may be an image of yourself right now meditating,

Feeling the ground beneath you,

Breathing through,

Breathing beyond,

Breathing strong.

Now sit up even taller,

Crown of the head reaching up toward the ceiling.

Take a deep breath in all the way to the lower belly.

Hold at the top and squeeze your body,

Squeeze your fists,

Squeeze your legs,

Squeeze your abdominals in and release through the mouth.

Two more times like that.

Inhale,

Feel your strength,

Squeeze,

Pull all of the muscles in toward the bone and release.

One last time,

Inhale,

Squeeze the body,

Feel your strength.

And before you exhale,

Imagine all of the things that have been bothering you.

Imagine all of the power they've had over you and then exhale,

Let that power they had over you go.

Feel steady,

Feel connected to yourself,

To the earth,

Feel connected to others,

To your journey.

Now as your breath goes back to its normal cadence,

Allow your mind just briefly to go completely blank.

And from here,

With a blank slate,

Gently blink your eyes open,

Roll your shoulders back,

Take in the light of the room and for a final time,

Acknowledge your strength,

Your grace,

Your ability.

Well done.

I wish you a lovely day,

A lovely evening.