Welcome to this health anxiety meditation by Gabriela Damori.
Thank you for being here.
No doubt you've been worried,
Stressed,
Unsure and perhaps a little panicked recently.
But for now let's focus on this meditation practice and find reprieve in your worries.
We're going to take a break from the mind,
Come into our bodies and be with what's really happening in this moment.
Just do your best and remember that even a reduction in your stress and your worry is valuable and important.
As we start to settle into this meditation we're going to focus on our beautiful breath.
Perhaps you've been breathing shortly lately,
The breath has been trapped in your chest.
Start to extend and slow down your breathing so that your shoulders can relax,
Your chest can expand and your belly can start to move out as you breathe in.
And as you breathe out fully and slowly empty the belly and gently squeeze it towards the spine.
Continue to take your time here to breathe in,
In through the nose,
Nice long slow exhalations out through the nose or the mouth.
Each time you breathe out drop the shoulders,
Relax the muscles in your face,
Allow your body to feel a little heavier.
Continue to breathe deeply extending your breath and each time you do so return your awareness to your breath even if you've become distracted.
Focus on your breath moving through your body,
Through the nose,
Down the back of the throat,
Into the body.
Trace the breath as you breathe out,
Up through the throat and out through the nose or the mouth.
Enjoy the simplicity of this exercise simply focusing on your inhalation and your exhalation.
As you continue to breathe,
As you inhale I want you to focus on breathing in a sense of calmness,
A sense of peace.
We're really going to transform the energy or the feeling in your body right now.
Leave the worry at bay,
Breathe in a beautiful sense of stillness and calmness and peace into your body.
We'll come back to our lives later but for now doing our best to shift and transform the feelings in your body.
Breathing in calm and when you breathe out focus on letting go of any stress,
Tension or worry in the body.
Use your exhalation to breathe that out of your body as much as you can and then when you breathe in,
Breathing in a continued sense of calm and peace and safety.
Continue this in your own time breathing in calm,
Breathing out worry,
Fear,
Anxiety and you may need to breathe ferociously.
You may have been so wound up you really need to let go during your exhalation.
Go ahead and do that.
If you're having trouble breathing or extending your breath just do your best.
Notice any resistance you feel to letting go or not thinking or worrying.
We'll get back to the mind later but now it's important to reduce your stress and your anxiety,
Calm your nervous system and continue to return your awareness to your breath time and time again.
You're doing really well.
Continue to breathe deeply and then let the breath settle into a natural rhythm,
Something that is comfortable and yet still long and slow and relaxing.
We're going to move into a reflective component of this meditation now and I want you to in the spirit of mindfulness take stock of what is actually happening in this moment.
Where are you and what is actually happening and importantly what isn't happening in this moment.
What can you feel?
Where are your clothes?
What are you sitting on?
What else is in the room that you're in?
What can you touch and be sure of?
What can you hear in the room?
Continue to breathe deeply,
Coming into mindfulness practice,
Staying with what is happening in this room in this moment.
For now we don't have to think of the tasks we have to do or things to worry about,
Just focusing on what's happening in this moment and now we're going to contemplate some different thoughts while you continue to breathe deeply.
If you have many decisions to make,
Ask yourself what decisions can I make today?
What decisions can I make today?
We can't make all of them and there will be many decisions to make in the future,
But what decision can I make today?
If you're feeling unsure and confused,
Ask yourself what do I know for sure?
Just let your imagination run wild whatever comes to you.
Ask yourself truly what do I know for sure?
What can you say you know with certainty?
What is reliable?
What do you know for sure about yourself,
Your family,
Your capacity,
Your strength?
Maybe it's even information around your health anxiety.
What do you know for sure?
Now if you've been feeling out of control,
Uncentered,
If you've been feeling disempowered,
It's time now to ask yourself what am I in control of?
What do I have the power to control?
What can I influence?
What can I do securely,
Certainly?
What am I in control of?
Now thinking about what have I learned about my resilience to cope?
Don't focus on where you have floundered or been unsure or shaky.
It's important to think about what have you noticed about your capacity and resilience to cope recently?
What have you noticed about your ability to adapt,
To be flexible?
What have you noticed about your ability to plan?
What have I learned about my capacity,
My resilience,
My adaptability and my flexibility?
Lastly contemplating now that if my routine has to change and maybe it has to change drastically,
But how can I make the most of this?
How can I make the most of my routine changing?
How can I do my best to find adventure,
To find curiosity,
Interest?
How can I make the most of my routine having to change?
How can I make it fun or exciting or interesting at least?
Where can I take new driving routes,
Try new food or recipes?
Where can I explore different things to do at home in my spare time?
How can I prioritize self-care better?
How can I care for myself in a more nourishing and supportive way?
Moving away from our contemplative part of this meditation and let's move into some reassuring affirmations.
With affirmations you don't have to feel these wholly or without resistance,
Just do your best to explore and remind yourself of how resilient you truly are.
Remind yourself of what is true in this moment,
On this day.
Repeating silently to yourself after I say the statement,
I trust myself to be wise.
I trust myself to be wise.
I trust myself to be wise.
I trust myself to take care of myself.
I trust myself to take care of myself.
Breathing in deeply and allow your body to believe and have faith in yourself.
I trust myself to take care of my family and my loved ones.
I trust myself to take care of my family and my loved ones.
I trust myself to make good decisions.
I trust myself to make good decisions.
Remembering to breathe deeply and slowly.
I trust myself to be able to cope.
I trust myself to be able to cope.
I trust myself to adapt and be flexible.
I trust myself to adapt and be flexible.
Beautiful,
You're doing really well.
Just continue to do your best.
Take another deep breath here and we're going to send ourselves and others some well wishes,
Some hopes for ourselves and others.
Just repeat these silently to yourself after me time and time again.
May we be safe.
May we all be safe.
May we stay connected.
May we stay connected.
May we be aware.
May we be aware.
May we be peaceful.
May we be peaceful.
May we be kind.
May we be kind.
May we be confident.
May we be confident.
May we be confident.
May we trust ourselves.
May we trust ourselves.
May we trust ourselves.
You're doing so beautifully.
Take another deep breath here and now I want you to imagine a really beautiful shield of protection around you.
This is not something that looks like you're locked up or that's a fort around you.
More like a porous and gentle protective shield around you.
You may like to see this as a white light or a beautiful colored light around you.
A color that makes you feel joyful or happy and safe.
And see this bubble of protection around you all the way down your back,
Your sides,
Above your head and below your feet.
And in this beautiful circle around you I'm going to invite you to commit to not absorbing others energy or fear or anxiety.
Let that be theirs.
But now in this meditation,
In this room,
You're in your own space,
Your own energy,
Your own thoughts.
And even though others may be unsure or worried,
You're here in this moment cultivating calmness,
Confidence and trust in yourself.
And it's important to stay with how you're feeling.
Protect yourself from others frenzy,
Others chaos and others worries.
Here in this moment you feel perfectly safe,
Perfectly calm,
Perfectly capable.
Continue to breathe in and visualize this light or circle all around you.
And we're going to close this meditation soon,
But I'm going to invite you to commit to moving throughout your day from this grounded and centered place.
Remembering your shield of protection around you and continuing to not take on anybody else's stress or frenzy.
You can continue to face your health anxiety or worry from a place of groundedness and calmness.
In fact it'll allow you to make better decisions and move through your day more easily.
We're going to close the meditation now.
Remember your breath and take this final opportunity to breathe deeply.
Breathe ferociously if you need to.
Breathe gently if you need to.
Do what you can just for a few more cycles of breath.
You can come back to this state and this meditation at any time.
There's no limit to how many times you can practice this daily or many times throughout the day.
When we come back to our breath and we come back to our own inner world and we come back to this moment and what's happening right now,
Everything is okay.
Thank you for listening to this meditation and being here with me today.
