One Minute Mindfulness: Moving From Anxious To Calm

In this teaching, Geoff Bell-Devaney talks about the importance of turning towards our fear and embracing it with courage and compassion. He explains how we can do this by being accepting of this painful emotion and being gentle with ourselves when it arises.

Transcript

If you're feeling anxious, Give this a try. It might help. My name is Jeff, And I've been practicing and teaching mindfulness for 25 years, And anxiety has been a big part of my spiritual path, And this has really helped me, And that's to bring the awareness out of the mind, Out of thinking, Into the body. Stay here, Specifically at the chest, And really feel the breath. Notice what's going on. Pay attention to it. And instead of, This is key, Instead of needing to change how the breath is moving fast, Slow, Or rapid, Whatever, Allow it to be as it is and create a spacious container for it to do so. That is this work of finding groundedness and peace, Not only when anxiety arises, But in life in general. It's building our capacity to be with whatever's arising, Be it the breath, Emotions, Challenging situations, And it's by grounding ourselves in the body and creating spaciousness and ease, Like we're doing in this case with the breath, Holding it, Allowing it to dance around, Being the container within which it arises. That's how we start to find our way out of anxiety into a much more grounded and peaceful way of being. Hope that helps.