So you're experiencing work-related anxiety right now.
It could be a tight deadline for an important project.
Maybe an upcoming meeting or a difficult conversation.
Could be having self-doubt about your performance.
Dealing with a demanding boss or bullying colleague.
Or maybe there's a perception of unfair treatment.
Whatever it is,
Take a moment now to acknowledge what's happening.
This meditation will help you release the sensations of anxiety so you can have another look at the situation from a point of greater clarity and calmness.
Let's start by practicing deep abdominal breathing.
Place both your hands on your belly and make sure that as you're breathing in,
Your belly expands and as you're breathing out,
It contracts back to its original place.
Breathe like this slowly and deeply,
A few times.
Now let's practice the ROAR method.
ROAR is one of the techniques of mindful self-discipline and it stands for Recognize,
Observe,
Accept and Release.
Start by recognizing and labeling anxiety.
You do that by noticing that anxiety is here.
And you label in your mind,
Anxiety is here.
You don't say,
I am anxious or I have anxiety,
Because that would create a sense of attachment and identification with the emotion.
Instead you just say,
Anxiety is here.
Facing a label like this helps you recognize that there is a natural space between anxiety and you.
Anxiety as an emotion,
As a state of mind that comes and goes,
And you as pure consciousness.
Notice how there is already a bit of a space of neutrality and objectivity when you label it like this.
Then we go to observe.
Observe the physical sensations of anxiety in your body.
Could be a sense of tightness in your head or tension in the shoulders or your stomach rolling.
Whatever are the sensations for you,
Become aware of them and observe them.
If there is more than one sensation,
Choose the one that is strongest and observe it with a curious mind,
Without judgment,
Without aversion.
Now begin to study this sensation and in the meantime let all the thoughts about anxiety,
All the thoughts about the situation at work,
Let them all come and go and we are staying focused on the sensations.
We are staying with the body,
Not the mind.
Notice if the sensation is warm or cool.
Notice if it is shallow or deep.
Notice if it is focused on one point or spread out.
Notice if it is stationary and still or if it is moving,
Perhaps throbbing,
Pulsating.
And if this sensation were a color,
What color would it be?
You might have noticed that at this point there is a bit of distance between you and the thoughts of anxiety.
You are feeling a bit more grounded.
The third step is to accept.
Let the sensations of anxiety be as they are.
Let the thoughts of anxiety be as they are.
Accept them and welcome them fully.
Just for this moment have no aversion and no resistance toward them.
Welcome them.
Let them be here.
Whatever you resist,
Persists.
By resisting anxiety you are making it stronger.
You are giving it power.
Just let it be there as if it doesn't mean anything.
And finally,
Begin to breathe deeply.
And imagine that you are breathing in and out of that sensation in that part of your body.
So,
If the sensations of anxiety are mostly in your head,
You would imagine that you are breathing in and out through your head,
Perhaps the forehead.
When you are breathing in and out,
Imagine as if it is happening through that body part where the sensations of anxiety are living.
Now imagine that with every out-breath you are releasing those sensations.
With every out-breath they are getting calmer and more distant.
And know that any time that you experience anxiety in your day,
You can use the ROAR method to release it.
Recognize,
Observe,
Accept and release.
