Hello and welcome to The Daily Insight.
My name is Giovanni Dinstmann.
I am a meditation teacher and the author of Practical Meditation.
Today's practice focuses on overcoming anxiety and fear through the power of courage.
May you have an uplifting meditation.
Anxiety is a form of fear,
A fear that is subtle,
Persistent,
Diffused and sticky.
In a powerful antidote to all forms of fear is courage.
Courage is not something that you're either born with or not.
It is a quality that you can choose to practice and meditation empowers you to do that.
When anxiety or fear comes up you have a choice to bow down and try to avoid what triggers you or to respond with courage.
That means taking back the power in your hands and saying to yourself,
I will do what I want to do,
Not what anxiety wants me to do.
I am in charge here.
Anxiety can't stop me.
Meditation teaches you that anxiety is a choice,
Fear is a choice and courage is a choice too.
This meditation is an invitation for you to choose courage in your life.
It's an invitation for you to not be like a scared rabbit,
Which is anxiety,
But to be like a fearless lion,
Courage.
A rabbit is always afraid,
Restless,
Hiding.
A lion threads the savanna with a carefree mind.
It is not worried about what's going to happen to him or what type of danger awaits him.
A lion is not afraid of the noise behind the bush because he knows his power.
Now think of a time you felt intensely courageous and confident in your life.
Start by remembering the details,
The place,
Time,
People and circumstances.
Remember how courage felt in your body,
In your mind,
In your heart.
Let go of all of the memories about the circumstances and only focus on the feeling of courage itself.
If you can't remember any experience of courage,
Then instead picture a lion walking the savanna with confidence,
Power and grace.
Contemplate the inner strength and courage of a lion and imagine how it feels to have those qualities.
Download that feeling of courage into your body,
Mind and heart right now.
Feel as if every single cell in your body is powering up.
Feel as if every single cell in your body is calm and confident,
Fearless.
Moment after moment concentrate on this feeling of courage and confidence so that it grows stronger in you.
Feel that your mind and heart are overflowing with courage.
There is so much courage that you feel unstoppable.
You can repeat to yourself in your mind with conviction,
I can do anything.
No fear can stop me,
No anxiety can stop me.
I am full of courage.
You can also imagine the feeling of courage as a comfortable sense of warmth in your chest.
If you get distracted gently bring your attention back to the feeling of courage.
This meditation is an invitation to develop greater courage in your heart.
Every time you listen to it you are strengthening the virtue of courage inside of you.
For a deeper transformation I encourage you to follow this practice daily for the next 30 days so that living with courage becomes second nature for you.
And finally please share with us in the comments how are you going to live with more courage today.
