Hi,
And welcome to this session on dealing with coronavirus-related anxiety and fear.
We are all together in this delicate situation in the world today.
You may be anxious about catching the coronavirus,
Or worried about family and friends getting sick or dying,
Or perhaps you worry about the future of your community or humanity.
This meditation will help you ease fear and anxiety by working through it in your body.
May you find this helpful.
Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes.
Pay attention to your breathing.
Notice if it is shallow or deep.
Notice if it is fast or slow.
Notice if it is jerky or even.
And without forcing,
Simply allow your breathing to become slow.
Allow your breathing to be deep.
Allow your breathing to be long and even.
Notice how your breathing moves your body.
This meditation assumes that you are dealing with a negative emotion right now,
In one level or another.
It can be anxiety,
Fear,
Stress,
Anger.
You will go through the ROAR method.
Recognize,
Observe,
Accept,
And release.
You can use this to overcome any negative emotion,
Either as part of this meditation or in your daily life.
The first step is to recognize your emotion.
Let's assume it's anxiety.
Recognize that anxiety is present by labeling it.
Anxiety is here.
Labeling it like that helps you put the emotion in a box and separate yourself from it.
Notice how that makes it feel more manageable.
Anxiety doesn't belong to you.
You are not anxious and you don't have anxiety.
Anxiety is simply a visitor in the present moment.
Notice that.
Notice how labeling anxiety is here creates a distance between you and the emotion.
You are not the emotion.
The emotion comes and goes,
But you stay.
Then the second step is to observe the emotion in your body.
Observe how anxiety plays in your body.
Notice where in your body you feel it most strongly.
You may find that anxiety usually shows up as a tension in your shoulders and neck,
Tightness in your chest or a knot in your stomach.
Be aware of whatever sensations it creates in your body.
Once you find where it dwells in your body,
Focus all your attention there.
Study the sensations with a sense of curiosity and without judgment.
Is the sensation heavy or light?
Is it hot or cold?
Is it focused or spread out?
If the sensation was a color,
What color would it be?
At this point,
We are engaging only with the sensations of anxiety in your body,
Not the thoughts of anxiety in the mind.
If your mind wanders away from the sensations,
Gently bring it back.
Just stay with the sensations of anxiety in your body.
Notice how both the thoughts and sensations of anxiety begin to fade away.
Now step three is to genuinely accept the sensations of anxiety as they are.
Release all resistance,
All aversion towards the sensations of anxiety.
Let them be whatever they are.
Release the desire that they should go away.
Release all internal resistance.
Be willing to feel the sensations as they are.
It's okay.
You can say to anxiety in your mind,
I'm not afraid of you.
You have the right to be here and I know you're trying to protect me.
I accept you and I accept myself in the present moment.
Be as loud as you wish.
Spit out all your horror stories.
But I'm just going to sit here,
Breathe calmly and watch.
Finally,
The last step is to release the emotion.
Now make a conscious decision to release anxiety,
To let it go.
As a support for that,
Keep focusing on the bodily sensations of anxiety if they are still there and breathe through them.
Don't worry about how to do this.
Just take the instruction to heart and you'll see that your body knows how to do it.
Feel that with every out-breath you consciously release the sensations of anxiety.
Allow them to be dissipated with every exhalation,
To fade into nothingness.
You have gone through the Roar method to deal with anxiety and fear.
Recognize,
Observe,
Accept and release.
Uncertainty is still there in our life.
Nobody can fix that.
But using this method you can come to terms with it and find peace despite the uncertainties.
Remember to take this simple skill beyond this meditation into your daily life.
