Anxiety Relief

Hi and welcome to this meditation.

Today we're going to be looking at anxiety,

What it means and how we feel it.

You all may recognize that feeling where you feel like you've run out of options,

Where you feel like your life is being dictated to you and when you have no choice or you convince yourself that you have no choice.

This can leave you in a state of fear.

This fight or flight,

This feeling of having to run or scream is very rarely acted out upon.

For the situations that we encounter in most modern-day life don't really require it.

The anxiety that we all feel is usually based on the image that we hold of ourselves,

That we're not good enough,

That perhaps we can't do it or that something is beyond us.

Through the breath and through just quietly sitting and giving yourself this time,

The aim and the intent is just to help you realize how powerful you are,

To bring those parts of you that have been scattered back into a whole and to give you a feeling of this so that when you face your anxiety in your waking life,

You can recall this feeling and let it soothe you and stand as a positive memory to help you in those moments.

So now just sitting comfortably,

Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth,

In through the nose,

And out through the mouth,

In through the nose and out through the mouth.

Now that part of you that likes to over think,

That likes to jump on everything,

That part of your mind just give it this one simple task.

You need not think about anything else,

Just breathing in and breathing out.

Breathing in,

Breathing out,

Feeling that sense of calm in your body as your blood pressure drops,

As your thoughts soften,

As you just come to a nice gentle mole with inside yourself.

Simply noticing the feeling in your body,

That calm that your body recognizes and yearns for.

We're just going to imagine ourselves like a jigsaw.

Now when we're in the bout of anxiety,

It may seem like all of our pieces of self are all jumbled up.

We can't find the corners,

The colors don't match,

And the task or decision just seems so far away from us that it just sends us further down into those feelings of anxiety.

Now still breathing in and out.

We're just going to imagine that jigsaw starting to take form.

Taking the edges first,

Placing them around where they need to go,

Giving us a point of reference,

Giving us a point of reference for ourselves.

Feeling a bit more coherent and like where we're going.

Each piece starting to fall into place.

We're imagining this but we're also starting to feel that feeling in the body.

In our stomach perhaps,

As the tension there lessens,

As our breath becomes deeper.

Reclaiming those parts of ourselves,

Those scattered parts that have been far away as we've worried or stressed or shied away from ourselves.

Like a magnet within our body,

We're drawing in all those parts of ourselves.

Feeling that warm calm as we unite.

That warm calm as we realize that we needn't do this.

We needn't overthink.

We needn't worry.

As we breathe deeper,

Feeling that quiet calm confidence that we all recognize when we're at our best.

When our days are flowing and when we're solid and happy within ourselves and able to let that enjoyment and that joy flow through our life.

Now whether you've been able to manage to do this or not,

There's no right or wrong.

Just a silent period now and the point of this is just to help your body recognize this feeling.

This feeling of calm,

This feeling of giving time to yourself to feel.

And that quiet feeling of very subtle but very strong power that comes from within when we know what is going on,

When we know what we are feeling.

So that you may remember it and recall it when you're awake in your day to day and draw upon it and make that decision to breathe when you're doing what you do and just let it flow back.

So breathing in and breathing out.

Just really taking note of this feeling.

How your hands feel soft,

How your chest feels light,

How your head feels spacious,

How the pit of your stomach is relaxing,

How your back and your shoulders are letting go of that tension,

How the muscles around your eyes are relaxing,

Your jaw is softening and your heart feels free to flow.

I'm just putting one hand over your heart and the other just below your belly button.

Just sitting with that feeling,

That calm and just resting into it.

Knowing that this feels good,

Allowing your mind and your body to recognise this feeling.

And you're storing it up as a memory.

You're making new pathways so that you can feel this feeling on a more regular basis.

You're preparing your mind and your body to move out of the patterns of anxiety and setting the groundwork to allow that flow of contentment to be ever present with you.

And when it's not,

You can simply call upon it again.

Each time you lay the tracks,

This train is more likely to turn up.

Breathing in and breathing out,

Allowing that flow and exchange.

Not being afraid to let go and just feeling completely nourished in the state.

I'm just taking a few moments silence now just to really soak it in.

Graceful.

Now before we finish and before we come to,

Just asking yourself and your body just to really remember this feeling and the space that you created for yourself today.

Now wriggling your fingers or wriggling your toes,

Giving your body a little rub perhaps,

Shifting in your seat and just opening your eyes and coming back and bringing that feeling to the waking world as best you can.

You know there's no great secret to meditation.

All you need to do is ask.

And most of the behaviors that we've fallen into are just patterns and loops that exist because we've practiced them for so long.

There's no comment on your character,

Whether you are good or bad doesn't come into it.

Just give it a go when you can and don't beat yourself up if you don't.

Meditation works because it's all already within you.

It's just creating that space to let it come out.

Thanks very much and I'll see you again soon.

Bye.