We'll start wherever you are right now.
Maybe that's seated,
You could be sitting in your car.
Wherever you are,
Look around.
Notice your surroundings.
What's above,
Below,
And beside you.
Then we'll let go of that.
We'll take a breath in through the nose,
Your own breath,
And a long breath out.
We'll do that again.
Your own breath in,
It might be a little different than usual,
That's okay.
Your own breath out,
Maybe seeing if the exhale could be a little longer.
When you're ready,
Last one,
Conscious inhale.
Conscious breath out.
That breath could be our reminder that in this moment,
We're here,
We're alive.
Notice the earth beneath you.
Notice the earth beneath you,
Under the feet.
If you're seated,
Notice where you make contact with the seat.
When you're ready,
You could bring your hands and start to flick them the way you would flick water off of your hands.
And you could start to make that a bit more of a shake.
You could shake out the hands,
Shake out the arms,
Maybe even tap the feet.
And you can make this as big of a movement,
As small of a movement as you'd like.
This is good for us,
We shake it out.
The way animals shake after something happens to them,
They physically shake the stress,
The anxiety out of their body.
Shake out that experience,
Whatever you need to shake for five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One,
And let the body settle.
Notice as that sensation settles in the body.
Next,
We'll bring one hand over the chest,
Maybe one over the belly too.
Without changing our breath,
Notice if you could feel the feedback of your breath in one hand or maybe both.
The breath might be different than usual,
Often when we're experiencing feelings of anxiety,
The breath can get a little shallow or shaky.
Right now,
We're just noticing it,
Noticing how experiencing the feeling of anxiety feels in the body.
Notice any other places that might be feeling anxiety.
And maybe notice that it's just a feeling,
Albeit a strong one.
But when we notice it as simply sensation,
Part of being alive,
It can lose a bit of its sting.
We know that we can handle these feelings.
Maybe we're not anxious people,
We're simply experiencing the feeling of anxiety.
Our anxiety often tries to protect us,
But it can be overprotective at times.
You could even say to your anxiety,
Thank you for caring,
Thank you for trying to protect me.
I have space for you,
But you cannot run my life.
Let's take one breath in together.
Your own breath out,
Let the body soften if you can.
And when you feel ready,
Let go of the hands on the body.
Thank you for practicing with me.
