Welcome to this 10-minute meditation for calming anxiety.
Anxiety is our human
survival mechanism,
An automatic physiological reaction to an event that
we perceive as stressful or frightening.
However,
Most of the time our mind gets
caught up in fear-driven thoughts and our body cannot differentiate between real
danger and imagined danger,
Causing us a lot of unnecessary stress.
Today we're
going to focus on our breath as a way to calm and dissolve these looping
thoughts so that you can revert to your natural state of peacefulness.
Start by
getting in a comfortable position where you can relax the most,
Either sitting or
lying down.
When you're ready,
Allow your eyes to close.
Feel your body gently
sinking into the ground,
The surface beneath you rising up to comfort and
care for you.
Put your left hand on your heart and your right hand on your belly.
Try to breathe as deep as you can through your nose and exhale slowly
through your mouth.
Notice the way your ribs expand as you inhale and soften as
you exhale.
Deep inhalation and deep exhalation.
Your mind may be spinning
with thoughts.
Just allow it to come back to the breath.
Now let's practice the
technique of rhythmic counting to help focus the mind.
Just follow my guidance
as we inhale to the count of four,
Hold for four,
And exhale through the mouth
for eight.
We'll start with an inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Inhaling,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And exhaling through the mouth,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Inhaling,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhaling,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Stay with this pattern,
Filling your lungs with air.
Light pause and a deep,
Steady exhale through the mouth.
Now allow your breath to fall into a natural rhythm of its own.
Put your hands down and feel yourself
coming to relax,
Letting the breath slowing down,
Almost like a soft wave
coming in and out.
Scan your whole body from your head to your toe.
Notice where
you feel tension or tightness in your body.
Where do you feel these feelings most intensely?
On the next inhale,
Focus
completely on this one area of tension,
And as you exhale through the mouth,
Just
imagine your muscles becoming loose,
Relaxed,
Letting the tension go.
Taking
a deep inhale through your nose,
And as you're exhaling,
Just imagining this area
of tension and stress just relaxing,
Softening,
Becoming more loose.
With each
breath you take,
Beginning to feel more and more at ease,
Just noticing with the
out-breath this sense of release,
Releasing the tension moment to moment,
Breath by breath,
As if it was melting away.
And each time a thought or emotion
arises,
Just acknowledge it and allow it to pass like water flowing down a stream.
Gently but firmly return to the breath over and over.
Now notice where your body
is the most relaxed.
How does this relaxation feel?
Imagine that this relaxation is warm and vibrant and spreading to all the other
parts of your body.
Imagine that the air you're breathing is pure relaxation,
And
that as you breathe it in,
It expands to all of your body.
Breathing in
relaxation,
And breathing out any last feelings of tension.
Breathing in calm
relaxation,
And breathing out a peaceful mind.
Breathing in calm relaxation,
And
breathing out a peaceful mind.
Noticing that the last bit of tension is dissolving into space and leaves you
with a rested,
Calm,
Peaceful body.
Feeling this sense of weightlessness and ease.
Feeling this sense of trust in yourself.
Whenever you're ready,
Bringing your attention back to the room,
Back to your
body.
Gently opening your eyes.
May you be happy,
May you be healthy,
May you be
safe,
May you be at peace.
