Breathing Through Anxiety

This mindfulness practice invites you to notice the sensations of anixety in the body and uses focused awareness on the breath to guide you to create 'space' between yourself and the sensations - reminding us that we are not our emotions, they are just a part of our experience.

Transcript

The theme for today's meditation is anxiety.

Anxiety is an emotion that many people experience throughout their life.

It's something that some people may experience sporadically,

Just every now and again.

Maybe just before a big event,

Maybe after a big life change.

But for others of us,

Anxiety is something that is with us every day.

An everyday part of our experience.

Because anxiety is just an emotion,

It is possible for us to use mindfulness,

To bring awareness to the physical sensation of anxiety.

Because emotions are just physiological responses in our body to things that are happening around us or within us.

Something happening externally,

Maybe a friend forgets to text me back.

And it can also be triggered by things happening internally.

So maybe I have a bad dream,

Or I remember something that happened.

Something someone said or how they looked.

Or maybe just a random thought pops into my head which causes me to feel the emotion of anxiety.

By using mindfulness we are able to move from feeling consumed by our emotion,

In this case anxiety,

Moving from an existential view,

I am anxious,

Into a view where we are aware that this is just a part of our experience right now.

I am experiencing anxiety.

By moving from the existential view to the experiential view we are able to create some space between us and the experience.

So I invite you to join me in today's practice by finding a comfortable seat.

A place where you feel relaxed,

But you are able to stay present through the practice without drifting off to sleep.

And if you feel comfortable you are welcome to close your eyes.

Or you can lower your gaze if that's more comfortable for you.

Let's start by taking a few deep breaths in through the nose,

And out through the nose.

And in through the nose,

And out through the nose.

One more in through the nose,

And out through the nose.

Allowing your breath to return to its normal rhythm.

Just bringing your awareness to the breath.

Noticing how it feels in the body.

Noticing any qualities of the breath today.

Noticing where in the body you most feel the breath.

Maybe in your nose.

Maybe your throat.

Your chest.

Your stomach.

Or anywhere else.

Just noting.

Where do I feel the breath most strongly?

Now I'd like us to bring our awareness to our bodies.

And asking ourselves,

Where do I feel anxiety in my body?

And if you don't have any anxiety in your experience today,

Asking yourself,

Where in the past have I felt anxiety in my body?

Just noticing which parts of the body are experiencing any sensations around this emotion of anxiety.

Maybe it's a tightness in the chest.

A restriction in the throat.

Or not in our stomachs.

Tension in our back,

Our necks.

Or somewhere completely different.

It'll be unique for all of us.

Just noticing what's real for you in this experience right now.

And if at any point bringing the awareness to the sensations of anxiety feels too intense,

Just knowing that you can bring your awareness back to the breath.

So I invite us now to bring into our awareness a place in the body where you're not feeling anxiety.

Is there a part of you that is free from any of those physiological sensations?

Maybe a part of your body that is experiencing feelings of calm,

Contentedness.

Maybe it's in your feet,

Your hands,

Your head,

Your knees,

Or anywhere else in the body.

Just bringing your full awareness to wherever that place is.

Just noticing what sensations are there.

Again,

Bringing the awareness back to the breath.

Feeling the breath in the body.

I invite us now to experience breathing into the area of the body where you most strongly feel sensations of anxiety.

So in taking some deep breaths,

Seeing if you can as you breathe,

Bring your awareness to that part of your body where you experience those sensations of anxiety.

And imagine directing the breath to that place.

Again,

Knowing at any time that if the sensations feel overwhelming or too uncomfortable,

That you can just bring your awareness back to the breath in the body.

Breathing into those sensations of anxiety.

Whilst remembering that they are just sensations.

Physiological responses in your body,

They are not you.

They are just a part of your experience right now.

Taking another deep breath into that space.

And then gently releasing our awareness from that place in the body.

Just noticing.

How does my body feel?

Maybe scanning briefly from the crown of the head down through the face,

The neck,

The shoulders,

Just noting what sensations are there.

Moving down through the shoulders,

The arms,

The hands,

The chest,

The torso,

The back.

What do you notice?

The sit bones,

The thighs,

The knees,

The calves,

The shins,

The ankles,

The feet,

Down to the toes.

Closing with three deep breaths as we started.

Taking a deep breath in through the nose and out through the nose.

Breathing in through the nose and out through the nose.

And that closes today's meditation practice on anxiety.

Reviews

My favourite she’s the one that calms

Through this meditation you helped me get to a much calmer and more stable place. Thank you.

Beautiful! Focuses on important concepts such as observation, feeling anxiety in the body, and neutral parts of the body. Thank you!

I needed this!

Hi Laura, thank you so much for replying to my question about breathing in and out through the nose. Your explanation was really helpful – understanding the physiology really helps and makes so much sense for those of us especially who are dealing with anxiety. I have been trying your technique over the last few days, and it is working well. Thank you! I would love it if you would include more meditations on the Insight Timer. I tend to choose 10–15 minute meditations during the work week, so if you have any more in that timeframe, that would be wonderful. The pacing of your guidance, the words you choose, and the background music really resonate with me. Have a great rest of your week!

Thank you for making your meditations available on the Insight Timer. You are one of the most effective and impactful teachers I’ve listened to in nearly 5 years using this app on a daily basis. I have one quick question: I know that in mindfulness we are always free to make adjustments so that the practice works the best for us, but I am just curious as to why you suggest breathing out through the nose and not through the mouth. I generally find a deep out breath through the mouth to be very cathartic, but if there is abother reason to breathe out through the nose, I’d be curious to know and try it. Thank you again.🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

Feeling calmer. Thank you ❤️

Beautiful and peaceful, and much needed and appreciated today. Thank you so very much for this, Laura, and many blessings to you! ❤️🙏🏻

Very relaxing and helpful, I fell asleep! 😅😴

Amazing!!! Feel so much more relaxed now, thank you!

the distinction between existential and experiential is very helpful, also finding and focusing on a part of the body where I don't feel anxiety is a helpful tool.
Thank you 😊🙏