Welcome to your meditation.
So I have had anxiety my entire life.
I also get panic attacks and meditation has been a game changer for me.
So I'm really happy to be able to share this with you,
Share some of the things that have been really helpful for me.
So you can use this meditation when you're feeling anxious or you can also use it when things are kind of all feeling okay.
And then you can just practice bringing the mind back,
Finding that stillness that we all have,
But it gets pretty hard to access sometimes.
Okay,
Let's get started.
Get as comfortable as possible.
You can be seated,
You can be lying down,
Whatever works best for you.
And elongate through your spine.
You might want to tuck your chin just a little bit so your neck is long.
You can close your eyes or leave them open or lower your gaze,
Whatever is most comfortable for you.
And just breathe in and out through your nose.
So maybe put a hand on that spot that tenses up when you feel anxious.
For me,
I tend to feel it in my stomach and my jaw and just breathe into that spot.
See if you can let it melt just a little bit.
So so take a deep inhale through the nose.
Open the mouth,
Sigh it out,
Let it go.
You can drop your hands down to your lap,
To your knees.
And just see if there's anywhere else in the body where you can relax.
Bringing the shoulders down away from the ears,
Relaxing that space between the eyebrows.
See what happens if you deepen the breath,
Slowing it down and smoothing it out.
It's very likely that your mind might wander and that's totally okay.
That's what the mind does.
Just keep coming back to the sensation of the breath.
Don't beat yourself up about it.
Just continually come back to the present moment right here.
That's the training,
That's the practice.
You might do it a million times during this meditation and that's totally okay.
Sometimes when we sit like this without all our toys to distract us,
Pretty intense emotions come up.
Sadness,
Loneliness,
Anger,
Frustration,
Confusion,
And those are all okay.
There's nothing wrong with you if you're feeling those things.
And if you're not feeling any of those things and you're just maybe kind of bored,
That's okay too.
One of the most powerful things I have learned as I figure out how to manage my anxiety is this idea of getting comfortable being uncomfortable.
Sometimes things are hard.
Those emotions that come up are difficult,
But I'm learning how to sit with them.
I'm learning that I'm stronger than I think I am.
And when I can meet that resistance with breath,
When I decide not to run away from it,
When I face the challenges,
That's when amazing things start to happen.
Whatever it is that's coming up for you right now,
Just see if you can be here with it.
And breathe a little bit more deeply.
And breathe a little bit more deeply.
And breathe a little bit more deeply.
Bringing the attention back to the body,
Noticing if any tension has crept in anywhere.
Maybe the toes,
The fingers,
The belly.
And breathe a little bit more deeply.
And breathe a little bit more deeply.
We are continually staying awake to this moment.
We tend to rush to judge and categorize and fall into all our habitualized reactions to what's going on in the world.
What happens if we practice non-judging awareness?
What happens if we give ourselves just a little break from obsessing about the past and worrying about the future?
What happens if we give ourselves just a little break from obsessing about the past and worrying about the future?
What happens if we give ourselves just a little break from obsessing about the past and worrying about the future?
In these last few moments,
You might want to return your hands to that place where you felt anxiety in your body.
You might want to bring your hands to your heart.
And let's take one more deep inhale together through the nose.
Sigh it out.
Let it all go.
You can let the eyes open.
Well done.
I hope you have a wonderful day.
Let's do this again tomorrow.
