Welcome to the third video in the Art of Being Present series.
Now Christmas can be a bit of an anxious time,
But especially this year.
So this video is a really practical technique,
In fact a combination of three practical techniques that can help us in those anxious moments.
So go and get yourself comfortable and we'll begin.
So for this video we are going to be learning,
Or refreshing if you've done them before,
Three techniques that we can use if we're beginning to feel anxious,
Or even if we're full on anxious,
Maybe even panicky.
The really good thing about these techniques is that they are tactile,
We are using our fingers and our hands to ground us and to bring us into the present moment.
And that really helps us when we're feeling anxious.
You can do the hand movements alone,
But I'm going to be teaching them in parallel with a breath technique that hopefully when you combine the two will help you to feel less anxious or just better.
Even if you're not feeling anxious it's still really good to do to calm and balance the mind.
Okay,
So I'm going to teach you them quickly,
Just ahead of the meditation and you'll know what I'm doing.
So if you want to then close your eyes you'll know what's coming.
So the first technique is a mudra technique.
So the first finger and the thumb are brought together like this.
And with every breath you breathe in and you press the fingertips together,
You breathe out and you release.
Then you bring the next finger,
So the middle finger on this case,
Release,
Ring finger,
Breathe in,
Breathe out,
Release,
Baby finger,
Breathe in,
Out,
Release.
And we'll do that a number of times.
We will also have a bit of freestyle finger work where I just say bring any finger you like to your thumb.
So that's technique number one.
Technique number two is to bring your pointing finger to the bottom of your hand,
Almost like a Christmas star here.
And you breathe in as you go up one side of the finger,
You come down as you breathe out.
Okay,
So you're just going up and down,
Up and down and we'll do that a number of times too,
We'll go back as well.
The third technique is basically called hold my hand and it's two hands together and we gently press.
And as we breathe in we squeeze the hand as if we're holding somebody's hand,
Our own hand,
And then breathe out,
We just gently soften.
You can do that up here at your heart or down in your lap,
It really doesn't matter.
In fact we're going to start with the middle technique just to keep you on your toes.
So find your Christmas star,
Find your,
I've got my left hand up here,
Pointing finger.
So option whether you want to close your eyes or keep your eyes open,
You can do this lying down or sitting up.
Or you can even teach this to children as you're walking around in the shopping or in the park if there's an anxious moment.
It's anywhere,
Anytime,
It's a really good technique.
Okay,
Pointing finger down to the bottom of my left hand here.
Okay,
So when you're ready we breathe in and we come up the outside of the finger,
We go down as we breathe out.
Breathing in we come up,
Breathing out down,
Breathing in up,
Breathing out down.
So I'll go back again breathing in up breathing out down breathing in up breathing out down breathing in up breathing out down breathing in up out down breathing in up breathing out down.
Now I'll leave you to have a couple of moments just to practice this yourself taking your time over each breath.
You might take a long time over every single breath.
I am doing it too if you want to open your eyes if you lose track.
But if you lose track you can just open your eyes and restart.
So this is your Christmas star little technique making a star shape with the hand and that tactile effect of touching the finger on your hand also helps you to calm the mind.
So we'll just do this three times so once you get back on your third time just bring your hands down to your lap or your knees you can close your eyes if they're not already closed.
So just taking a moment to breathe and pause between each one and you can just breathe in and out through your nose.
So that was our Christmas star technique.
The next one's more inspired by twinkling fairy lights if that's what you want to picture.
So we'll bring our thumb and our finger together on each hand so this is your mudra.
Okay so we're just going to gently press the finger and the thumb together and take a few deep breaths again you can have your eyes closed you can be in bed you might be traveling somewhere as a passenger.
Really is suitable for any moment so just pressing the finger and the thumb together breathing deeply here and then starting to work with the breath so squeezing the finger as you breathe in breathing out you can release gently.
And on your next breath out release the finger entirely and bring the middle finger to the thumb and press.
So we'll do a few breaths here and on your next breath out you can release bring the ring finger to the thumb hold it here squeeze gently feel the sensations of the fingertips breathing out release bring the baby finger to the thumb and release bring the ring finger back.
You're having a few breaths in each position and now the middle finger in and release first finger in and release and now we'll move with every breath bring the middle finger in breathing out release bring the ring finger in out release baby finger in out release ring finger in release middle finger in release first finger in release.
Now close your eyes if you're not already doing so and then bring any finger you like in a random order noticing the sensations as you breathe in squeeze the finger breathing out release and we'll just take a couple more moments here.
Breathe.
Good take a few more moments.
Just really notice all of those sensations in the fingertips so many nerve endings.
Here just taking some time with your breath.
And just make your next point your final release and then bringing your hands together.
So just webbing the fingers together and wrapping the fingers around so you're in fact holding your own hand and you can definitely close your eyes for this one.
So I want you to notice the sensation of holding your own hand as if you're holding a loved one's hand maybe you'd like to pitch that and just squeeze the hand or your own hand a little bit tighter.
And as you're ready just squeezing fingers around the other hand and breathe in breathing out just soften that grip a little bit here breathing in squeeze and tighten breathing out release and a couple more moments just squeeze and then breathing in feeling that sense of connection and grounding and support breathing out release.
Good big breaths now.
The next hand moment that you have just squeezing the hand if you feel it you can say I am calm.
I am supported.
And everything's going to be okay.
Everything's going to be okay.
Just let your breath work and your meditation soak into your body and mind and just repeating one more time I am calm.
I am supported.
And everything is going to be okay.
All right then just releasing the hands and just bringing the hands together to take a little rub into the hands maybe taking a few sighs and letting your breath return to a comfortable rhythm and just hovering the hands over your eyes blinking your eyes open in your own time and bringing your hands down and I'm here.
And Christmas ordinarily can be an anxious time for many of us but this year with it being a little bit stranger than normal it might be even more anxiety inducing who knows but it's here for you this technique are always here for you from Christmas and beyond and I personally find them very very useful and you can do them anywhere and as I said even young people children are able to learn these techniques so very very simple just the finger work can help to bring you into the moment and to help you to feel present and grounded adding the breath work can also really help put the brakes on that fight or flight response if you're feeling anxious I hope it's useful for you and I hope you have a lovely rest of your day take care.
