Soothing Coronavirus Fears

Soothe your fears and create an internal sense of safety. Join Marci for a gentle practice to ground and care for your fears. This tender guided practice includes grounding, body-centered meditation, positive affirmations, and a journaling practice at the end to compassionately care for your fear off your cushion. At the end, you'll feel more relaxed and clear on what steps you can take to continue supporting your fearful self with your loving self.

Music by Ben Sounds & Jason Shaw.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this soothing fear meditation.

This is a wonderful meditation to utilize when you're feeling like your fears are growing and it feels like they're kind of overtaking you and an opportunity to really be able to ground back down into your environment,

Into your body and to take that grounding to give you an opportunity to give some audience to your fears in a mindful way and perhaps to become a creative partner in addressing your fears.

So you'll need a couple things for this practice.

You'll want a notebook and pen.

You will want to make sure that you're set up in a comfortable place where you can be not interrupted ideally and set up in a situation where you're either sitting or laying down in a way that you'll be able to stay awake throughout this practice.

There will be a series of practices that progress together starting with some awareness practices in your environment to then moving into the body into a more guided meditation that is body somatic centered and then we'll end the practice with a series of journal practices.

So if you don't already have a notebook and pen make sure you get a good notebook and pen for yourself and set them somewhere near to you if you need to you can stop this recording push pause so that you can gather that.

When you're ready start to settle yourself into wherever you are like you're a bird settling yourself into a cozy nest.

Make sure that the body feels supported,

Comfortable,

And like you can feel like the body can maybe soften a little bit but also remain awake.

Let's start by noticing something in your environment.

I want you to look around the room where you are and I want you to notice something in your environment that is pleasant to look at.

Maybe it's pleasant to look at because it's something that has a beautiful memory connected to it for you or aesthetically it's pleasing you really enjoy the color or the textures.

I want to invite you to settle your attention on this pleasant object in your environment.

Really take in the colors and the textures,

The light and the shadow.

As you take this in through your eyes through the senses gate of your eyes notice how do you feel in your body.

How do you feel as you rest your gaze on that object?

Do you feel a sense of warmth or tingling at your heart center?

Do you notice some softening in your limbs?

Notice how do you feel in the body and as we go throughout this practice there will be times where I keep asking you along the way how do you feel in your body and I wanted to invite you to notice the sensation in the body without the need to worry about the story.

Meaning if you have for example warmth in your chest right now as you look at this object in your space without the need to know why you feel warmth we're interested in just noticing that the warmth is there and allowing it.

So notice now how these pleasant sensations and objects are also present along with any sense of fear that you may have been experiencing inside of yourself or in your greater environment.

So notice how these pleasant sensations and objects are also present along with any sense of fear.

Notice how both exist and as we go throughout this practice I want to invite you to use this object that we started with as your anchor so that at any time during the meditation if you feel like you need to reground yourself into your space you're feeling like you're getting disconnected or you're feeling like you're getting overwhelmed by sensation that you can always come back to that pleasant object and take that in as a physical reminder that you're right here right now you're in a space that's safe and that this too this pleasant experience is also present.

So feel free to come back to that anytime.

And now let's start to draw our awareness into the body draw our attention inside.

So for some of us what is most supportive is closing the eyes so if that feels good you can slowly soften the eyelids and allow them to close.

If closing the eyes is uncomfortable for you maybe you gently settle your gaze on a point on the floor or the wall in front of you or maybe partially close the eyes anything that allows your physical gaze to release as the primary sensory activity so that you can turn towards your internal gaze of your internal experience.

As you start to draw your attention inside simply become aware of the body breathing in and out.

Notice the body breathing in and out maybe the abdomen rising and falling the rib cage expanding and releasing.

Let's do a couple breaths together to get even more concretely in touch with our breath.

So in a moment I'm going to invite you to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth.

So inhale deeply through the nose and gently pause in the belly and exhale out through the mouth.

And exhale out through the mouth.

Again inhale through the nose and gently pause and exhale through the mouth.

And one last time inhale through the nose and pause and exhale this time maybe sighing it out.

Allowing your breathing to resume its natural rhythm.

And after you've gotten in touch with the breath notice how do you feel as you exhale through the nose and pause.

And after you've gotten in touch with the breath notice how do you feel in your body right now.

What do you feel in the body right now?

Can you bring special attention to where the body has contact with either the floor,

The chair,

The couch,

The bed,

Whatever you're sitting or laying on?

Can you notice that contact,

That connection,

That foundation,

That grounding?

Now that you're more anchored in your environment and your body,

Let's lovingly,

Gently,

Step by step letting the body lead,

Become aware of your fear,

Anxiety,

Confusion,

Whatever you've been feeling.

Start to bring into your awareness this fearful,

Anxious,

Confused feeling that you've been having.

And as you slowly allow that to come into your awareness,

As you slowly start to witness that,

What do you notice in your body?

One way to think about this is which regions of the body light up.

Do you,

For example,

Notice a clenching in the stomach or a sense of like a walling off in the chest or rising in the shoulders?

Now see if you can notice which sensation in the body is calling your attention the most right now.

Which sensation is calling you the most?

Could be the most prevalent or just naturally your awareness goes there.

Trust whatever that is and let's just focus your awareness on the sensation in that area of the body.

You're simply noticing those sensations.

They may sit the same,

They may change,

They may have some emotions that bubble up with them.

Just going to simply be witnessing.

As we do this,

We'll do this in small increments so it feels safe and doable.

And at any point if what is coming up for you feels like it's too much,

Slowly bring your awareness back to the breath and to the space around you and come back to that object that was pleasant to look at from the beginning as an anchor.

For 30 seconds now just notice what you can become aware of in the body,

The body sensations.

Just notice and watch them like a witness,

An observer.

For 30 seconds watch the body,

Watch the area that's calling your attention the most.

Time starts now.

Now what do you notice in the body?

Now that you've given more space for this sensation,

What do you notice?

Is there warmth?

Is there coolness,

Tightness?

And now a favorite question.

If right now in this moment your body was in charge,

What would it have you do to feel more safe?

If your body was in charge right now,

What would it have you do to feel more safe?

I want to invite you to trust the first thing that comes to you.

Maybe that looks like wrapping your arms around your chest,

Like you're giving yourself a big hug.

Maybe it looks like curling in so that your knees are towards your chest and you feel like you've created like a little cocoon or a shell for your body.

Maybe it looks like placing hands on a part of the body and gently rubbing them like a belly rub.

For the next 30 seconds,

I want you to move yourself into that shape or that movement,

Whatever the body would have you do if it was in charge right now.

For the next 30 seconds,

Allow that to happen and simply notice.

Time starts now.

Now what do you notice?

Against all of these burdens but still feeling powerful right now in relationship to your body,

Would the body or your firing harder or even your ghost again?

Please let your body be in charge when you sort of feel like you're feeling powerful again.

Now,

What do you notice in your body now?

What does it feel to make that shape or movement that the body wanted?

Does it feel like relief?

Does it feel like cozy?

What does it feel like to make that shape or movement?

And I want you to soak in that feeling for the next 30 seconds.

Time starts now.

Now,

That is how you act as Joe.

What do you notice in the body now?

What's present in this moment?

And now I want to invite you to say the following mantra out loud or internally to the part of your body where you felt the fear and we started working.

Connect to that part of the body like you have been as if you're speaking to someone dear that you want to comfort and say,

You're not alone.

I'm here for you.

You're safe with me and I love you.

You're not alone.

I'm here for you.

You're safe with me and I love you.

You're not alone.

I'm here for you.

You're safe with me and I love you.

Now that we've given more space for your fear,

Anxiety,

Confusion,

Whatever was coming up for you,

We want to give the fear some constructive audience so that that part of you that's witnessing this whole process,

That's become aware of,

That's a notice to fear is able to really support the fear even further.

So in a moment I'm going to ask you a series of questions and with each one you'll have two minutes to do some reflecting in your journal and you'll free write.

You'll just write stream of consciousness,

Whatever comes to you without the need to edit or worry about grammar or spelling or cross out words.

So it's just simply write.

So for the next two minutes I want you to consider how could I support myself to feel more safe right now?

How could I support myself to feel more safe right now?

What do you need to feel more safe today?

Ask yourself what do I need to feel more safe today?

So for two minutes just write whatever comes to your mind and I'll keep time over here and after two minutes I'll come back and we'll explore another question.

Time starts now.

Now for the next two minutes I want you to consider what do I have control over?

In other words what choices can I make that are within my control right now?

And for the next two minutes write whatever comes to your mind and I'll keep the time over here and after two minutes I'll pop back in and I'll ask another question.

Time starts now.

Come into.

You you you Now for the next two minutes consider What do you not have control over?

That you can offer up to the universe source God cosmic energy Spirit whatever that is for you,

Whatever you believe in whatever something that's greater than you and You can call in support for and you can recognize is actually not not yours to Have to be Responsible for let's say What do you not have control over that you can call in greater support for What do you not have control over that you can call in greater support for?

Again for two minutes,

Right whatever comes to your mind this is like you're creating almost like a To-do list or a prayer list or an offering list whatever that is To something that's greater than you It could be the universe it could be your ancestors your spirit guides source whatever that is for two minutes now I'll keep time and then when that's complete I'll pop back in time starts now You You You You Now What do you notice in your body right now After having done the practices that we've done so far What do you notice in your body?

What has shifted in your sense of internal safety What new sense of safety have you cultivated And Let's take several deep breaths together just like we did at the beginning so inhale deeply through the nose And exhale out through the mouth And inhale through the nose Exhale out through the mouth One last time inhale through the nose Exhale through the mouth Slowly wiggle the fingers the toes take any stretches you need start to Bring your awareness to the wider space around you and let's end by bringing your awareness to that pleasant object that we started with Gently resting your gaze on that pleasant object and taking that in Through our time together we've gone on a journey a journey of recognizing that there is some pleasant Space objects energy sensations in your environment in your body Along with the fear anxiety and confusion Both exist It's not about only focusing on the pleasant and it's not about only focusing on the fear It's not about denying the pleasant.

It's not about denying the fear It's about skillfully being able To be in touch with both And when we give audience to our fear in a way like we did today And we give space to our body and our more creative intuitive self To lead like we did today We can perhaps transform That fear and actually address the underlying needs that are fueling it That is how we can tend to our fear I hope this practice has supported you.

I hope this practice has Empowered you to create a deeper sense of safety.

You can always go back and continue to build on the lists that you have created I thank you so much for creating this space for yourself to be able to tend to your inner experience With that I close out and send you off with so much love Take care

Reviews

This is great to address any fear you may have. I loved the multi-step process. It gave me the extra push to keep going on resolving my fear that singular meditations weren’t doing. I fell like I have momentum. Thanks, Marci!

Thank you so much. I sent this meditation to my friends who struggle. Peace. 🌈🙏🏽🌱

Thank you Marci, for the grounded lesson in working with our fear. What a beautiful practice that will live on with me, long after the guided work was completed.

Thank you for this wonderful meditation. It is way more than a guided meditation. It is a 30 min coaching session. There is centering, affirmations and something I have not been invited to before: writing prompts. The writing is about feeling safe, what you have control over and what you have No control over. Great approach to recognize that I’m lucky to have steady income and safe place, and recognizing that most people are doing their part, and that worrying about what I can’t control -overwhelming as it is, should be just dropped. Thanks again!