Welcome to Calming Anxiety Through the Five Senses.
I'm Marianne DeClerc and thank you for joining me here today.
In this practice,
You'll be relaxing your whole body from head to toe and then starting a visualization that solicits your five senses.
Our sensory organs are what connect us to the world.
Tuning into our sensory abilities can help to calm the mind,
Ease anxiety,
And feel grounded in the present moment.
This can be done by focusing on things in our environment,
All we can hear,
See,
Smell,
Touch and taste,
Or in an imagined visualization.
We'll be doing the latter today.
So get into a comfortable position,
Either on a chair,
Sitting down,
Or lying down on the floor.
Know that you can change your position at any time during the visualization.
And I invite you to welcome any feelings,
Sensations,
Or images that may come up with gentleness,
Openness,
And non-judgment.
Take this time for yourself and connect within.
And allow yourself to be guided by the sound of my voice and let it be your anchor throughout the visualization.
Ensure that you're in a comfortable position in which you feel no tension.
Take a moment to observe the space around you and then close your eyes.
With your eyes closed,
Begin to listen to your body.
Become aware of your body comfortably sitting or lying down.
And feel all the points of contact between your body and the support beneath you.
The back of your head,
Your arms,
Your hands,
Your back,
Your buttocks,
Your legs,
And your feet.
Feel your body begin to naturally stretch out,
Relaxing even more.
And become aware of the calm settling into your body.
Bring your attention now to your head and face.
Feel your scalp release and relax.
Soften your forehead.
Unfurl your eyebrows.
Release all the muscles around your eyes and feel your eyelids smoothing out.
Relax your temples,
Your cheekbones,
Your nose.
Feel the cool air around your nostrils on each inhale and the warm air around your nostrils on each exhale.
Relax your cheeks.
Unclench your jaws.
Let your tongue rest naturally in your mouth.
And feel your throat relax and feel free to swallow if needed.
Become aware that your face is completely relaxed.
And let the release continue down into the nape of your neck through your traps and shoulders.
Feel your shoulders naturally relaxing downwards as if pulled down by gravity.
Relax your upper arms,
Your elbows,
Your forearms,
Your wrists,
And your hands right down to your fingertips.
Become aware that your upper limbs are completely relaxed.
And now bring your attention to your back.
Imagine it stretching out bit by bit with each breath.
Relax all the muscles along your spine from your upper back down to your lower back.
Become aware that your back is completely relaxed.
Bring your awareness now to your chest.
Observe the movements of your ribcage as you breathe.
Notice how your ribs open with each inhale and close with each exhale.
And observe how these movements are calm and regular.
Now tune into the sound or the feeling of your heartbeat.
And notice how it too is calm and regular.
Feel your belly relaxing and letting go.
Observe the movements of your belly.
You inhale and the belly rises.
You exhale and the belly falls.
Notice how these movements are also calm and regular.
And let this feeling of relaxation diffuse down into your pelvis.
Relax your hips,
Your buttocks,
Your perineum.
Become aware that your upper body is completely relaxed.
And allow this feeling of relaxation to go into your legs.
Relax all the muscles in your thighs,
Your knees,
Your shins and your calves,
Your ankles,
And your feet right down to the tips of your toes.
Become aware that your lower limbs are completely relaxed.
Become aware that your whole body is completely relaxed.
And now imagine a fruit in front of you.
With a few different ones come to mind,
Select one without any judgment.
Look at it and imagine all the nuances of its colors,
The pattern of its texture,
Its form,
Its volume.
Observe all of its details and become aware of your sense of vision.
Now imagine taking this fruit into your hand.
Touch it on all sides.
Notice all the different parts.
Feel the texture of its skin,
Its stem if there is one,
Its firmness or softness.
Become aware of your sense of touch.
Now imagine bringing this fruit to your nose.
Breathe in its fragrance.
Feel the components of its scent.
Fruity.
Sweet.
Become aware of your sense of smell.
And finally bring this fruit to your mouth.
Take a bite and taste its flesh.
Enjoy the freshness of its juice.
Feel its flavors spread over your taste buds.
Appreciate all the different parts of your tongue,
Tasting the sweetness and maybe some acidity.
Notice everywhere in your mouth where you can taste this fruit.
Become aware of your sense of taste.
Become aware of all your sensory abilities.
Notice and welcome all of your feelings and sensations and integrate these sensations.
Consider that these sensations are always in you.
Think about activating them in your everyday life.
And now come back to the points of contact of your body with your support.
Feel the back of your head,
Your arms,
Your hands,
Your back,
Your buttocks,
Your legs,
And your feet.
Imagine the space that you're in and bring your awareness to the sounds outside.
Take a deep breath in through your nose to energize you.
Feel through your mouth.
Take a normal breath when you're done.
And you can begin to slowly twinkle your fingers and your toes and move the rest of your body,
Maybe taking a big stretch up with your hands overhead,
Stretching out your legs and your feet.
You can yawn if you want to.
And when you're ready,
You can open your eyes.
Take a moment while you're still in the state of relaxation to think about what feelings,
Sensations,
Images,
Or thoughts came up.
And remember that you can come back to this recording at any time when you want to calm your mind,
Ease anxiety,
And feel grounded in the present moment.
Know that you can always tune into your five senses.
Thank you once again for joining me here today for this calming anxiety through the five senses.
I'm Marianne De Clear.
