Releasing Anxiety With Maria Toso

This anxiety dissolving practice guides you into a deep release of the tension in body and mind that manifest as anxiety and stress. Maria gently guides your awareness into your body helping you become grounded and peaceful again. It is recommended that you do this practice seated upright for maximum effect but is also very helpful practiced lying on your back.

Transcript

Welcome to your practice.

Please find a way to sit as upright as you can.

Might be traditional cross-legged posture on the floor,

But a chair is perfectly fine.

The essential thing for this meditation is that you find contact with,

Awareness of the lifting,

Rising action within the spine.

Start by bringing your awareness into the root,

The root chakra being associated with the sit bones,

Tailbone,

Perineum,

The part of your body that is touching the earth as you sit.

The part of the body that is symbolic of your connection to earth.

If you were a plant,

This would be the root that would extend deeply into the ground to draw nutrients from the earth.

Feel the weight,

The connection,

The physical sensation of gravity drawing you down.

The comfort of being held by earth.

And from this place of rooted,

Grounded energy,

Bring awareness to the central energy channel of the body,

The spine,

And bring to mind the stem of a flower,

A dandelion for example.

The strong yet gentle stem of a dandelion and its ability to lift and rise and bring the crown toward the light.

Now maintaining your awareness in the root,

Bring awareness to your crown to the very top of your head,

To the part of the skull that was open when you were first born.

In some traditions,

It is considered the entry point of the spirit into the fetus.

Now capture inside yourself the energy of a living plant lifting and rising toward the light above,

Opening,

Expanding.

So hold within your physical body the energetic connection to the earth below and the light above.

Let the root sink deeper and let the crown rise higher.

And then relax everything between these two polarities.

Like a string of pearls being held on two ends,

Everything aligns in between the lifting and the grounding.

Relax your belly deeply.

Draw your awareness deeply into the multiple layers of tension that you likely carry in the lower belly.

Let the belly become soft and receptive of the breath.

The belly may not relax immediately or completely.

Just let the belly relax as much as it is willing.

Invite the breath all the way into the lower belly.

See if you can hear the subtle sound of the breath as it enters and leaves your body.

Now invite your breath also into your side bodies,

Your rib cage.

Bring awareness to the muscles between the ribs and signal to them to relax so that they may effortlessly expand.

As you breathe in,

The rib cage widen side to side.

Breathing naturally effortlessly into the belly,

Into your side bodies.

And now bring awareness to the whole backside of the body.

Have a sense that even the backside of the body is receiving and expanding with the inhale and relaxing and releasing with the exhale,

That any tension that might be hiding in your backside is draining,

Evaporating out of the body along with the exhale.

Now draw the awareness into the upper chest below your collar bones as you continuously stay with the uprightness of the root grounding and the crown rising.

You will also notice more space here,

The uppermost lobes of the lungs free to fill on the inhale and the pectoral muscles free to relax and let go on the exhale.

The breath gently entering and leaving the body.

You witnessing the sensations in the body,

The delicate sound of the breath inside your ears,

Your head.

Stay present in the whole of the body.

And now bring awareness also into the nose.

Feel the very tip of the nose,

The nostrils.

And feel the texture of the in-breath,

Maybe a scent,

Temperature.

Just notice how the breath feels as you draw breath in through the nose.

Stay present in the breathing in the belly and the side ribs,

In the upper chest,

In the backside.

And now fill your nostrils with awareness.

Feel the journey of the breath from the tip of the nose through the nostrils into the back of the throat.

And now shift your awareness into just the right nostril.

Maintain your presence in the body,

The rooting,

The lifting and rising.

And then emphasize with your presence and awareness sensations inside the right nostril.

Let yawning happen if yawning wants to happen.

Now shift the awareness from the right nostril into the left.

Feeling in more detail,

Breath inside the left nostril.

Scent,

Temperature is the breath,

The air,

Fresh,

Stale,

Clear,

Stuffy.

If the air entering the body,

The head,

A color,

What would the color be?

Now bring awareness into both nostrils at the same time.

Holding awareness still in all the breathing areas,

The lower belly,

The side ribs,

The back body,

The chest.

Bring now awareness into the hands.

Notice the feeling of the hands,

The posture of the hands.

Let your awareness move from finger to finger starting with the thumbs.

Bring awareness into the index fingers,

The middle fingers,

The ring fingers,

And the pinkies.

Feel the tip of all 10 fingers,

The palm of both hands,

The energy of the palms,

The energy in the fingers,

The back of the hands,

The soft relaxed hands,

The weight of the hands,

The temperature of the hands.

What are the hands resting on?

Are they resting on your body somewhere?

What does that body part feel like?

Experience your hands from the point of view of whatever they're resting on.

How does the body feel different where the hands are?

Feel the space around the hands and feel the epicenter of where the hands are touching your body.

Feel the space where the hands meet,

A place on your body.

Notice the breath again inside the nose.

Recommit to the posture.

Bring to mind a dandelion with a strong determined root into the ground and an enthusiastic yellow flower reaching and rising,

Pushing right through anything and everything,

Even asphalt,

Making the connection to the light through the crown.

Regardless of the time of day or your location,

Feel the sun itself in the top of your head.

Feel the core of the earth through your root.

Breathe between these two polarities.

Feel the love of the earth,

The support of the earth,

And feel the light illuminating,

Nurturing,

Healing.

Now bring your awareness back to the hands and then copy this degree of awareness that you established in your hand into the feet.

Feel deeply into the soles of the feet,

The arches,

The heels,

The balls of the feet,

The tops of the feet,

All 10 toes,

Ankles.

Keep noticing your breath inside your nose while noticing hands and feet together,

Fully alive.

Now let this degree of presence that you have in your hands and in your feet spread from the hands to the whole of the arms,

Spread from the feet to the whole of the legs,

Like energy expanding,

Multiplying,

And singing.

Arms and legs,

Hands and feet,

Tips of the fingers and tips of the toes,

Fully present in arms and legs,

Hands and feet,

Fingers and toes.

Bring awareness now into the torso,

The pelvis like a bowl being filled like a cup with awareness,

With light.

Present moment awareness now spreading from the pelvis through the belly,

The solar plexus and the chest,

Low back,

Mid back,

Upper back,

The whole of the body from the neck down.

The light is dissolving all tension and knots,

Energy flowing freely.

Let awareness,

Light,

Concentration enter into the upper back,

Between,

Above,

Around the shoulder blades,

Into the nape of the neck,

The sides of the neck,

The throat,

Releasing any tension in the neck in the upper back,

Around and between the shoulder blades,

Soften any gripping in the jaw,

Soft chin and lips,

Soft tongue,

The breath inside the nose,

Soften around the eyes,

Eyebrows,

Forehead,

Relax the brain behind the forehead,

Feel into the ears,

The wrinkles and folds of the ears,

Notice in particular the right ear,

Notice in particular the left ear,

Notice both ears together,

Notice the space between the ears,

Notice the space between the eyebrows and find the point in the center of the brain where these lines meet,

Bring light to the center of the brain,

Bring awareness to the scalp,

The crown of the head,

Now feel the whole body together,

The whole body together,

Awareness in the whole body,

Feel the envelope of the skin,

Feel where the skin is covered by clothing,

Feel where the skin is exposed,

Notice the breath inside the nose,

Pay attention to the whole energy field of the body,

All at once holding as much of your energy field in your focus,

In your awareness,

All together,

Full presence inside the body,

Full awareness of the perimeter of the body,

Feel the innermost core of the body,

Feel the physical perimeter of the body,

Feel the space around your body,

Feel a few inches around the body,

Expand your awareness,

Push it out beyond the physical perimeter of the body,

Expand a little bit more beyond your body,

Feel the space around the body,

Below the body,

To either side of the body,

In front and behind the body,

Above the body,

Gently expand yourself a little more deeply into the field around your body,

Allow the energy field of your body to expand a little more,

Notice the breath,

Hold the larger energy field,

Now several feet beyond the physical body,

Stay connected to the sound and the feeling of the breath as you maintain keen awareness of the energy field several feet beyond the body.

And now let yourself expand even further,

Play with the expansion.

Can you find the edges of the room you're in?

Can you find the edges of the house you're in?

Can you find the edges of the neighborhood you're in?

Can you find the edges of the city you're in?

The country,

The continent,

The whole of the world,

The earth itself,

Expand your energetic awareness to encompass the whole globe.

Feel the rooting,

Feel the rising,

Feel the expansion,

Notice your breath,

Expand beyond the earth,

Find the edges of the atmosphere,

Find the space beyond the atmosphere,

Let yourself feel into the infinity of the universe around the earth.

Stay connected to your root as you explore what's beyond.

Feel this fear and feel yourself in the center of this fear.

Feel the solidity of your body and the lightness of your spirit.

Now slowly start drawing the awareness back to the sensation of the physical body,

Earth,

Continent,

Country,

City,

Neighborhood,

House,

Room,

You.

Stay very grounded and connected in your luminous body.

Feel the weight of your body,

The posture of your body and gently open the eyes without losing this fabulous connection to the body,

To the moment.

Experience what's around you,

The details,

Colors,

Shapes,

Forms,

Sizes,

Smells,

And let yourself carry as much of this more expanded awareness of your spirit self into the earth plane as you interact,

As you act,

As you do.

Let this part of you simply be in deep awareness of your divine connection to everything.

Let this part of you simply be in deep awareness of your divine connection to everything.