Welcome to this meditation for navigating acute anxiety.
Before we begin,
I want to remind you that whatever you're experiencing right now
is both normal and temporary.
Feelings of worry,
Restlessness,
Lack of control,
Any other manifestations of anxiety are all normal expressions of being human.
And though these feelings may seem overwhelming in this moment,
They're not permanent fixtures of your mind or your body.
You're not your anxiety,
You're not your thoughts,
You're not even your bodily sensations.
So let's start by finding a comfortable position.
That could be seated in a chair or a cushion,
Lying down on a couch or a bed,
Whatever feels supportive to you.
And notice first that feeling of connection between your body and the surface.
Feel rooted into it.
And bring attention now to your breath.
Let it become smoother and deeper.
Inhale down into your belly,
Letting your belly rise,
And exhale it out,
Feeling your belly deflate.
Take a couple of these deeper breaths on your own now.
When we're anxious,
We're usually thinking about something,
Something out there in the future.
So for this practice,
Let's turn our attention away from that external object,
And turn our attention onto ourselves.
Instead of thinking about this thing out there making us anxious,
Let's focus on what it feels like to be anxious.
Set aside questions of why you're feeling this way,
Or how you'll resolve this issue you're ruminating on.
Let this time be dedicated to simply noticing.
What is it like?
What is this experience of anxiety?
So take some time to gently scan your entire body from your head to your feet,
And notice what it feels like to be in your body right now.
Like you're a third-party observer,
You're witnessing your body with curiosity.
Notice any areas of strong sensation.
Do you feel muscle tightness?
Are you aware of your heartbeat?
Maybe you feel tingling or pulsing.
Heat or coolness?
Perhaps even numbness?
Whatever you notice,
Try to be receptive to it.
Ah,
There's this feeling in my body.
Notice how it feels.
Ah,
There's this feeling in my body.
Notice any instincts to label the feelings or create a story out of them.
That they're bad,
That they shouldn't be happening.
Let go of the interpretation and just be curious about the experience itself.
You might let your attention linger on any particularly strong sensations for a bit longer.
Again,
Remembering not to judge them,
Just to feel them.
Perhaps they're getting stronger or duller.
Maybe you can feel where they start and they stop.
Or maybe the edges of it are a bit amorphous.
It's okay if your mind drifts back into thought toward the object of your anxiety.
Just come back to the body.
Just come back to the body.
This practice is like a science experiment.
Your consciousness,
Your awareness,
Is the scientist.
Nips observing this field of different sensations swirling within you.
And you're not trying to find any particular outcome.
You're not even trying to relieve or change the sensations.
You're just getting acquainted with them and letting them dance around.
And you can just let them be there.
And you can just let them be there because they will eventually pass.
They may be very uncomfortable and unsettling.
You also have the power to find ease and grace with them without adding more layers
of mental torment on top of them.
So much of our suffering comes from our reactions to our experiences.
So what happens if you just let yourself rest in the experience itself?
As we come to our closing of this practice,
With each exhale,
Imagine releasing a bit of the tension and anxiety that's built up inside you.
Gently begin to bring your awareness back to the room,
Noticing the support beneath you,
The air on your skin,
Any sounds in your periphery.
And remember that anxiety,
Like all emotions,
Feelings,
Sensations,
Is transient.
It comes and it will go.
And you can release it.
And it will go.
And you can always come back to this practice of dropping into your body,
Of returning to your breath,
To ground yourself
in the here and now.
