Ease Stress, Soothe Anxiety

Simple yet powerful mindfulness-based tools to help you gently meet anxiety and stress with acceptance and kindness. Breathing techniques and classic mindfulness alongside a wonderful method called the Releasing Technique. This meditation will leave you feeling incredibly calm at the same time, armed with some methods for managing your stress better in daily life.

Transcript

This is the shorter meditation practice to help you ease stress and anxiety from your body and your mind. It's helpful to do this meditation in a seated posture, You can do that either in a chair or sitting on a cushion on the floor. So please take a comfortable seated position now that you can relax into for the next ten minutes or so. Just as soon as you're ready, Place your hands slightly on your thighs, Allow the eyes to close down when that's comfortable for you to begin to relax away from all the concerns of the world. And spend a moment simply making a connection with your body. And if someone invited you in this moment to relax just a little more deeply, What would that feel like for you? In all of those muscles, And in all of that thinking, And all of those to-do lists and busyness of life, Just relaxing. To really help you relax deeply and go inside now, It can be helpful to just slightly deepen your breathing. So go ahead and take a gentle breath in, Just as you count to around three in your mind. And then as you breathe out next time, Make that out-breath maybe a little longer, Around about a four-count. And then when you breathe in again, Just count to three and gently let your belly, Your diaphragm, Your lower lungs fill with air. As you exhale, Maybe a little longer next time, Around a five-count. Then do that again, Gently filling up for around a three-count and see if you can begin doubling the length of the out-breath to around a six-count. Do that for the next couple of breaths, Allowing all the busyness and tensions and to-do lists just falling away into that out-breath, Beginning to relax, Enjoying the sensation of just going inside now. Do this little technique one more time. You encourage that exhalation to be smooth and slow and relaxed, And it can feel just so nice to take your time, To settle in, To unwind the busy mind into that easy gentle breath. And when you have finished that last exhalation, Invite you just to notice how you're feeling in this moment, Maybe even just to acknowledge any of the stresses and worries and strains of your life of late. And if you were to notice how your body is feeling in this moment, Or the way you sometimes feel with some of that stress and anxiety, Notice where you might feel some of those sensations of stress and anxiety in your body. I know for some people it's down in the belly, For others it might be up in the chest or maybe even in the throat. Some people, It's a tightness behind the eyes and the forehead, Might be a little of all of this. What do you notice in your body in this moment, Or as you think about some of the stresses and worries of your life? It's important when we work with these meditations to begin cultivating a level of acceptance and okayness with what you're feeling, Rather than pushing it away or rejecting it or worrying about it. So as you notice any of those feelings in the body, I wonder if you'll just say silently into those feelings, I notice this feeling and I accept it. I notice this feeling and I say yes to it. I notice this feeling and I accept myself. Just pause for a moment and just say those words. It might be helpful just to rest with any lingering feelings and just once or twice more simply say the word yes into that feeling. Allow your body, Your energy, Your emotions, Your mind to simply relax into a state of openness and acceptance. A feeling of safety and a sense that in this moment you're okay. To feel even more okay, In fact to feel really calm and relaxed, Begin to just notice that effortless easy breath down in the diaphragm as you relax the belly and just make a little space to receive that easy breath and for the next couple of minutes just simply meditate on the coming and going of that breath and if there's any thoughts that want to get in the way, Just leave those thoughts behind and see if you can stay with around three breaths at a time, That wonderfully soft belly, That effortless and easy breath drawing you into the present now because it's in this present and everything else falls away and you can just feel really good about yourself and about life because every breath, Just every easy breath helps you feel better and better in your body now, The softer your belly, The more relaxed those shoulders, The softer the belly, The more relaxed that jaw, The softer the belly, The more calm in the backs of the eyes, The softer the belly, The more space around all those thoughts disappearing now and as you get more and more relaxed, You may even notice that the breath becomes so soft and fine that there's even these little spaces between the breaths and even for a tiny second, The body and the mind, The past and the future just simply dissolve into those little spaces where your mind can feel free, Maybe you could just simply imagine taking these little spaces, This soft belly breath, Simple willingness to say yes to more and more of the feelings and sensations and experiences of your life, Creating a little more space around your thoughts, Letting whatever good energy you've cultivated in this short meditation just to flow out into the rest of this day, Knowing you've created a wonderful, Easy, Relaxed platform to step into, Enjoy more and more of the relaxed moments of your life in an open and easy going way, Feel free to continue to sit here and breathe softly, Noticing the little spaces and relaxing or maybe start to wake your body up, Take a few longer breaths and move back into the rest of your day.