Hi,
This is Natalie.
If your mind has been spinning lately,
Looping,
Analyzing every angle,
You're exactly where you need to be.
Overthinking is never a personal failure.
It's also not a personality trait.
It's simply your nervous system doing its best to protect you by keeping you alert,
Even long after you've stopped needing that level of protection.
In this meditation,
We're not trying to force the mind to be quiet.
We're giving your body the safety it needs so your mind can naturally soften,
Unwind,
And let go.
By the end of this practice,
You will feel clearer,
Steadier,
And more spacious on the inside,
Like you finally have room to breathe again.
Get comfortable,
Seated or lying down.
Let your body settle.
And whenever you're ready,
Gently close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Let your vision become blurry.
And take a slow breath in through your nose.
And exhale fully through your mouth.
Let your shoulders melt.
Again,
Inhale through the nose.
And exhale through the mouth longer than your inhale.
Overthinking thrives in a fast internal rhythm.
Right now,
We're inviting your whole system into a slower tempo.
Let your inhale be soft.
And let your exhale feel like something unwinding,
Loosening,
Unclenching inside you.
Feel the weight of your body supported beneath you.
Nothing to solve.
Nothing to manage.
Just landing here.
Shift your awareness down from your mind into the physical body.
Start with your jaw.
Soften it.
Let your tongue loosen in your mouth,
Resting heavily.
Feel the back of your eyes relax,
Forehead and temples smooth.
Let your awareness travel down your neck,
Your shoulders,
Your chest,
Your back.
Let your awareness travel down your belly,
Your hips,
Your legs,
Your feet.
With each exhale,
Imagine your awareness settling lower,
Moving away from the crowded space of the mind and into the steady,
Quiet grounding of the body.
Your thoughts may still be active,
And that's okay.
You're not trying to stop them.
You're simply relocating your center of gravity.
Your body is the place your mind can finally rest.
Bring one hand to your belly.
Feel it rise softly as you inhale and fall as you exhale.
Now gently lengthen the exhale.
No counting,
Just subtly slower.
If long exhales feel difficult for you,
You can imagine drawing soft waves on your exhale,
Zigzagging downward,
Slowing the breath,
Softening the pace.
Inhale and exhale in gentle zigzag waves,
Like your breath is melting tension from the mind downward into the body.
With every long exhale,
Notice how your thoughts lose some of their urgency.
Overthinking can't survive in a body that feels safe.
Now bring awareness to the thoughts that arise,
Not to change them,
But to witness them.
When a thought appears,
Just softly name it.
Worry,
Thought,
Planning,
Remembering,
Criticizing.
Imagining,
Preparing,
Protecting.
Give it a neutral label,
Nothing emotional,
Nothing dramatic,
Just naming.
Labeling shifts your brain from participating in the thought to observing it.
And observing creates space.
Space creates calm.
If your mind throws many thoughts at once,
Label that to busy mind.
Fast mind,
Looping mind,
And breathe.
You're not shutting down the mind,
You're gently unplugging from it.
Each label is a way of saying,
I see you,
But I'm not climbing inside you.
Let your inner stance be curious,
Neutral,
Unhurried.
Thoughts will keep coming as long as we live,
But your relationship to them is softening,
Unhooking,
Loosening in this moment.
You are not the thought,
You are the one who sees it.
Now imagine taking one small step back from the entire stream of thoughts,
As if stepping back from a moving river.
The river continues,
But you are on the bank,
Steady,
Grounded,
Watching.
You can softly repeat,
This is just a thought,
Not a truth.
Or,
I don't need to follow this right now.
Or,
Thank you mind,
I'm safe.
Notice how it feels to stand beside your thoughts instead of inside them.
Even if the river is still moving quickly,
Your position has changed.
You are rooted,
You are here,
You are spacious.
Notice the natural rhythm of your breath.
Feel the weight of your body.
Feel the warmth of your hands.
Feel the steadiness underneath everything.
There is always a quiet place beneath the mind.
A place untouched by thoughts,
Untouched by urgency.
You're touching that place now.
Even if only a few seconds at a time.
That's enough.
Calm isn't the absence of thoughts.
Calm is the soft relationship to them.
Take one last slow breath in,
And exhale gently.
Notice what has softened in your thoughts,
Your body,
Your breath,
Your emotional space.
If this brought you calm,
Return to it any time your mind speeds up.
The more you practice,
The more natural this separation becomes.
Thank you for being here,
And take your time to slowly return into your day.
