Practice For Stress, Panic & Overwhelm

A short practice to help you respond to and work with panic, extreme stress or overwhelm. It's designed to be done standing up, for example in a restroom cubicle, so is very handy for work or when in public. It includes slow and calming guidance from Neil as he leads you through following the breath, soothing touch and anchoring into different parts of your body.

Transcript

Hi,

This is Neil and this is a short practice designed to help you work with panic,

Extreme stress or overwhelm.

It's designed to be done in a standing up position,

Which is really handy if you're at work and you just want to take some time out,

Maybe lock yourself in a toilet cubicle or restroom,

Whatever you call it.

So let's begin.

So standing with your feet about hip width apart and just having the soles of both feet resting on the floor.

Standing upright and placing a palm of one of your hands on your belly and the palm of the other hand on the upper chest.

I'm going to begin with some breathing exercises and this is to help slow down the nervous system.

So we're going to take some deep breaths.

We just follow along with me breathing through the nose if you can.

I'm breathing in down into the belly.

So breathing in,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathing out,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathing in,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathing out,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathing in,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathing out,

Two,

Three,

Four.

And just continuing to breathe in this rhythm as we continue with the practice.

And as you breathe,

The invitation is to also notice the weight down in your feet.

So notice the weight of your body pushing down into the soles of the feet.

Noticing the weight in the heels,

The weight in the toes.

And on each out-breath,

Just really as best you can,

Giving up the weight of your body down into the soles of the feet.

So really just fully feeling the weight of your body in the soles of your feet.

And continuing to breathe in the rhythm.

So breathing in,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathing out,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathing in,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Breathing out,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Really feeling the weight of the body down in your feet as you breathe.

And also as you breathe,

You'll be noticing the feel of whichever hand is resting on your upper chest.

Maybe having a sense of connection with that hand,

The feel of any warmth between the chest and the hand.

And this is also going to start to soothe the nervous system.

So we call this soothing touch.

And just by making contact with our own body,

Especially the upper chest,

Signals to our nervous system that we are cared for.

And that it can begin to calm down,

Settle and be soothed.

So breathing,

Feet on the floor,

Nice deep breaths,

Calming hand on the chest.

And just staying here for as long as you like.

I'll bring the practice to a close in a moment.

If you find it helpful,

Maybe you can just play it again.

And I wish you well.

I wish you the strength to respond to whatever is coming up in your life.

Reviews

Although short, this meditation is extremely effective for me when I’m having severe anxiety. You can do this anywhere (just not while driving):) Thank you for this🙏🏻

Brilliant! Just what my poor overwhelmed heart and scattered mind needed, a gentle re-set. No cubicle, but I got the vibe…MUCH BETTER NOW! Thanks dear Neil.

Exactly what I needed in the midst of a stressful moment... Many, many thanks. 💕🙏🏼

I listened to one of your meditations earlier today. You have a very comforting voice. I’ve been going through a lot of stress lately that has been literally been causing me physical illness. Although I wasn’t currently at work when listening to this meditation, you provided me with much needed peace and support. I put you on my “Follow” list. Thanks again for this wonderful meditation.

This meditation helped me to feel more calm and grounded; thank you, Neil! 🙏🏽

This really helped me during high anxiety. Thank you

Love the soothing touch - it hadn't previously worked for me because I would focus so much on how tight my chest was. Noticing the warmth of my hand helped tremendously,thank you!

One of the first meditations I bookmarked. I recommend this to others often. After all, how many meditations are specifically designed to be done for anxiety at work? And in the loo! Nicely done.

This was so helpful. I woke up anxious and full of worry, but this helped me re-center and start my day with a greater sense of calm.

I'm checking out practices here to share with others. I recently heard from a person who was looking for a something to help with his panic attacks. I'll share this for sure.

Just what I needed, will definitely repeat, thank you

I especially liked the sentence you closed with, the wish for the strength to handle or deal with whatever is coming up in our lives. Thank you.

I have been suffering from anxiety and panic since having really bad palpitations after having covid for the 4th time. I've been needing to find a technique which can help me take control before I have a full blown panic attack. This 6 minute lesson really helped me calm before my body went into meltdown. I will use this moving forward in the hopes of combating the panic. Thank you.

Felt so good thank you so much! I will use this meditation every day! I very much recomed this for people who stress a lot like me

This track was perfect for me, I’m new to meditating and I’ve been finding it hard to feel the benefits out of it, this one hit the spot!!! Thank you!!!

I didn't follow instructions to a T but it did help anyway while I was dropping dinner

I love its design, for standing up, since you can't always lay down or even sit before a Stressful event. Thanks

So helpful! Will definitely do this one again and again. Thank you

Thank you this was helpful love your voice and the soothing pacing.

Thank you for your meditations they are so helpful 🙏💗