Hello,
My name is Nikki Rhodes and I will guide you through this meditation for stress and anxiety for teens.
Stress and anxiety play super important roles in our bodies,
However when they are given too much free time they can also be extremely detrimental.
Can we feel stressed or anxious because of pressure that we put on ourselves or the pressure of others?
We can also feel stressed or anxious if we feel like we are somehow not good enough or ought to be doing better in certain ways.
All of these reasons lead us to not feeling safe in our own bodies.
This meditation will remind you of your power to reclaim control over your emotions and will guide you step by step to help you to feel safe,
Worthwhile and free.
There are no magic pills for long term relief of anxiety,
However many people overcome this struggle through this breath and release technique.
Now make sure that you are comfortable either sitting or lying down and that you won't be interrupted.
You can close down your eyes and put your attention to your breath.
Start by taking a big breath in through the mouth and then letting it go.
Take another inhale and then let it go.
Continue to breathe in and out and notice how the mind is focused on the breath in this moment rather than on the stress or the anxiety.
Our minds can feel super overpowering at times,
However you have the ability to guide your mind to where you'd like it to focus.
When you guide it to the breath it stops producing the stressful and anxious thoughts that create the feelings of panic.
Make a note to yourself that you can come back to your breath whenever you feel your mind being overactive.
Continue breathing and with each breath feel yourself relaxing more and more.
Place one of your hands on your stomach and send the breath down into your hand,
Envisioning your stomach filling up like a balloon and then exhaling the air out of your nose,
Feeling your stomach deflate.
And again,
Feeling your stomach inflate like a balloon and out,
Returning to normal.
These deep breaths are called belly breaths and they're super helpful to release feelings of stress and anxiety.
Now allow yourself to feel where the stress or anxiety is residing in your body.
See if you can locate it.
Is it in your stomach?
Is it in between your shoulder blades on your back?
Is it sitting on your lungs making it hard for you to breathe?
Remember you are in control of how much space this emotion takes up within yourself.
With each breath in allow your mind to focus on the area of your body where the stress or anxiety is located.
And as you breathe out see if you can imagine the stress or anxiety leaving your body as if it were a pile of leaves blowing away in the wind.
Try this with me now.
Take a deep breath in,
Travelling the breath down into your stomach and feeling where you feel most of the tension.
Now as you exhale imagine the stress and tightness leaving your body.
Breathe in,
Feel the tightness and now breathe out envisioning the tightness leaving your body as if you had just kicked a big pile of leaves and they were blowing away with the wind.
And again breathe in,
Feel the tightness and now breathe out envisioning the tightness leaving.
Breathe in and breathe out.
You can concentrate on different parts of your body paying attention to each area and the stress and the tension that you feel in the area.
You can see the stress and the tension leaving your body as you exhale.
Now following the breath exercise there is a greater sense of spaciousness and lightness to your body.
You have regained control of your emotions and stopped the spiralling effect of the anxiety and stress taking over within you.
The breath is an extremely powerful tool for you to use whenever you feel your mind in overdrive.
Remember you are in control of your emotions and you have the final say on what you allow to run through your mind.
Now the opinions of others and the pressure that we place on ourselves are things that you absolutely have control over.
The opinions of others are simply that other people's opinions.
The only control that they have over you is the control that you give them.
Be kind to yourself and refuse to allow the pressure of other people's opinions to take over within you.
Know that this is a super challenging time for everyone who has ever been your age.
You have the power,
The strength and the capability to control what goes on within you no matter the storm outside.
Commit to practicing the breathe and release technique whenever you fear the fear,
Stress,
Panic or overwhelm rise up within you.
This technique is deeply effective if you commit to practicing it.
If you commit to strengthening your mind and reminding yourself that you have the power over these emotions.
You are not alone in this and you absolutely have the strength and the ability to tame these emotions within you and to free yourself of a life lived as a slave to stress and anxiety.
Feeling into the power of these words,
Believing the strength that resides within you and committing to practicing the technique is your key.
Placing both hands on your heart,
Feeling a sense of empowerment,
Strength and positivity running through your body.
Knowing you are not alone.
Knowing that even though you feel misunderstood,
You are understood by those who have been there before.
Even though you feel different and you feel as though the pressure is too much,
Know that others have been there before and they got through it.
With this knowledge in your heart of the people who have walked before you and the people yet to come,
Commit to doing yourself the greatest favour by practicing,
Inhaling,
Acknowledging the emotions within you and then releasing the overload of feelings that don't serve you.
Releasing the feelings that build up,
That take up space and that impact on your life.
You can come back to this meditation whenever you need the reminder.
You are so worth it.
