Morning Stress & Anxiety Meditation [High Level Of Guidance]

This practice is for a morning meditator looking for some guidance in Box Breathing for a simple tool to fend off stress and anxiety. We use the breath as a singular focal point in order to train the brain to focus on the present moment - resulting in more focus and attention in our day on what really matters and what's important. The benefits are less stress and anxiety about how we spend our time and where we give our attention.

Transcript

Good morning.

Welcome to your five minute meditation for stress and anxiety.

Today we'll be using the breath as a singular point of focus to guide our practice.

The breath can be a beautiful tool for us,

Giving us insight into our body's reactions to our present thoughts and our behaviors.

And by focusing and refocusing on the breath,

We activate the muscle of our brain that helps us focus and focus on what's important in the present moment and every present moment in our day.

Since stress and anxiety stem from fears and worries about the past and future,

Focusing on the present moment gives us feelings of relaxation and ease.

So when you're ready,

Find a comfortable seat,

Cross-legged or sitting in a chair.

The important parts that your spine is upright,

Shoulders resting directly above your hips,

Head resting above your shoulders,

Sit nice and tall.

And before we get started,

Make some small movements with your torso,

Forward and backwards,

Swaying front to back,

And then left to right.

And do a slight twist,

Right and left a couple times.

This wakes up the spine,

Gets us moving in all three planes of motion to prepare.

Now you're ready,

Let's get started.

So close your eyes,

Either all the way or just halfway.

You can even gaze through your eyelashes if it feels more comfortable than closing your eyes.

Give your eyes a rest and bring your attention inward to your mind's eye.

We'll get started with three deep breaths in and out,

Making a sigh when we breathe out.

You can let out a sound as you exhale fully and relax out all the air.

To begin,

Let's start by emptying out the lungs completely.

Breathe out all the air and begin.

Take a deep breath into the belly,

Expand the breath into the chest and shoulders.

Exhale,

Sigh.

Again,

Inhale deep into the belly,

Chest and shoulders.

Hold the breath at the top.

Exhale,

Sigh.

Inhale again,

Chest,

Belly,

Shoulders,

Three-dimensionally.

Hold the top.

Exhale,

Sigh.

Now seal off the lips and just breathe in and out through your nose.

We'll begin box breathing here in a moment.

We'll take four seconds in,

Hold for four seconds,

Four seconds on the breath out,

And then hold for four more seconds.

I'll guide the entire experience so you can just listen to my voice.

So sealing off the lips,

Take a deep breath in.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Hold.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Exhale.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Hold.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Inhale.

Hold.

Exhale.

Hold.

Inhale.

Hold.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Hold.

Exhale.

Hold.

Inhale.

Hold.

Exhale.

Hold.

Inhale.

Hold.

Exhale.

Nice and easy.

Hold.

Inhale.

Nice and deep.

Hold.

Exhale nice and slow.

Hold.

Inhale.

Hold the top.

Exhale.

Nice and easy.

Hold the bottom.

Inhale.

Hold the top.

Exhale.

Hold the bottom.

Inhale.

Hold the top.

Exhale.

Hold the bottom.

Inhale.

Hold.

Exhale.

One last deep breath in,

Deepest breath in yet.

Hold the top and exhale.

Hold the bottom.

Last breath in.

Inhale nice and deep.

Hold the top.

Take one last sip of air,

Even bigger.

Hold.

Open mouth sigh.

Allow your breath to come back to a natural pace.

Release control of the breath.

Find your attention back at the present moment,

Noticing the breath,

Noticing the texture,

The pace.

Notice the location of the breath.

Are you breathing in your belly,

Your chest,

Your shoulders?

Without judgment,

Just notice the breath.

When you feel comfortable and ready,

You can begin to blink your eyes open nice and softly.

Start to move out your wrists and ankles,

Your fingers and toes.

Start to move your torso,

Knees,

Elbows.

Come back into the space and thank yourself for meditating and getting your day started with yourself.

Have a beautiful day.

Reviews

This has been a great practice. I was feeling stressed out starting my day but now after I feel much better and calmer. My mind is now able to see things more clearly in a positive way.

Well structured box breathing - appreciated how you properly bookended the start and end of the exercise

Perfect grounding for morning racing heart and mind

I felt so much better after this meditation. It really helped cut through the morning anxiety.

Excellent technique for anxiety. I've always liked box breathing. I find it very calming! Thank you!

Having listened to countless breath awareness practices over a few decades, I can say that this one does a stellar job with the mechanics of the process.

A great intro for beginners, particularly any who may be skeptical or wary of the spiritual/religious aspects of meditation. This is purely about bodily attention, and does a better job of guiding the listener through the technique than the vast majority of similar recordings and live instruction I have experienced.

I particularly appreciate the way that the 4-4-4-4 count (my favorite!) goes silent after a while, so you don’t even have to focus on the counting. It feels luxurious to me to truly be able to simply trust in the flow with almost no intellect involved.

Welcomes repeat listening—although once you learn the count you don’t really need the recording (unless you want to experience that intellect-less “luxury” I just described).

I really liked this meditation but I did notice that once you stopped counting, it was no longer a four-count it was often two or three, the pace was much quicker than when you were counting out. I was able to continue on my own but for a beginner this might be a bit of a problem. Thank you for sharing with us 🙏

Quick and refreshing! Exactly what I needed this afternoon. Thanks Q.

Just what I’ve been looking for to start my day! Thank you. 🙏

I am familiar with the technique but never make the effort to practice it. Nice to have great guidance - will refer to it often.

Excellent, thank you

Nice, clear guidance on this breathing technique. Thank you

Very grounding, centering, and calming. Thank you! 🙏💖

🙏🏼❤️🙏🏾❤️🙏🏿☮️🧘‍♀️🌈

Great way to start the day especially after finding my mind racing on a Monday morning .

I am grateful for this meditation. I am grateful for your guidance. Namaste

A good grounding breath practice to start my day. Thank you.

thanks for share this practicee with others!! hugs broo :))

Simple and comfortable

Very helpful. Especially for a newcomer like myself. Thank you for breaking it down and guiding the experience.