Learn From Anxiety

This practice will help you better understand the stress, anxiety, or fear that keeps arising in your life. I urge you to reconize these moments not as bad or unhelpful, but instead as spaces for you to deepen your practice and get more fully in touch with the lessons of your life.

Shout out to David Gandelman who inspired this meditation technique.

Transcript

Hello my loves and welcome to our anxiety free meditation.

I just want to preface this meditation and give a shout out to David Gandelman who this meditation is adapted from.

I really loved his idea of a four part meditation of finding it,

Feeling it,

Then facing it and from there healing it.

And this meditation I have taught both locally and to some of my private sessions and I have really been loving this meditation as a way to deepen your practice,

A way to reflect more deeply and dive more deeply into those areas of our life that we most of the time deem bad or uncomfortable.

And it allows us to really see it for what it is,

To feel it and in those times of feeling this anxiety or stress,

Getting to know yourself becomes more profound.

These moments of anxiety and stress are not here to punish you but instead to show you something to give you the time and space to dive more deeply into yourself and your healing journey,

Your meditation journey,

Your mindfulness journey.

So we are going to use this meditation with that mindset that this anxiety and stress is here as a tool for you to use to learn yourself more deeply.

So let us get started finding a comfortable seated position,

Whatever that looks like for you.

You can lay down if you think that you can stay alert and present in the moment.

Once you find a comfortable seated position,

Gently close your eyes.

Let us just take the next few moments to arrive here to maybe let go of the sleep you were just waking up from or maybe to let go of the conversations and to-do lists that you took part in today or have to do today and let those things go to make time and space right here for yourself.

This is your self-care practice.

This bubble of time and moments is here for you.

Take a deep breath in through the nose.

Open the mouth and let it go.

Do that again.

Deep breath in through the nose.

Open the mouth,

Let it go and allow yourself to arrive here present in this time and space of meditation and self-care.

Before we begin this four-part meditation of finding it,

Feeling it,

Facing it,

The anxiety or stress and then healing it,

Let us first begin to soften the body.

Allow ourselves to become open and receptive to all that we have ahead of us to learn.

Releasing in the face,

The jaw,

Allowing the jaw and forehead to soften.

Moving down through the neck and throat and shoulders,

Releasing any rigidity in those areas and allowing them to become soft and relaxed.

Moving down through the arms and hands and fingers.

Allowing the arms and hands and fingers to release.

Relax and be open,

Maybe turning the palms facing up in the gesture of receiving,

Being open to receive.

Moving now down through the chest,

Mid-back,

Mid-belly.

Softening the body,

Allowing yourself to be open,

To feel safe in being open.

Moving down through the low back and low belly and into the hips.

Allowing the low back and low belly and hips to soften,

Relax and feel grounded and held by the floor or bed or couch below you.

Moving down through the legs,

Allowing the thighs and the knees and the calves and the ankles and toes to let go,

Release and feel safe and grounded in being open.

Being open to receiving all of the knowledge that is awaiting you as we move through this four-part meditation.

Beginning first with the element of finding,

Finding the anxiety or stress,

That thing that needs to surface now for you to learn from and see.

In general,

Anxiety is defined as feeling that there is always something wrong or something to go wrong or this need or desire to control or heal everything around you so that it feels comfortable.

So let us now take the next few moments to simply find this anxiety or fear or stress that has lain dormant or maybe that we have pushed to the back burner,

Pushed to the side or covered up with busyness or work or kids and simply allow yourself here to become aware that the anxiety or stress or fear is there,

Wherever it is.

And as this feeling of stress and anxiety or fear bubbles up to the surface,

Let us become more aware of its presence by stepping into the second part of this meditation and feeling that emotion that is arising for you now.

And just noticing the sensations it gives your body.

Maybe it feels like a fast vibration throughout the body or pressure on the chest,

Maybe a tension in the hips or a gripping in the stomach or neck.

Allowing yourself for a moment to feel,

Feel the anxiety or stress or fear as it is where you carry it in the body and maybe for some of us it is a simmering feeling that is constantly in the background.

Whatever it is for you,

Just allow yourself to be here and be present with it,

That is safe for you to feel it.

This is where you learn and can grow from,

From this point of feeling and observing,

Becoming more aware of the emotions that you carry.

Simply becoming more aware of this anxiety or stress or fear that you've been carrying around or neglecting.

And allowing yourself to feel it as it is without judgment or manipulation or trying to change it or control it in any way.

And for some of us,

Our adult rational mind may try to come in and tell us that we shouldn't be feeling this way and giving us many reasons why we shouldn't be feeling this way.

But that subconscious mind,

That childlike mind needs to be heard.

So allow yourself to truly feel what that stress and anxiety or fear feels like.

And now that we have more deeply become aware of the stress or anxiety or fear that we've been carrying and possibly neglecting,

Let us move into the third part of this meditation.

We have found it.

We have felt it.

Now it's time to face it.

By asking the feeling,

Straightforward,

Without judgment,

Where are you coming from?

What deeply rooted sea are you arising from?

Following whatever images or thoughts or feelings arise for you now,

Continuing to ask the question,

Where are you coming from?

Anxiety,

Stress or fear,

Where are you coming from?

Where are you coming from?

And in this moment,

Whatever it is that you're feeling,

Whatever emotions are arising,

They may feel amplified at this moment and that is okay.

It is because you are seeing them,

Becoming more aware of them than ever before,

That they feel amplified or overwhelming.

I urge you to breathe through this process,

This discovery process of where the stress or anxiety or fear is arising from.

Taking a deep breath in through the nose and out through the nose,

Knowing this is the discovery process of the self.

I ask you to take a deep breath in through the nose and out through the nose.

What deeply rooted sea are you arising from?

Where are you coming from?

Where are you coming from?

And now let us reflect on how to heal this anxiety,

Stress,

Fear or worry.

By asking what is it that you need to heal?

What is it that you,

Anxiety,

Stress or fear need to heal?

Maybe you can transform this anxiety or stress or worry or fear by giving yourself more love or maybe it is more connection or attention that that stress,

Worry,

Fear,

Anxiety needs.

Maybe it is more trust or to cultivate a feeling of worthiness.

Remembering that this feeling of anxiety or stress or fear isn't here to punish you or keep you stuck but instead is a teacher to transform you.

It is here to help you discover yourself more deeply.

To move into the next phase of your beingness.

So pondering the question,

What is it you,

Anxiety,

Stress or fear need to heal right now?

What do you need?

What do you need?

What do you need?

Take a deep breath in through the nose.

Deep breath out through the nose.

Dropping your attention away from questioning the fear,

Anxiety or stress.

Moving into this space of being okay.

Moving into this space of understanding that it is here to transform you and that you as you are right now are okay.

Knowing that everything is okay.

Knowing that every moment is here to teach you whether it is through grand joyful experiences or experiences that sometimes conjure up feelings of stress or worry or anxiety or fear.

They are all okay.

Simply giving you opportunities to more deeply know the self and reflect upon the self and transform the self.

Let us now bring our attention down to our hips.

From this area begin to imagine a beautiful warm wave of golden energy.

It feels like almost a hug with the deepest love and allow that energy to begin spreading throughout the body.

Filling you with the sense that everything is okay,

That you can relax and be at ease.

Allowing this warm wave of love to spread down through the legs and into the feet and toes.

Allowing this warm wave to fill your entire stomach and back.

Feeling your chest and expanding out and down through the arms and expanding up into the neck and face and hip.

Filling you with the warmest feeling of love and ease.

Knowing you just as you are and the world just as it is,

Is okay.

Knowing that every moment is simply here to transform you and align you into being the best version of yourself.

And you sit here for a moment allowing this wave of warm loving energy to fill every nook and cranny of the body.

Allowing you to be the best version of yourself.

Allowing you to be the best version of yourself.

And take a deep breath in through the nose now.

Open the mouth,

Let it go.

Feeling okay,

Feeling at ease.

And drop your awareness now into the tips of your fingers and toes.

Feeling the sensations of your fingertips and toes.

And bringing in some gentle movements to those areas.

Seeing if even with the movements you can still bring this feeling of ease and okayness with you.

Bringing that gentle movement up into wrists and ankles.

And all the way up into your shoulders and neck.

Allowing you to be the best version of yourself.

Allowing you to be the best version of yourself.

And take a deep inhale in through the nose and as you do extend your arms out towards the sides.

Inhaling and rising the arms up overhead.

Coming to high prayer above the head.

And take a moment of gratitude here for all that you have learned.

For deepening your practice.

Taking these last 30 minutes to create a container for your healing,

A space for your healing.

And on your exhale draw your hands down the midline to your heart.

Planting that seed of gratitude and appreciation and ease.

Reviews

Very nice! Thank you!

Excellent meditation allowing a fresh perspective. I had many new insights. Thank you!

An interesting meditation that asks simple yet very deep questions to the anxiety/stress/fear within.