Welcome.
If you're feeling anxious right now,
You're not alone.
And there's nothing wrong with you.
Anxiety is something many of us experience,
And it can show up in different ways,
In the mind and in the body.
So for the next few moments,
We're not going to try and get rid of it.
We're going to get curious about it,
Gently,
Kindly.
Now I want to invite you to take a slow breath in and let it out.
There's nothing you need to change.
Just arrive.
Relax your shoulders.
Relax your chest.
Now begin to bring attention into your body and notice,
Do you feel any anxiety?
And if you do,
Where do you feel it?
To give you a few cues,
Some of the most common areas are in your chest.
You might feel some tightness or some pressure in your chest.
Or in your belly,
A knot or a feeling of uneasiness.
Maybe you feel some constriction in your throat.
Or maybe it's more than one place at once or even moving around.
There's no right answer.
Just notice what's here.
Instead of pulling away from the feeling,
See if you can gently bring your awareness to it.
Just be aware of it,
Slightly curious.
What does it actually feel like?
Is there a tightness,
Heaviness?
Is it moving around?
Is it still?
Let yourself explore it just a little.
And as you do,
See if you can hold it in a kind awareness.
No judgment,
Nothing to fix.
Just noticing with an almost imperceptible kindness.
As we do this,
There's a simple but powerful shift here.
We're learning to relate to our anxiety differently.
Instead of being caught in anxiety and held captive by our anxiety,
You're simply becoming aware of it.
And that means something pretty profound,
That your anxiety is not you.
You are not your feelings.
There's something that you can just simply notice,
Like billowy clouds in the sky.
Anxiety is something that moves,
It changes,
It comes,
And it goes.
Take a slow breath in,
And as you breathe in,
Gently bring your breath toward the anxious area,
Not to force anything,
Just to make some space.
And as you breathe out,
See if you can soften around it.
Again,
Breathing in,
Bring awareness,
And breathing out,
Softness and space.
One more time,
Breathing in,
Bringing awareness,
And breathing out,
Softness and space.
You might notice that the sensation changes even just a little bit,
Or maybe it stays the same,
Both are okay.
This practice isn't about making your anxiety disappear,
Again,
It's changing how you relate to it.
From resistance to curiosity,
From tension to allowing.
Stay here just for a few more breaths,
Feeling,
Breathing.
If your mind gets caught up in thought,
That's okay.
Gently come back to the feeling in your body.
To this moment,
To your breaths,
To the feeling.
We're actively learning how to be with anxiety without being taken over by it,
And that's a helpful shift.
Take one more slow breath,
And just for a moment,
Notice that there's something in you that is aware of all of this.
It's aware of the sensations,
It's aware of the breath,
It's aware of your thoughts.
And that awareness is already still,
Already okay.
Rest there,
Even briefly.
When you're ready,
Return to the room that you're in.
You can open your eyes if they've been closed,
And as you go,
I sincerely hope that you will bring a little more awareness to your day,
And to anxiety if it arises,
That you'll have a little more inner space,
And a little more kindness towards yourself.
Namaste,
And thank you for participating.
Take good care.
