Welcome.
This is a practice for moments when health anxiety feels loud or overwhelming.
You may be here because you want that uncomfortable feeling of anxiety to ease.
Know that you are not alone.
For the next few minutes,
This practice will invite your nervous system to turn the alarm down by slowing the breath and reconnecting with a small sense of safety in this moment.
Please be sure to practice in whatever way feels comfortable for you.
So as you're ready.
Beginning by noticing the support beneath you.
That might be the chair,
The bed,
The floor,
Or whatever's holding you right now.
You might allow the eyes to close or keep them open with a soft gaze.
Choose whatever feels most supportive.
There's no right way to do this.
And if it's okay,
Allowing your breathing to become a little slower.
Taking a deep slow breath in and breathing out with an extended out-breath on the exhale.
Doing this gently and without forcing.
And just inviting the breath to slow down.
Breathing in softly.
And exhaling slowly.
Breath in.
And breath out.
As you lengthen the exhale.
The breath sends a quiet signal of safety to the nervous system.
A signal that in this moment you don't have to be on high alert,
You don't have to solve or check or race.
You're giving the alarm system a chance to turn down,
To turn the volume down.
And to turn the anxiety down even just a little.
So continuing with a nice deep breath in.
And a long extended out breath on the exhale.
And practicing for a few breath cycles on your own.
And now if it feels supportive,
The invitation is to shift into making a soft,
On the exhale.
Offering the nervous system another signal of safety as you lengthen the exhale.
So breathing in gently.
And exhaling with a quiet.
Deep breath in.
.
.
And continue with this breath pattern on your own.
Again,
Not forcing,
Just allowing the sound on the exhale to give a little more length as you breathe out.
One more time,
Breath in.
Health anxiety is the nervous system trying to protect you.
It may bring thoughts or images or urges to check or search,
To ask for reassurance.
And when this happens,
You might name it as it is.
This is the alarm.
It's the alarm asking me for certainty.
And rather than feeding the alarm by checking and searching and asking for reassurance.
The invitation is to pause,
To slow the exhale and come back to one small place of support and sense of safety for the nervous system.
And if the mind pulls back towards worry and checking,
Trying to figure things out.
Gently return to the slower exhale.
Breathing in softly.
And breathing out slowly or with a soft breath.
Each longer exhale is a signal of safety to the nervous system and a reminder that you do not have to stay on high alert.
As this practice begins to wind down.
You might invite your attention to widen.
Noticing the room around you.
The sounds.
The space,
The contact beneath you.
Allowing the world to become a little bigger than the worry.
Allowing this moment to become a little bigger than the alarm.
You might take one more gentle breath in.
And a longer breath out.
Each time you practice slowing the breath and pausing the checking loop and returning to support.
You're helping your nervous system learn a different response.
You're teaching the alarm that it doesn't have to get louder to keep you safe.
You can pause.
You can breathe.
You can come back to support and take one moment at a time.
With a little more steadiness and a little more ease.
Thank you for your practice.
