Welcome to the Stay With Yourself Heal Anxiety Meditation.
In other words,
The meditation for becoming your greatest ally.
Start by sitting comfortably in a chair with your feet firmly planted on the floor and your hands gently resting in your lap.
Hold your spine upright and strong and allow the front of your body to soften and your heart space to open.
Close your eyes and take three deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth.
With each inhale,
Imagine your tummy is an empty balloon being filled with air and with each exhale,
Imagine your tummy softening as you release tension.
Continue breathing as you relax your body and allow yourself to just be.
Let's start by understanding what anxiety is.
Anxiety by definition is a state of uneasiness or tension caused by apprehension of possible future misfortune or danger.
Possible future misfortune or danger.
So often,
We have the habit of expecting the worst.
We do this constantly,
Trying to anticipate what's going to happen with our kids,
Our career,
Our money,
Our relationships,
Our image,
Who we are,
Our bodies,
Everything.
This is a difficult way to live.
It pulls us out of the present moment,
The enoughness of the present moment,
Constantly trying to anticipate the future or relive the past.
This moment is enough and you are enough.
Let's practice being on our own side.
Let's reroute our neurological pathways in a way that leads to a more positive default setting.
We're going to take time now to walk through a short visualization exercise to help bring you into the present moment and create trust within yourself despite your lack of control over external circumstances.
You can do this meditation anytime,
Anywhere,
Whenever you need it.
So as you sit here with your eyes closed,
Continue breathing in and out.
Come back to those three deep breaths,
In through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
Come back to relaxing your body.
Feel your whole body as you sit there,
Supported.
Feel your arms resting in your lap or at your sides.
Feel your whole arm heavy,
Resting right alongside you.
Bringing awareness into your feet and feel them firmly planted on the floor,
Solid,
Grounding.
Be aware of your legs,
Your whole leg from hip to buttocks to upper thigh to knees to lower leg,
Your whole leg as you sit here.
These legs are the same legs that carried you across the playground,
Running and laughing and screaming with joy and exuberance as a child.
Take a moment to appreciate your legs and their presence and the joy that you've experienced from having them.
Bring your awareness back into your arms,
These wonderful arms that have held you during your greatest moments of sorrow and pain.
These are also the arms that allow you to hug the ones you love.
Feel those arms full of love and expression.
Bring awareness into your belly.
Ah,
This wonderful belly that has laughed,
Belly laughed,
So hard that it's hurt.
Bring your awareness into the softness of your whole body.
Be aware of just your whole body from head to toe.
Feel it all right here with you,
The edges of your body.
This body of yours has been with you your whole life.
This body of yours is made up of 50 trillion cells,
50 trillion.
Think about that for a moment.
50 trillion is more cells in your body than stars that have been located in our galaxy and the galaxies beyond.
Amazing.
And every one of those cells houses your emotional memory.
There's nothing they haven't been there for.
So when you feel joy,
You don't just feel it in your heart.
You feel it in every cell of your body and you are filled with joy.
And when you are sad,
Every cell in your body feels it and is filled with sadness.
What's beautiful is these 50 trillion cells are actually 50 trillion witnesses to your life.
They feel and remember it all,
Which means you are seen.
You are heard.
You are understood 50 trillion times over.
Feel that.
That you are not alone.
Everything you have is right here in these witnesses.
Now bring your awareness into your heart space.
Allow yourself to relax even further and open your heart.
Your heart literally beats for you and only you.
Your heart cannot beat for you yesterday.
It cannot beat for you tomorrow.
It can only beat for you in this moment.
And this moment.
In this moment.
It can be nowhere but the present.
Just like the rest of your body.
And in this moment,
You are safe.
You are seen.
You are understood.
You are loved.
And you are supported fully and completely.
Take a moment to say thank you to this body of yours.
Maybe these 50 trillion cells are always here for you in the present moment.
When you find yourself feeling anxious and worried about possible future misfortune or danger or you are telling yourself stories from the past that no longer exist,
Come back into your body.
Come back into the present moment.
To the now.
And know that you are safe.
And if you need anything,
Anything at all,
It is within your power to provide for your deepest needs.
You,
You are your greatest friend and ally.
When you come to a place of trust and friendship within yourself,
You can release your need for control over life.
Because you know that whatever arises,
You have your own back.
You are on your own side.
You know what's best for you.
And your body and your 50 trillion cells will reflect back to you the very things you focus on in life.
Be loving and compassionate and accepting and kind toward yourself.
And it will be reflected back to you 50 trillion times over.
Not just within you,
But outside of you.
Now take a moment to come back to your breath,
Your body,
Awareness back into this room.
Take three deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth.
Notice how you feel and remember this practice is available to you in every moment.
You can always come back to yourself sitting in a stoplight,
In line at the store when you're in a frustrating situation or feeling disconnected from the people you love,
Anything,
Anytime.
Come back to yourself.
You are here for you.
You are welcome to continue sitting in meditation for as long as you would like.
The music will keep playing.
As you work or don't work,
To just sit with yourself in stillness as witness.
For now I will leave you here.
Thank you for sharing your meditation practice with me.
May you stay with yourself today and always.
Lie still for a little while and sleep.
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