Hello,
My name is Stephen Hick and welcome to my guided meditation for helping people deal with anxiety.
It's based on the principles of acceptance and commitment therapy,
Or ACT,
And it's designed to help you be present with what's here and make space for difficult experiences like anxiety,
Unhooking from the unhelpful thoughts that come with that,
And then gently reconnecting with what matters most.
So let's begin with the meditation.
Just finding your comfortable and alert meditation posture,
Whatever that might look like,
Whether it be on a chair,
On a cushion,
Or even on the couch for that matter,
Something that's comfortable,
But also thinking of a dignified and alert posture.
So in that way,
The spine is erect.
Just letting your body settle into stillness,
Taking this time to allow the body to be still.
And when you're ready,
Gently closing your eyes or allowing your gaze to just rest on the floor in front of you.
Just letting go of all the worries of the day,
Or what might be coming in the day,
And just coming into your body in this moment,
Allowing your attention to gently land in the body.
Seeing what's present in the body when you bring this kind of focus to the body.
You might even scan slowly from the top of your head down to the bottom of your feet,
Just looking and investigating,
Noticing what's there in this moment.
Noticing any areas of tension,
Of holding,
Tightness,
Any discomfort.
Noticing.
There's nothing to change.
We're simply noticing at this point in the meditation.
Continuing just to scan the body,
Noticing what's there,
Taking note of any areas of tension,
And just allowing.
Now bringing attention to the breath,
Letting your breath find its own natural rhythm.
Inhaling,
Exhaling,
Exhaling.
Seeing where your breath feels most natural,
Where it's most predominant.
Might notice the breath more easily at the nostrils,
Or the chest,
Or the belly.
Just tuning and sensing into the sensations of the breath in one of those areas,
And letting the breath anchor you.
Letting the breath be your anchor to this moment.
And feeling the support of the ground beneath you.
Noticing the contact your body makes with the floor or the chair.
Noticing your feet on the floor,
Your sit bones on the chair,
Or the cushion,
Or the couch.
Your arms resting and grounded.
And feeling how the body is supported by the ground,
And letting yourself fully arrive into this moment.
Now bringing to mind something that has felt difficult lately.
Might be anxiety,
Fear,
Stress,
Or uncertainty.
Letting it come into your awareness without forcing.
Be gentle with this.
And if it feels like it's too much in this moment,
Moving on to something else that's a little less intense.
Just bringing to mind something that's felt difficult lately.
Something that we can explore in this meditation.
Now just staying with that difficulty.
Noticing where you feel this in the body most strongly.
Where does it manifest in the body?
Notice the shape,
The size,
Or the texture of the body sensation.
Is it heavy?
Is it tight?
Is it buzzing?
Is it hot?
Just simply tuning into how this difficulty feels in the body.
It might be helpful to silently name the sensation that's here.
Whatever it might be.
Tension in my chest,
For example,
Or racing thoughts,
Or fear in my belly.
And by naming it,
You create a little distance.
You step back from it and become an observer.
You're observing the experience rather than becoming it.
Just continuing to notice what manifests in the body when you bring this difficulty to mind.
And really sensing into what it is and gently naming it.
And silently to yourself.
And now inviting yourself to make space for this experience.
Imagine this difficult experience sitting beside you,
Or floating in a large open room.
Noticing that there's space for it to exist.
And space for you to breathe.
You might say inwardly,
I'm willing to feel this.
I am willing to feel this.
I've made space for you to exist alongside myself.
And I'm willing to feel this in this moment.
You don't have to like it or want it.
Just being willing to let it be here as it is in this moment.
If there's any resistance or a desire to push it away,
Notice that too.
Make space for even the resistance.
Allowing everything in this moment.
Continuing to gently open around the sensations.
It's like loosening a tight rope.
Tight grip.
Just letting it float in that open space that's there.
Now bringing your awareness to any thoughts that are coming up.
Are there any stories in your mind?
Stories such as I can't handle this,
Or will this ever end?
Something bad will happen.
Simply noticing these stories as they arise.
Rather than arguing or believing them,
You might experiment with saying,
I'm having the thought that dot,
Dot,
Dot,
Whatever that thought might be.
Or my mind is telling me that dot,
Dot,
Dot,
Whatever that might be.
Allowing yourself to step outside of the thoughts.
Again,
To become the observer of the thoughts rather than tied up in them.
So rather than the thought,
I can't handle this.
Reframing it by saying,
I'm having the thought that I can't handle this.
This creates space between you and the thought.
You're outside the thoughts.
You're just the observer.
If it's helpful,
Imagining placing each thought on a leaf floating down a stream.
A thought just floats by.
And there's another thought,
Another leaf floating by.
If you find that kind of imagery helpful,
It's just imagining the thoughts floating in that way.
Letting them come and letting them go.
Without any holding on.
And recognizing that if you ever get lost in the thoughts,
Realizing that the breath is always there as your anchor.
You can always come back to the breath when needed and letting it ground you in the present.
And now bringing your attention to your heart space.
You might even place a hand gently on the chest if that helps.
Just really drawing your attention into the chest area,
Into the heart space.
And gently asking yourself,
What kind of person do I want to be?
Even in the midst of this.
Even in the midst of this difficulty,
What kind of person do I want to be?
You're not looking for an answer to this question.
You're just simply posing the question.
Seeing what arises.
We did our values exercise previously,
So perhaps values such as kindness,
Honesty,
Connection,
Courage,
Whatever it might be.
See what matters to you in this moment.
Letting one of those values come to the surface.
Just feeling into that value that's so important to you.
Feel what it's like to to care about this.
And let this value be your guidepost.
Let it be your light.
It will guide you even when the anxiety or fear is present.
Now pose the question,
What one small step could I take today that would move me towards this value?
One small step that could move me towards this value could be a conversation or as simple as a walk or other act of self-care.
Whatever it might be.
What could you do today to move you towards this value?
Something that aligns you with what's most important to you.
Aligns you with this value that's so important.
It doesn't need to be perfect.
It just needs to be real.
It needs to be meaningful.
Even when the difficulty is present,
You can align with what's most important to you.
Align with your deepest value in a meaningful way.
Realizing that even amidst the anxiety,
The difficulty,
You can move forward.
You can take small steps each day that move you forward towards your deepest values.
It usually helps to pick one value at a time and move forward.
Take one step.
It doesn't have to be grand or big.
Just as I said,
Real and meaningful.
Just feeling the rise and fall,
The breath in the chest area,
And feeling into the heart space.
As you realize that this way of living can bring a lot of ease and peace into your life.
And feeling again into the steadiness of the ground beneath you.
The feet touching the floor.
The sit bones touching the chair or the cushion.
The hands feeling grounded and allowing attention to flow back to the entire body.
So you see what's present now in the body.
Has the tension actually softened?
Has whatever manifested in the body from bringing that difficulty to mind softened?
Or maybe it hasn't.
Either way is fine.
Or simply noticing.
Noticing what's in the body right now in this moment.
And gently thanking yourself for showing up for this practice.
For being willing to sit with anxiety,
With discomfort,
And to choose what matters amidst it.
And when you feel ready,
Just coming back into the room and slowly opening your eyes.
You're returning to the space that you're in.
And carrying these values that are important to you to the rest of your day.
And letting them guide your next steps as you move into the day.
