11:20

Meditation - If You Are Anxious, Listen To This

by Suryacitta (The Happy Buddha)

Rated
4.7
Type
guided
Activity
Meditation
Suitable for
Everyone
Plays
1.3k

A short simple meditation on how to deal with anxious thoughts and feelings. Overthinking is the art of creating anxiety and here we explore that very issue and come out of the anxious storyline. The meditation is simple, direct and straight to the point.

MeditationAnxietyBody ScanMindfulnessCuriosityEmotional LabelingMindfulness Of ThoughtsCuriosity In PracticeAgesTechniques

Transcript

So,

Hello guys.

If you're ever feeling anxious,

Then this meditation will help.

Okay?

So what I'd like you to do is just to set yourself up in meditation.

It will be about 10 minutes.

That's all we need.

Resting your hands in your lap,

Feet on the floor.

That's it.

So when we're anxious,

There's one thing that will be happening to be sure of that you're lost in a story.

Lots of thinking.

So,

You can close your eyes with this if you wish.

That's it.

Now I'd like you to start by taking your attention to your feet.

Your feet are not anxious.

That's it.

Then shifting your attention to your contact with the chair or whatever.

Your contact is not anxious.

Now sensing your hands.

Your hands are not lost in anxiety.

They're just here.

So having a sense of the whole body sitting here,

Lying here.

Now if there's an anxious feeling right now or any uncomfortable feeling or sensation,

Maybe fear or nervousness,

We may label it a little differently.

It doesn't matter.

I'd like you to take your attention to that part of the body.

Maybe around the belly or the chest.

I'd like you just to quietly inside say hello to it or welcome it in some way.

Give it space.

Now when,

And I say when you get lost in thinking,

I want you to just to say to yourself when you notice that you are the word thinking.

Just say that to yourself.

Oh,

Just think.

Then take your attention back to the body and this feeling that you were given attention to.

Now can you move a little bit closer to this?

Let's call it an anxious feeling.

That's it.

Just a little closer.

Now just feel it without the label anxiety.

Just do your best.

If it's too much for you,

Just step back as it were.

It's okay.

Just feel your contact with the chair.

Feel your hands.

But it's just a feeling.

So if you can just feel it,

What does it actually feel like?

Not what you think it feels like.

What does it feel like?

That's it.

Does it have a shape?

Be curious.

You can't be curious and anxious at the same time.

So be curious.

Does this sensation have a shape?

Let's have a look.

Again,

If you get lost in thinking,

Just say it to yourself.

Thinking.

Come back.

What's the texture of this sensation like?

Sense into it.

What's the texture?

Oh,

Now we have to pay a little bit closer attention.

That's it.

Feel around the other side of it as it were,

Around the back,

Around the sides,

The front,

So to speak.

All right.

Find the center of it.

Now that's interesting.

Or the center.

Does it have a color?

That's it.

Keep the tension,

Feeling it directly without the story.

Feel the space around this sensation.

It's not the whole of you.

It's not all of your experience.

So you can carry on whilst I say a few words to bring this to a close.

So as I say,

You can do this meditation and do it a few times to familiarize yourself with it.

Then you won't need the guidance.

But there's also something we can do in daily life,

Not just when we're on the cushion or meditating and I call it age,

A-G-E.

So it's a three step.

Okay.

So the first thing you need to do is to acknowledge the story because if you're anxious,

You're in a story.

Okay.

Acknowledge the thinking,

Acknowledge the story.

Second step is G.

Get out of there.

Get out of it.

Get out the story.

Get out of the head.

And E is enter into the body,

Even into the sensation of what we're calling anxiety.

Then take the label away.

But it's just a sensation.

Yeah.

So acknowledge,

Get out of there.

Acknowledge the story.

Get out of there.

Enter into the direct experience of the body and the sensation.

Thank you guys.

Goodbye.

Meet your Teacher

Suryacitta (The Happy Buddha)Leicester, United Kingdom

4.7 (160)

Recent Reviews

Katarina

November 24, 2025

Helpful and inspiring as always. Looking forward to the next live session. Thank you πŸ™

Conni

August 16, 2025

This was soo helpful again! Your wording, voice, intonation, pausing - just endlessly beneficiall. May the blessings you send out with your sharings flow back to you continuously in big waves of love and well-being πŸ™πŸΌ

Odalys

January 1, 2023

This was great! I’m going to keep coming back to this one. Ty! Happy New Year. Gbless you. πŸ’™πŸ’šπŸ’œπŸ’›β€οΈπŸ•Š

Ali

December 6, 2022

Lovely ☺️

Sofia

May 22, 2022

This meditation is πŸ‘Œ. I like the sentence ”get out of there” (the thinking) and has found ways to use it in my everyday life πŸ˜€

Sharmi

April 5, 2022

Thank you very much. A soulful experience.❀️

Heidi

December 14, 2021

My anxiety texture is sand paper. Even with enough use the sand paper wears down and becomes smooth. I appreciate your practical advice. Perhaps my "E" is about exploring the anxiety. The more I explore the more I wear down the rough sand paper. I feel anxious about "entering" to explore the anxiety. Funny how just a word can change a story in one's mind. Thank you

Sharon

December 11, 2021

So valuable, thank you.

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