Welcome to your anxiety relief meditation.
I'm your guide,
Terry Cole.
Please find a comfortable place where you can sit or lie down now for the next 10 to 12 minutes.
Make sure that you're warm enough and completely physically comfortable.
You can light a candle if you have one,
Get out some lavender oil,
Put up your do not disturb sign and let's begin.
Gently close your eyes.
Let's start with mindful breathing into a full body relaxation.
Start by taking a nice long,
Slow,
Deep inhalation through your nose and a long,
Slow,
Deep exhalation out through your nose as well.
Continue breathing deeply and with every inhalation,
Please visualize the peaceful,
Positive energy that's all around you.
And with every exhalation,
Visualize that you're releasing anything that no longer serves your greatest good.
You are inhaling calm.
You are exhaling anxiety.
You are inhaling safety.
You are exhaling fear.
Allow yourself to breathe in full expansion,
Knowing that in this moment,
In this room,
In this body,
You are safe.
There is nothing you need to solve right now.
Nothing you need to fix.
Nothing you need to worry about.
This is your time to relax,
To restore,
And to renew.
Now I want you to visualize or imagine a beautiful amethyst light coming in through the crown chakra at the top of your head,
Moving from above to below.
Every part of your body that this light touches instantly and completely relaxes.
See this light moving down behind your eyes,
Relaxing all of the muscles around your eyes,
Soothing out your forehead,
Relaxing your temples.
Feel this light moving into your jaw muscles,
Releasing.
Allow your jaw to soften,
Your tongue to rest,
Your face to become completely and totally relaxed.
See and feel the warmth of this amethyst light moving into your neck muscles,
Releasing any tension that you're holding there,
Moving down to your shoulders,
Allowing them to drop,
To soften,
Releasing the muscles of your biceps and your triceps,
Moving down to your elbows,
Your forearms,
And your wrists,
All the way down to your hands and your fingers.
Now see and feel this light moving to the back of your body,
Relaxing your upper back,
Releasing your middle back,
Relaxing your lower back and your buttocks.
Your entire back is simply melting into the chair or the couch or the bed that you're on,
Totally and completely relaxing.
See and feel this light move to the front of your body,
Relaxing the big muscles of your chest,
Moving down your side body,
Relaxing the muscles of your obliques.
Visualize this beautiful light,
This amethyst light pouring into your entire torso,
Illuminating all of your internal organs as well,
Detoxifying and relaxing.
See and feel this light moving into your hips,
Relaxing the big muscles of your thighs and your hamstrings,
Moving down to your knees,
Your shins,
Your calves,
Your ankles,
All the way down to your feet and your toes.
Your lower body is completely and totally relaxed.
And now I want you to visualize this beautiful amethyst light encircling the outside of your body as well.
So just allow yourself to float in this cocoon or halo of this healing,
Relaxing,
Beautiful light,
Knowing that no harm can come to you.
Only goodness,
Only positive energy can come through this halo of light.
And now that you're relaxed from the top of your head to the tips of your toes,
It's easy for you to visualize with perfect clarity.
In this calm,
Relaxed state,
I want you to bring to mind your relationship with anxiety right now in your life,
Not to invite the feeling back in,
But simply to observe it from this place of safety and stillness as if you are floating above the scene.
Think about where your anxiety tends to live in your body.
For some people,
It shows up in the chest,
That feeling like something is wrong,
But you're not quite sure what it is.
For others,
It's a tightness in the throat or a fluttering in the stomach.
Could be tension in the shoulders or a racing sensation in the mind.
Just gently scan your body and notice where your anxiety tends to land.
When you locate that spot,
I want you to keep your attention there and breathe deeply,
Directly into that area.
Remember,
Your anxiety is not your enemy.
Your nervous system has been trying to protect you,
Working overtime to keep you safe from perceived threats.
So take a moment right now to thank your nervous system for its vigilance.
For all the years it's worked so hard on your behalf.
And now with each inhalation,
I want you to breathe in calm,
Breathe in safety,
Breathe in the truth that in this moment,
You are okay.
And with each exhalation,
Release the hypervigilance,
Release the need to scan for problems,
Release the catastrophic fantasies about what might go wrong.
Let your breath soften that constriction until you can feel expansion where the tightness used to be.
And I want you to visualize yourself in a moment in your daily life when anxiety typically rises up.
Maybe it's when you need to have a hard conversation,
Or maybe it's racing thoughts at three in the morning when you can't sleep.
It might be worrying about the people you love or facing a deadline.
See yourself in that exact moment,
But this time you pause.
You take one deep breath.
You place a hand on your heart.
You remind yourself,
I am safe.
I can handle this one breath at a time.
See yourself grounded,
Rooted,
Safe in your own body.
See yourself as the loving detective of your own experience,
Curious about what activates you.
Gentle with yourself.
When you notice the patterns,
You are naturally becoming the observer without judgment.
Your nervous system is simply asking for your attention,
And now you know how to give it.
Feel the expansion in your chest as you release the belief that you have to be on high alert to be safe,
That you have to solve every problem before it happens,
Or that you have to carry everyone.
You are allowed to set that weight down.
You are allowed to be calm.
You are allowed to trust that you can handle whatever comes your way.
Our affirmation is a simple tool that you can take with you anywhere,
Anytime anxiety begins to rise.
I want you to silently repeat these words to yourself as you breathe.
On the inhale,
I breathe in to relax my body.
On your exhale,
I breathe out to relax my mind.
Let's do this together.
Breathing in,
I breathe in to relax my body.
Breathing out,
I breathe out to relax my mind.
Once more.
Breathing in,
I breathe in to relax my body.
Breathing out,
I breathe out to relax my mind.
And now I'll ask you to continue silently repeating this affirmation in your mind,
Pairing each phrase with your breath,
And I'll let you know when it's time to come back.
I breathe in to relax my body.
I breathe out to relax my mind.
I breathe in to relax my body.
I breathe out to relax my mind.
Please gently stop silently repeating the affirmation.
Feel how your body softens with each inhale.
Feel how your mind quiets with each exhale.
Your body knows how to relax.
Your mind knows how to quiet.
You only have to remind them.
Take a moment right now to memorize this feeling.
Commit it to memory.
Know that this affirmation paired with your breath is a tool you can use at any moment when anxiety begins to rise throughout the day,
Throughout your week,
Throughout the rest of this month,
This year,
Your entire life.
And now it's time to come back.
So I'm going to count back from ten.
Ten.
Nine.
You're feeling rested and relaxed.
Eight.
Seven.
Feeling incredibly grateful.
Six.
Five.
Feeling calm and safe in your own body.
Four.
Three.
Feeling grounded and at peace.
Two.
One.
Slowly bring your awareness back to your body,
Back to the room that you're in.
Gently stretch your hands and rock your feet.
You can wiggle your fingers and your toes and give yourself a nice,
Big,
Full body stretch.
Please use this meditation anytime anxiety begins to arise.
Remember your breath.
Remember that your body knows how to relax and your mind knows how to quiet.
You only have to remind them.
And as always,
Take care of you.
