Welcome.
This is a 10-minute basic meditation designed for people struggling with anxiety problems.
The practice is designed around sitting quietly while relaxing your body,
Willfully allowing your anxious thoughts and sensations without resistance,
And focusing on your breath rather than on your anxiety.
This may be uncomfortable and difficult at first.
Do the best you can,
And if you must end the meditation early,
That's okay.
You can practice as often as you wish,
Working toward learning this new skill and building this new relationship with anxiety.
With gentle practice over time,
You will be able to sit for the whole 10 minutes.
Find a comfortable place to sit,
Where you will be well supported.
Adopt an upright posture with your shoulders back and your chin level or slightly tilted up.
Close your eyes or lower your gaze.
Fully release the tension in your body.
Go as limp as you can.
It's okay if you have to release tension over and over during the practice.
Breathe in through your nose,
Into your stomach on your inhale.
Do your best to keep your chest and shoulders still and relaxed.
Exhale slowly and in a controlled,
Mindful way through your lips.
Make your exhale a bit longer than your inhale on each breath.
Your anxious body and brain may be working overtime to get your attention while you practice.
This is okay.
You can allow that while gently bringing your focus back to your breath rather than giving your attention to the sensations and thoughts.
This is the heart of our meditation practice and anxiety recovery.
To help you gauge the time left in the practice,
I will sound a gentle bell every minute.
Okay,
Let's begin.
Get neutral.
Relax your body all the way.
Let go.
It's okay to let go.
You've always been okay and you'll be okay now.
Repeat this tension release as often as you need to during this exercise.
Do your best to let go of the need to hold on or control your body or thoughts.
Just breathe.
Allow your breath to settle into a natural rhythm.
It knows what to do if you let it.
Put your attention on the sensation of your breath entering your body through your nose.
Note the temperature.
See how it feels.
Inhale into your belly.
Shoulders and chest not moving,
Staying still and relaxed.
Hold for a second.
Then exhale slowly and mindfully through your lips.
Make your exhale last a bit longer than your inhale.
Nice and slow.
Put your attention on the sensation of the breath passing through your lips.
Note how it is warmer than your inhale as your body has warmed the air.
Breathe in through your nose into your belly.
Hold.
Breathe out slowly and mindfully through your lips.
Bring your attention to the sensations of your breath and how it feels entering your nose and leaving through your lips.
Relax your body.
Let all the tension go.
Pretend you are a rag doll.
Hold.
No tension.
It's okay to let go.
Breathe in.
Hold.
Breathe out.
Bring your attention to the temperature and the sensation of your breath entering your nose and then leaving your lips.
Relax.
Let go.
Allow whatever sensations and thoughts arise to just be there without resistance.
You don't have to fight them and you don't have to hold on.
Just breathe.
This may feel difficult or scary for you.
Your mind may be wandering.
You may want to engage with the unpleasant sensations in your body.
You may want to respond to and argue with your scary thoughts.
It's okay for the sensations and the thoughts to be there.
Let them be there.
You're learning to move through those feelings and that fear.
You're learning that you don't have to fear what you feel or what you think.
Breathe.
Relax.
Bring your attention back to your breath.
Find your focus where you want it to be,
Not where anxiety wants it to be.
Ride the wave.
Doing great.
Breathe in through your nose,
Into your belly.
Keep those shoulders and chest still and relaxed.
Hold for a second.
Release.
Slow,
Mindful,
Long exhale.
No heavy sighs.
Very good.
Relax your body again if you need to.
Bring your attention back to the sensation of your breath entering and then leaving your body.
Pay attention to the temperature of the air as it enters your nose.
A little cooler than when it leaves through your breath,
Through your lips.
Just bring your attention back to those sensations.
Even when your anxiety is demanding that you pay attention to it.
You can do this.
You're doing really good.
Just let go.
Breathe in.
Hold.
And exhale.
Nice and slow.
Be mindful of your exhale.
And stay focused on the gentle sensation of breathing in and out.
Release the tension in your body.
Just willfully allow whatever arises to arise.
It's okay.
It can't hurt you and it never has.
Breathing in.
Pausing for a second.
And slowly and mindfully breathing out.
Excellent.
This is how we learn to focus our attention and to ride through the wave of those thoughts and sensations.
Excellent.
Just relax again and again.
It's okay if you have to repeat that relaxation.
That's normal.
You'll get better at this the more you practice.
Breathing in through the nose,
Into the belly.
Keeping your shoulders and chest still and relaxed.
Hold.
And a gentle,
Slow,
Mindful,
Controlled exhale through your lips.
Bring your attention back to that sensation of the breath entering through your nose.
Bit cooler.
And leaving through your lips a bit warmer.
Allow whatever happens to happen.
Let go.
Let go.
It's okay.
We're learning to bring our attention to where we want it to be.
You're doing great.
Just relax.
Breathe in through your nose,
Into your belly.
Pause.
And release.
Slow,
Controlled through your lips.
Your mind may be wandering.
You may be thinking any number of things.
That's what humans do.
We're thinking machines.
It's okay.
Just allow whatever thought pops into your head to be there.
And then let it go.
And gently bring your attention back to the sensation of your breath entering through your nose and leaving through your lips.
We can't decide what we think or feel,
But we can decide what we pay attention to.
And that's what this practice is all about.
Release the tension in your body.
Pretend you're a rag doll.
Imagine that you are a lazy dog napping in the sun.
Very good.
Continue to bring your focus back to the sensation of your breath,
Allowing thoughts to pop into your head and then go.
And allowing sensations to arise in your body without resistance.
It's all allowed.
And it's all okay.
Excellent.
Relax.
And breathe.
And bring your attention back to your breath.
Willfully allowing anything that comes up to be there and letting the resistance melt away.
Let go.
Relax again.
In through the nose.
Into the belly.
Pause.
And out.
Gently and mindfully through the lips.
You're almost there.
You have about 30 seconds to go.
Relax.
One more breath.
Very good.
That's it.
You did it.
You did the full 10 minutes.
Maybe you did the full 10 minutes your first time out,
Which is great.
Maybe it's taking you a few weeks to do the whole 10 minutes.
Either way,
Congratulations,
You did a great job.
When you are ready,
Open your eyes or move your eyes around the room gently if you've had a lower gaze.
Slowly and deliberately stretch your arms and legs.
Give it a good stretch.
Enjoy it.
You've earned that stretch.
You did amazing.
Now,
Bring your attention to the tasks and subjects that matter to you today.
What lies ahead of you?
What can you accomplish today?
What small steps forward can you take?
You just did 10 full minutes where you worked on not giving anxiety your full attention.
Bring that with you for the rest of the day.
Focus on the tasks at hand rather than on your anxiety.
Practice so don't be discouraged if you start to fall into old habits.
Just correct and move on.
Feel free to use this 10-minute meditation break several times during the day if you can.
Learning this skill and working on applying it to your anxiety recovery is a great investment in yourself and your future.
You're worth it.
Thank you so much for listening.
We'll see you in the next meditation.
