Welcome.
This is a basic guided meditation addressing overthinking and worrying that fuels anxiety.
The practice itself is only about five minutes long after some initial instruction,
So you can use this anytime you find yourself stuck on the hamster wheel of thinking and worry.
Overthinking and worrying are common drivers of that general background anxiety that lingers with you all day and can even contribute to the buildup of anxiety that can sometimes explode in the form of panic attacks.
Chronic overthinking and worrying are often seen as personality traits,
But they are also behaviors.
We can learn to change them.
Over time and with practice,
It is possible to recognize when you are engaging in these mental habits and then to disengage with them.
You can learn to place your attention back on the world in front of you rather than on the scene in your head.
Our goal will be to acknowledge that we are thinking or worrying,
Then to gently relax into that,
Placing our attention elsewhere rather than on the goings on in our heads.
This will mean leaving our worries unanswered and our problems unsolved for these next few minutes,
Allowing them to simply exist alongside us.
This will likely feel very uncomfortable or even wrong or irresponsible.
It may even feel a little dangerous to do this.
That's okay.
Part of this practice is learning that you can disengage from thinking and worrying without suffering some horrible consequence.
You will be pulled back into inner dialogue while you practice.
That's okay too.
Just notice when you are engaging with those thoughts and worries again,
Then gently relax and move your attention back to where you want it,
Allowing those thoughts and worries to remain.
Repeat this as often as you have to during the practice.
This takes time and repetition before we see improvement,
So do not expect to be able to instantly turn off your brain or achieve perfect calm.
That is never the goal of meditation or mindfulness practice.
Let's begin.
I'll sound a bell every 60 seconds so you can judge how much time is left in the practice.
Try to sit for the full five minutes,
But if you find that too difficult,
It's perfectly okay to stop after a minute or two,
Then come back later and practice again.
Sit comfortably in your chair in a well-supported position so you can relax your body.
Take a few seconds to take all the tension out of your body.
Take a gentle breath in,
Expanding your stomach and not your chest.
Hold for a second,
Then exhale slowly and purposefully.
Breathe out the tension and bring your attention to your breath.
Whatever worries are in your head and whatever problem you think you need to solve right now can wait.
It's okay to stop worrying for a little while,
And it's okay to leave those problems unsolved.
So just keep your body relaxed as best you can and let your body settle into a gentle breathing rhythm.
You don't have to do any special breathing.
Do not try to use your breath to calm yourself down or anything else.
Just breathe naturally and be.
And let all those problems in your head and all those worries just be there.
Let's start by wiggling our fingers.
Just gently and slowly wiggle your fingers.
Be aware of that motion.
Relax your hands.
Just be aware of the motion and the feeling of wiggling your fingers.
Very simple.
Bring your attention to your fingers nice and slow,
Like you're moving them through nice,
Cool,
Deep water.
Very good.
Remember to breathe and stay relaxed.
When your brain wants you to go back into that dialogue about whatever you're worrying about,
Whatever problems you're trying to solve,
Just bring your attention back to the gentle motion of your fingers.
And breathe.
Okay.
Good job.
Now you can rest your hands and let's wiggle our toes.
We've all wiggled our toes.
It's a very childlike thing to do.
And it's kind of fun.
So just gently wiggle your toes for a minute or so.
Nice and slow.
However way your toes want to wiggle is totally fine.
Just relax and bring your attention to the motion and the act of wiggling your toes.
Engage with that.
That is now your task.
The worries in your head,
The problems in your head can wait.
They do not need to be addressed right now.
Just wiggle your toes like you did when you were a kid.
And let those problems and those worries just be there.
They're not going anywhere.
And it's okay to disengage.
Very good.
Okay.
Rest your feet.
Relax your body.
Let's take a nice breath focusing on this breath.
In through your nose.
Expanding your stomach,
Not your chest.
Hold for a second.
And a nice slow exhale through your mouth.
And then repeat that breath two or three times.
And just gently bring your attention back to the sensations of the breath.
When your brain is screaming at you to go back into your worries or your problems,
Just acknowledge I'll get back to you later and come back to that breath.
Excellent.
You are safe.
Right now,
Everything is okay.
Even when you're not worrying,
Everything is okay.
And even when you're not solving problems in your head,
Everything is still okay.
This is the lesson of the practice.
Excellent.
Now,
Just open your eyes if they've been closed and pick a point in the room that you can focus on.
And just put your focus on that point visually.
Maybe notice how the chair feels under your arms or against your back.
And just take a few seconds to breathe and relax.
And put your focus on that object.
And we're almost done.
We've only got about 15 seconds to go.
And if those worries and problems are asking for your attention,
You'll come back to them.
One last nice breath.
In and hold.
And out.
Excellent.
That was very well done.
You just spent five minutes where you were actively engaged in other tasks besides worrying or thinking.
The lesson of this practice is that after those five minutes,
Even leaving your worries unanswered and your problems unsolved in your head,
You're still okay.
And everything is okay.
We often fall into the trap of believing that worrying is required and that overthinking is a protective mechanism that will keep things safe for you and under control.
But that belief is often wrong.
And the goal of a practice like this is to show you that you can engage in something else,
Like wiggling your fingers or your toes for five minutes,
Not solve your problems,
Not engage in that chronic worry.
And everything still turns out okay.
Nothing bad happened.
As you get better at this and use this little practice again and again,
You may find that you can take breaks from your worry and your thinking for longer and longer times.
And instead of simply wiggling your fingers or your toes,
You can actually engage with your work or your family,
Or you may socialize or engage in hobbies or things that you enjoy instead of worrying and thinking.
So I hope this has been a useful introduction to how you might use basic meditation and focus training to address the habits of worry and overthinking.
I appreciate you coming by and spending time and giving me your attention and your trust.
I'll see you in the next one.
