Hello and welcome.
Today we're going to talk about anxiety and I will be sharing with you a practice that can help you to calm down,
To come back to your body when you feel more anxious,
When you feel you're going down in that spiral loop.
When we are in a state of anxiety,
There is often a feeling of too muchness,
There is too much oxygen in your body,
There is too much thinking,
Too much in the future and too much in the head.
So,
Let's start by taking a comfortable seat.
Let's begin with three clearing breaths,
Inhaling deep through the nose and out of the mouth.
Again,
Inhaling and out.
One last time and exhale heavy out.
The first step,
The first thing I will invite you to do is to keep the eyes open for a moment.
And start to look around the space,
Look around the room,
Wherever you are.
Like you were looking at it for the first time,
Letting your eyes settle and dropping into objects,
Into little details with curiosity and really scanning the whole room above,
Below,
On the side and behind you.
Stay with the breath while you do so,
Keep breathing in a natural way.
And then find the center again,
Take another breath in,
Exhale out and allow your eyes to close down for a moment.
Start to notice your body,
The base of your body,
Your legs,
Your glutes,
Your feet.
Observe your belly,
Your chest,
Your ribcage,
Your spine,
Your shoulders,
Your arms,
Your hands,
Your neck,
Your face,
Your head.
And whatever sensation you are experiencing,
Allow them to be.
If you feel tired,
Allow yourself to be tired.
If you notice some tension or some discomfort or pain that you've been carrying for a while,
Allow that to be.
And also when you bring your mind into your breath,
Allow the breath to be as it wants.
It's important that we give the sign to your system that it's safe to be as it wants.
We don't have to control it,
We don't have to change it.
Simply acknowledging what is in this moment.
I invite you to bring one hand on the belly,
One hand on the chest,
So to notice the texture of the hands on your body.
The warmth,
The humidity and any other sensations that comes with it.
Maybe a feeling of comfort.
Perhaps something is relaxing inside of you.
But it's also totally fine if it's not.
And let your breath become a little bit longer,
To create a bit more space with every inhalation.
And relax a little bit more with every exhalation,
Become a little bit longer,
A little bit softer.
Every breath is a reminder to come back to the present,
To drop into the center.
Expanding your breath by 10%.
And starting to focus on the pause that happened naturally after the exhalation.
Perhaps the sole factor observing this pause makes it a little bit longer.
Expand the breath 10% more,
A little bit deeper,
A little bit longer.
And now I would like to invite your body to join,
To be part of this equation.
So with every breath bring a little expansion with the front side of your body wants to open up.
Very gently the head might come up a bit.
With the exhale it's almost like curling and closing down,
Allowing your shoulders to drop.
The chin come to the chest.
Every breath initiates the movement.
Maybe the neck wants to move,
The shoulders,
Even your hips.
Re-allow this movement to be non-linear.
Fully present in your body.
Let your breath become even longer.
Come nice and deep with every inhalation.
And now let's add another layer with every exhale.
Exhale with a hissing sound.
And the body follows.
The movement might become a little bit bigger.
A little bit where the arms are joining.
Whatever feels good to you right now,
Allow your body to follow your breath.
Deep,
Long,
Spacious inhalation.
And a long hissing exhalation in this movement.
Take five more breaths like this,
Nice and long.
And slowly begin to dim down the movement.
The breath becomes a little bit softer.
On the way to its natural rhythm.
Until you find stillness of the body.
And stillness of the mind.
Keeping the hands on the laps or on your belly and chest like before.
Give yourself a moment to notice what is present right now.
How do you feel now compared to just moments ago?
When you began the practice.
Remember when we feel more anxious.
It's very important that we reconnect with the body and with the breath.
It's a combination of both.
And the more you practice this in your everyday life,
The easier it's going to be.
When you are actually feeling the anxiety.
Making your head spinning and your whole body contracting.
It will be easier to come back to your center.
To come back to your calmness.
And a sense of control over your mind.
