Find yourself a comfortable position.
You can sit or lie down,
Whatever allows your body to feel fully supported.
Let your eyes gently close or soften your gaze towards the floor.
If you came here today carrying anxiety,
If there is tightness in your chest and restlessness in your mind and body,
There is nothing wrong with you.
Anxiety is not a flaw.
It is not a malfunction.
Anxiety is your body trying to protect you.
Somewhere,
Your nervous system has perceived a threat,
Real or imagined,
Present or remembered,
And it has done exactly what it is designed to do.
It has mobilized your energy.
It has tried in the only way it knows how to keep you safe.
So the first thing we are going to do today is not to fight anxiety,
Not to suppress it,
Not to wish it away.
Today,
We are going to turn towards it with curiosity,
With understanding,
With compassion,
And with a little gratitude for the part of you that is always trying to protect you.
So let's begin by grounding the body.
Feel your feet on the floor or your weight of your body against the surface beneath you.
Now bring your attention to your breath.
We will slightly slow it down to send a message to our nervous system that it is safe.
Breathe in slowly for a count of four and exhale for a count of six.
Again,
Inhale for a count of four and exhale for six.
Now gently turn your attention inward and notice where anxiety lives in your body right now.
It might be in your chest,
A tightness,
Or the churning sensation in your stomach,
A tightness in your throat,
Shoulders or jaw.
Whatever it is,
Without trying to change it,
Simply notice and realize that this sensation,
This anxious part of you,
Is a part of yourself that is frightened,
Not an enemy to be defeated.
A part that has spotted something it believes is dangerous and is doing its best to warn you.
What might it feel like to meet this part of yourself,
Not with resistance,
But with awareness,
Not to push it away,
But to see it,
To acknowledge it,
And be grateful for its attempt to protect us.
Silently,
You might say to the anxious part of you,
I see you are trying to protect me.
I am safe right now,
In this moment.
So you can rest now.
You don't need to protect me.
I've got this.
Notice what happens in the body when you meet anxiety this way,
Not forcing it to leave,
But acknowledging it,
Recognizing it.
And when something feels truly seen and heard,
It no longer needs to shout.
Now let's bring your attention to what is actually present in this moment,
Not what your mind is imagining might happen,
Not what happened before,
Just hear what is happening right now.
Feel what is true in this moment,
Your breath,
Your heartbeat.
Feel the temperature of the air on your skin,
The sounds around you.
All of this is the present moment.
And in the present moment,
You are okay.
Anxiety often lives in the gap between what is real and what is imagined.
And it takes something your mind perceives as a threat,
And it prepares the body for the worst.
But awareness is a light that bridges that gap.
And when we become aware,
The imagined threat begins to lose its grip.
Every time you return from the imagined future to this moment,
You are healing the pattern.
When you're ready,
Slowly open your eyes,
And as you move back into your day,
Carry this awareness with you.
And if ever anxiety shows up,
Meet it with awareness,
And let it know.
Let it know that it can rest.
You've got this.
