Welcome to this session,
Before we begin take a moment to arrive.
You don't need to fix anything,
You don't even need to achieve anything,
Just be here.
My name is Jason Wild and I've spent decades working in mental health and exploring meditation and consciousness.
Now what I've learned is simple,
Most of us are carrying more attention than we realize and the nervous system rarely gets a true break.
The space is that break.
There's no right way to do this.
If your mind wanders well that's okay and if you relax deeply well that's okay too.
Just follow my voice and let whatever happens happen.
So take one slow breath in and just let it go gently.
Now take another slow breath in,
Not a dramatic one but just enough and then let it go.
Now nothing in your body right now needs to be solved,
Nothing needs to be diagnosed,
Nothing needs to be fixed in this moment.
You're not here to scan for danger,
You're here to learn how to sit beside your body without treating it like a threat.
So take another slow breath in through your nose and then exhale through the mouth.
Now let your shoulders drop just slightly and let your jaw loosen.
Let the tongue rest at the floor of the mouth.
Health anxiety is not about weakness,
It's about a nervous system that learned to watch closely,
Too closely.
You'll learn that sensation equals risk,
That awareness equals control,
That if you monitor enough you can prevent a catastrophe.
But right now we're going to gently challenge that pattern,
So bring your attention to your heartbeat.
Now don't try to change it,
Just notice it.
Now maybe it feels steady,
Maybe it feels strong,
Maybe it even feels irregular.
So notice what your mind wants to say about it.
Does it start predicting?
Does it start interpreting?
Does it start scanning for confirmation of danger?
Now separate the two things.
There is sensation and there is a story.
Sensation is physical,
Story is mental.
Your body produces sensation,
Your mind produces interpretation,
And those things are not the same.
So notice any tightness in your chest,
Instead of asking what's wrong,
Ask what is this sensation.
So describe it.
Describe it neutrally,
Warm,
Cool,
Tight,
Loose,
Fluttering,
Heavy.
Whatever it is,
Just let it be data,
Not a verdict,
And then take a slow breath in through the nose and then a long exhale through the mouth.
Now imagine sitting beside your body as if it were a loyal animal,
A dog that startles easily,
It barks when it hears a noise,
It growls when something feels unfamiliar.
Now it's not broken,
It's protective.
Your body does not create sensations to hurt you,
It creates them to inform you.
Even anxiety itself is an attempt at protection.
Feel your hands.
Notice the temperature,
The pressure,
Even subtle tingling.
And if there is tingling,
Your mind may say something.
Pause that voice.
Tingling is just nerve activity.
Your body has billions of nerve signals firing every second.
Most of them you'll never notice,
But when anxiety is high,
Your attention zooms in,
Like turning up the microphone.
But amplification does not equal emergency,
It equals awareness.
So take another slow breath in and let the exhale be longer than the inhale.
That extended exhale tells your nervous system that there is no immediate threat.
Now bring your awareness to your belly.
Notice any movement there,
Any tension,
Any shifting.
Your digestive system moves constantly.
Gas moves,
Muscles contract,
And organs shift.
And if you focus long enough you'll feel something.
Feeling something does not mean something is wrong,
It means that you're alive.
Health anxiety often confuses activity with danger.
Your body is always active.
Your heart is beating.
Your lungs are expanding.
Your blood is flowing.
Cells are regenerating.
Electrical impulses are firing.
Movement is life.
So notice your breath again.
Inhale and then exhale even longer.
Now imagine your body from the outside.
Picture yourself sitting here.
See the shoulders,
The chest,
The abdomen rising and falling.
From this outside view,
Does it look like an emergency?
Or does it look like a human breathing quietly?
Your nervous system learned hypervigilance.
Maybe from experience.
Maybe from fear.
Maybe even from loss.
Maybe from uncertainty.
It learned that monitoring equals safety,
But over-monitoring creates alarm.
Right now,
Practice non-interference.
Let your heart beat without checking it.
Let your chest feel however it feels.
And let your throat be open or tight,
Whatever it is.
Don't correct it.
Don't brace it.
No predicting.
And then say quietly in your mind,
Sensation is information.
And again,
Sensation is not danger.
And one more time,
My body is trying to protect me.
Even when it misfires.
Even when it exaggerates.
Even when it overreacts.
It's still protective.
So notice if there is a subtle urge to check something.
To scan.
To Google.
To test.
To compare.
Just notice the urge.
Now don't obey it.
Urges rise and urges peak.
And urges fall like waves.
Your job is not to eliminate sensation.
Your job is to stop treating sensation as proof of a catastrophe.
So take a slow breath in.
And a long exhale.
Feel your feet on the ground or in the bed.
Feel the floor or the bed holding you.
Gravity is steady.
Your body knows how to regulate.
And it has done it thousands of times before.
You've had fast heartbeats before.
And they slow.
You've had a tight chest before.
And it passed.
Your body is not fragile glass.
It's resilient tissue.
Self-repairing.
Self-balancing.
Constantly adjusting.
Now bring your attention back to your heartbeat.
Notice it without measuring it.
Without timing it.
And without analyzing it.
Just feel it.
Like a drum in the distance.
Alive and working.
Steady in its own rhythm.
And instead of fear,
Offer it something different.
Offer it neutrality.
Or even gratitude.
It has been beating since before you had language.
Before you had thoughts.
Before you had anxiety.
It has carried you through every stress,
Every sleep,
And every day.
It is not your enemy.
It's your oldest ally.
So take one more slow breath in.
And a long exhale.
And then sit here for a few moments.
Letting sensations exist.
Without a verdict.
Without urgency.
Without a story.
Just presence.
You're not required to solve your body.
You're allowed to live inside it.
And in this moment,
Nothing needs to be fixed.
So when you're ready,
Open your eyes slowly now.
Good work today,
And namaste.
