Turning down the dials of anxiety.
Start by just settling into where you are.
Feel yourself supported by the surface beneath you.
Feel stress starting to melt away.
Let the eyes gently close,
Relax the shoulders.
Settle in.
To my voice,
Bring the mind to your breath.
When the mind wanders,
Just bring it back.
Notice thoughts passing,
Like cars passing on the street.
For two or three seconds,
Release away through the mouth,
Inflating your cheeks and pushing the air away with some force.
Repeat this process.
Breathing in deep,
All the way into the belly,
Holding it for two or three seconds,
Releasing away through the mouth,
Inflating the cheeks,
Pushing the air away.
In and out.
As you breathe in,
Say to yourself the word,
Let,
And as you breathe out,
Say to yourself the word,
Go,
Let,
Go,
Let,
Let the breath return to a nice,
Natural rhythm.
Feel free to move around a bit until you're totally comfortable.
I want you to imagine a halo made of blue light hovering above your head.
Imagine that light slowly making its way over your body from head to toe,
And as it passes each section,
It releases tension from your body,
Starting at the top of your head,
Releasing tension in the forehead,
The muscles around the eyes softening and letting go,
The cheeks softening and letting go,
Releasing the tension of the jaw down through your neck,
Letting the shoulders go completely.
Feel your shoulders fall toward the floor.
See that blue light moving on down at its own pace,
Just pulling away tension from your body,
Down,
Down,
And down,
Letting go,
Down into a state of total relaxation.
I want you to imagine yourself,
Dressed as you are now,
Standing at the top of a staircase.
At the bottom of that staircase is a special room that you get to create.
We're going to slowly make our way down this staircase,
And as we take each step down,
You'll find yourself sinking down a little bit further into a state of relaxation.
Stepping down to nine,
Nine,
Letting go,
To eight,
Down,
Seven,
Six,
Six,
And five.
Halfway there and twice as relaxed,
Yet only halfway there,
Down to four,
Lazily drifting,
Four,
Down to three,
Down to two,
And down,
Two,
Down to one.
Take three steps forward until you see a door on your right.
Walk into that door,
Closing the door behind you.
This is your room.
You get to decorate it however you'd like.
It could be a room you've actually been in or one you make up in your mind.
Fill in those details now.
What do the floors look like?
What color are the walls?
Is there a window?
What else is on the walls?
What furniture is in the room?
You see a small wooden desk in the back corner of the room.
Slowly make your way there.
Standing over the desk,
You pull out the desk chair,
Have a seat,
And on top of the desk is a small plastic dial attached to a little wooden box.
That plastic dial represents your anxiety.
The dial is numbered 02100.
Notice where the dial is right now.
Notice the number that the dial is at right now.
Reach out,
Feel the dial in your hand,
Feel the plastic,
Feel the temperature.
Turn that dial down to the left,
Down to the number that's just right for you.
And what you'll notice is over the coming days,
Weeks,
Months,
And years,
Your number will be closer to this ideal number.
Your number will stay on the lower side.
And when it goes up,
You can always return here to turn back down that number.
Isn't it nice to know you can always come back?
And just float here for a second.
See yourself slowly standing up from that desk,
Pushing the chair in before you walk away.
Lazily walking toward the door.
Turning to face your room one more time before gently closing that door.
And then find yourself at the bottom of that same staircase,
This time looking up.
This time we make our way up the staircase one step at a time.
This time,
As we go up each step,
We find ourselves a little more alert and energized.
Starting with one,
Up to two.
Two,
Stepping up to three.
Three,
Up to four.
Five,
Halfway there.
Up to six.
A little more energy coming back to you.
Up to seven.
Start to move the body a bit.
Invite some motion into the toes,
Into the hands.
Seven and eight.
A little more alert.
Maybe aware of sounds outside of my voice.
Up to nine.
Getting closer.
More and more alert and aware.
All the way up to ten.
Fully alert.
Back in this moment.
Back in the room.
Refreshed.
Relaxed.
Ready for the rest of your day.
