Welcome to this practice.
I'm Kate,
And I'm so happy that you've joined me.
If you've discovered this track today,
I'm imagining that you might be feeling a little anxious,
A little tense,
A little stressed maybe,
And are looking for a way to help that ease,
Feel a little less uncomfortable.
Anxiety is like a powerful force and energy that can just strike us when we're least expecting it.
It can make it hard to concentrate on anything else.
It can make us feel unsafe.
It can make us want to hide away.
It can make us feel trapped.
Unable to think clearly.
Unable to feel carefree and light.
And one of the things that I've discovered over many years of practicing mindfulness and meditation is that counter-intuitively,
When we start to look at our anxiety,
Somehow it shifts.
It's force becomes less powerful.
There's less of a sting.
The fear dials down.
So I thought today we would explore that together.
Safely start to look at what perhaps making us feel anxious,
Out of sort,
A little uneasy in our bodies.
So the first step is simply to get yourself comfortable,
Whatever that means for you.
You might want to adjust your posture just a little.
Ideally sitting upright but not too rigid.
Or if you're in pain or really tired,
Lying down is okay too.
You might be practicing in bed and that's totally fine.
So when you're ready,
In your comfortable position,
Gently closing the eyes down.
Or if you prefer,
You can just lower your gaze to the floor.
And the first thing I'm going to do is just invite you to just notice the weight of your body.
Allowing everything to settle.
Just really setting the intention that for the next few minutes together,
Our to-do lists don't matter.
We're going to take a few minutes to go inwards together.
So just really allowing your body to ease,
Sink into the surface beneath it.
Noticing what it feels like to be supported from below.
Maybe noticing the texture of the surface you're sitting or lying on.
And noticing your feet resting on the ground.
How does it feel for your feet to connect with the earth below you?
And every time your mind wanders,
Which it will during this practice,
Just knowing that that's okay.
That's what humans do.
And gently guiding your attention back,
Back to the weight of your body resting here.
And now with everything a little more settled.
Just taking a moment to just see what's here.
In this moment.
Starting by just scanning the body all the way from the head down through the neck,
Down through the shoulders.
Perhaps noticing any tension there and allowing it to ease.
All the way down the arms,
Into the hands and the tips of the fingers.
Perhaps noticing air against skin.
And as you move through your body,
Noticing any areas of tension and just allowing a softening.
Moving now down the back,
Down the spine.
And then moving to the front of the body,
Scanning down the stomach area.
And then moving down into the legs.
Noticing the softness of the skin on the thighs.
Moving down the knees,
Into the shins.
Ankles,
And down into the feet.
And just scanning our bodies in this way brings a real grounding into the body and the mind,
Especially if you've been feeling anxious,
Scattered.
So with this newly settled body,
Now just allowing yourself to see what's here in the mind.
It sometimes takes a little courage.
We distract ourselves so often because it can be hard to actually look at what we're feeling,
At what's here.
But knowing that you're safely held in this space,
And all the others meditating with you.
Just seeing if you can look your anxiety in the eye.
And as you look at the anxious thoughts or sensations in your mind and in your body,
Seeing if you can bring a curiosity to these feelings.
And as you look at the thoughts,
The difficult thoughts,
Rather than resisting them,
Being frightened of them,
Seeing if you can just hold them safely.
Knowing that just like weather,
These difficult feelings and these thoughts will eventually pass.
You might notice that as you investigate the thoughts in your mind,
The feelings,
The emotions,
That you feel physical sensations more strongly,
And that's okay.
As you look at these thoughts,
These feelings,
You're giving them a space to breathe,
To be heard,
To be experienced.
And so your body will reflect those feelings,
Perhaps through a feeling of tension,
Perhaps through a feeling of pressure or tingling,
Or perhaps nothing at all.
But just seeing if you can stay with these feelings,
Looking your anxiety in the eye,
Knowing that anxiety is just an energy,
An energy that's built up through unprocessed feelings.
And that by seeing what's here,
By feeling the feelings,
You're allowing that energy,
That anxiety,
That pain to be released.
So just sitting with that feeling of anxiety,
And allowing your body to respond in whichever way it needs.
The more the body expresses the anxiety,
The more the tension will release.
So just leaning into those feelings,
Knowing that you're safely held.
And if at any time it feels too much,
Just coming back to the breath in your body.
And just focusing on the breath can bring a real grounding,
Real easing of tension.
And the final part of this practice is to see if you can ask your anxiety if it has anything to share.
Sometimes the tension,
The pressure,
Is hiding a message,
Something that needs to be heard,
To be felt,
To be looked at.
So what's really going on for you right now?
What does this tension,
This anxiety have to tell you?
What in your life needs to be looked at?
And just seeing if anything bubbles up for you.
It's often not what we expect.
And try not to judge it as right or wrong,
But just seeing what reveals itself.
As you look your anxiety in the eye and hear what it has to share.
Listening.
Listening to your body.
Listening to your mind.
Allowing everything to be heard,
Everything to be felt.
And as everything is felt,
Knowing that your body will experience a really beautiful release.
An easing of tension,
Of pressure built up.
And as we move towards the end of this practice,
Taking a moment to soothe the body and the mind by just placing one hand on your belly and one hand on the heart space,
Just in the center of the chest.
And just noticing the rising and falling of your body as the body breathes.
Noticing the rising and falling of the chest.
And feeling the hands against your body.
Noticing the sensation of skin against your clothes.
And just allowing the body to breathe,
Allowing the body to ease.
Allowing any tension to ebb away.
And as you hold yourself in this way,
Bringing a new sense of wholeness and ease into the body,
Into your mind.
And taking a moment to notice what's shifted.
Perhaps just something very small,
But just noticing how you're feeling in your body and your mind since we started this practice together.
And gathering in any benefit.
And just for the last moment or so in your own time,
Just really connecting in deeply to that feeling of hands against the belly,
Against the chest.
Breath rising and falling.
And knowing that you have a way to support yourself whenever you're feeling anxious.
You can return to this practice knowing that you can safely look your anxiety in the eye and hear what it has to share.
And when you're ready,
No rush.
Gently moving your hands back down from the body to your lap or by your sides.
And gently opening the eyes.
Thank you so much for meditating with me today.
If you enjoyed that practice,
Do explore my other recordings and I hope to practice again with you soon.
Take care.
