Welcome to this meditation practice to help relieve anxiety.
Before we begin,
Go ahead and find a comfortable meditation position for you,
Either sitting upright with a straight spine or lying down on your back.
Let your hands rest wherever feels good and allow your eyes to gently close.
Start to take a deep,
Full breath into the belly.
Hold it for five seconds and exhale and relax.
Take another deep breath in,
As deep as you can.
Hold it for five seconds and let it go.
As you exhale,
Imagine letting out all of your stress.
Last deep breath in.
Hold it again at the top and exhale any stress you've been holding onto.
Good.
This is a tool you can use to combat stress whenever you feel anxious or worried.
Take three full deep breaths in,
Filling up the belly with air,
Then hold it at the top of the inhalation for five seconds.
And when you exhale,
Imagine your body and mind completely relaxing and letting go.
You can even try telling yourself on the exhale to relax.
Now I'm going to do a relaxing body scan,
Starting at the top of the head and working our way down.
Let's begin by blinking your eyes open and closed.
And then allow your eyes to stay closed.
When you do this,
Maybe you feel a wave of relaxation sweep over you.
Now focus on the sensations at the top of your head.
See if you can notice how the very top of your head feels.
Maybe feeling tingling or the quality of the air around your head.
Now let your focus move down to your eyes.
Notice how your eyes feel and ask them to relax even more.
If the back of your head is against something,
Notice how it feels against that surface that it's touching.
Let your focus move to your nose and feel the slight sensations of air moving in and out with your breath.
When you breathe in,
Imagine that you're being filled with calmness.
When you breathe out,
Imagine your body feels heavy and deeply relaxed.
Now focus on your ears.
Notice how they feel and what they hear around you.
Try to hear every single noise.
And when sounds come into your ears,
They act as little waves of relaxation,
Taking it even deeper.
Now focus on your mouth.
Notice any sensations there.
Can you feel your tongue?
And pay attention to the area around your jaw.
Is it tensed?
And so invite softness and relaxation in.
Now move your focus down to the neck.
If there's any tension,
Just ask it to release a little more.
Feel any sensations present there.
Now focus on your shoulders.
And starting with one arm and the other,
Move your attention slowly going down the arm,
All the way to each fingertip.
Feel all the sensations you can as you very slowly make your way down with the arm and the other.
Allow your focus now to go to your chest and feel the area around the center.
Take note of anything that you feel.
And then move your focus to your upper back.
What can you feel there?
Then concentrate on your lungs,
The lung gently expanding and contracting with your breath,
Delivering oxygen to your body.
Allow your focus to move down your vital organs and digestive system.
Just notice your belly and how it feels,
Working and digesting effortlessly for you.
Now notice your lower back.
Now,
Can you wear any sensations present in the pelvis and hips?
Allow your focus to move down each leg now,
Slowly relaxing them even more as your awareness travels down the legs.
Your legs have been taking you to so many places and they do so much for you.
Allow them to fully relax right now.
Notice a wonderful wave of relaxation moving down to your knees.
Then down the lower legs.
All the way into your feet.
From the heel to the very tip of the toes.
Now bring an awareness to your entire body.
See if you can feel sensations throughout your body.
How do you feel?
Take note of how you feel in this exact moment.
Whenever feelings of stress arise,
Notice that you can turn your attention to your breath and allow it to soothe and center you.
From now on,
I invite you to challenge every single negative and unproductive thought that arises.
Whenever you find yourself having negative,
Unproductive thoughts that contribute to stress and anxiety,
You can immediately say to yourself the word stop.
Again,
Whenever you find yourself having negative thoughts,
You can immediately say to yourself the word stop.
As soon as you say the word stop,
The negative thoughts you are having will just disappear and then you can make the conscious choice to have a positive thought and retrain your mind to engage with helpful thoughts.
Now slowly start coming back to the present moment,
Feeling fresh,
New energy coming in as you breathe.
Whenever you feel ready,
Taking as much time as you'd like,
Slowly and gently open your eyes.
