Anchoring Confidence

Welcome to Anchoring Confidence.

I'm Maryanne De Clear.

Thank you for joining me here today.

In this practice,

You'll start with a body scan relaxation,

And then you'll be anchoring confidence in each part of your body with guided breathwork.

So take a moment to get comfortable,

Either on a chair or lying down.

And know that you can change your position at any time during the relaxation.

And I encourage you to welcome any feelings or sensations or even images that may come up with kindness,

Self compassion,

Openness,

And non judgment.

Take this time for yourself and connect within.

Get into a position in which you feel no tension.

Allow your eyes to close and your body to relax.

Take a deep breath,

Filling the chest and the belly with air.

And exhale,

Allowing the chest and the belly to fall.

Take a normal breath and become aware of your body comfortably settled in your seat or lying down.

And bring your attention to all the points of contact between your body and the support beneath you.

Feel the back of your head if you're lying down,

Your arms,

Your hands,

Your back,

Your buttocks,

Your legs,

And your feet.

Feel your body begin to naturally stretch out and relax more and more.

With every breath,

Your body stretches out and become aware of the calm settling into your body.

And starting at the top of your head,

Bring your attention and your awareness to your head and your face.

Feel your scalp release and relax.

Relax your forehead.

Relax your eyebrows.

Maybe find some extra space between your eyebrows.

Relax all the muscles around your eyes and feel your eyelids getting heavy.

Relax your temples,

Your cheekbones,

Your nose.

Notice the cool air around your nostrils on each inhale and the warm air around your nostrils on each exhale.

Relax your cheeks.

Relax your jaws.

Feel free to slightly open your mouth and let your tongue rest gently in your mouth.

Feel your throat relax and feel free to swallow if needed.

Become aware that your face is completely relaxed.

And let this feeling of relaxation continue down your neck into your traps,

Your shoulders.

Feel your shoulders naturally falling down towards the earth.

And to let this feeling of relaxation continue into your upper arms,

Your elbows,

Your forearms,

And your hands right down to your fingertips.

Become aware that your upper limbs are completely relaxed.

Now bring your attention to your back.

And with every breath,

Imagine it stretching out bit by bit.

From the upper back down to your lower back.

Relax all the muscles along your spine.

Become aware that your back is completely relaxed.

And now bring your awareness to your chest.

Feel your ribs opening with each inhale and closing with each exhale.

Observe how these movements are calm and regular.

Notice how your heartbeats are calm and regular.

Feel your belly letting go.

And observe the movements of your belly.

You inhale and your belly rises.

You exhale and your belly falls.

Observe these calm and regular movements.

And now let this feeling of relaxation spread down into your pelvis.

Imagine your organs and their place.

Relax your hips,

Your buttocks,

Your perineum.

Become aware that your upper body is completely relaxed.

Allow the feeling of relaxation to continue down into your legs.

Relax all the muscles in your thighs,

Your knees,

Your calves,

Your ankles,

And your feet down to the tips of your toes.

Become aware of your lower limbs completely relaxed.

Become aware of your whole body completely relaxed.

And now think of the word confident and its synonyms such as courageous,

Bold,

Sure,

Certain,

And self-assured.

I now invite you to think of a place where you feel confident,

Courageous,

Bold,

Sure,

Certain,

And self-assured.

If a few images are coming up for you,

Choose one without any judgment.

This can be a memory of a moment when you were successful or victorious or maybe accomplished something,

A big achievement.

Or it can be a place in the present where you feel confident.

Look around you and notice everything in your environment.

Look at your surroundings and notice the colors,

The light,

The objects.

And open your ears and pay attention to the sounds in this place.

Notice anything you can smell,

Sense,

Or fragrances in this place.

Touch the things around you.

Notice their texture.

Feel the air on your skin and the temperature of the air.

Notice and welcome the positive feelings that you have in this place.

And remember this feeling of confidence that you have when you are here.

Bring your awareness to all the pleasant sensations that this environment creates in you and integrate these sensations.

And now I invite you to fill yourself with these positive feelings and sensations of confidence.

First,

A little explanation.

In a moment on my signal,

You'll breathe in while expanding your belly.

You'll hold your breath and anchor this positivity in your head.

And then you'll exhale softly through your mouth to spread it through each part of your body.

Bring attention to your face.

Inhale and the belly expands.

Hold your breath and anchor this confidence in your head.

Exhale softly to spread it through your face.

Relax and take a normal breath.

And allow this confident feeling to enter your mind.

Begin again,

This time imagining activating all your confident thoughts.

Inhale.

Hold your breath and anchor all your confident thoughts in your head.

And exhale softly through your mouth to spread it on your face.

Relax and take a normal breath.

Allow this confident feeling to enter your mind.

And observe these confident thoughts getting stronger and stronger in your mind.

Do the same thing again,

This time at your own speed.

Take a normal breath.

Welcome all these confident feelings and thoughts.

Become aware of this confidence in your head.

And now bring your attention to your neck,

Shoulders,

Arms and hands.

Inhale.

Hold your breath and anchor this confidence in your head.

And exhale softly to spread it through your neck,

Shoulders,

Arms and hands.

Relax and take a normal breath.

And allow this positive feeling to enter your neck,

Shoulders,

Arms and hands.

Begin again,

This time imagining activating all your courageous actions.

Inhale.

Hold your breath and anchor all your courageous actions in your head.

And exhale softly through your mouth to spread it throughout your neck,

Shoulders,

Arms and hands.

Relax and take a normal breath.

And observe these courageous actions getting stronger and stronger in your neck,

Shoulders,

Arms and hands.

Do the same thing again,

This time at your own speed.

Take a normal breath.

Welcome all these feelings of courageous actions.

And become aware of this courageousness in your upper limbs.

And now bring your attention to your back,

Chest and belly.

Inhale and the belly expands.

Hold your breath and anchor this confidence in your head.

And exhale softly to spread it through your back,

Chest and belly.

Relax and take a normal breath.

And allow this confident feeling to enter your back,

Chest and belly.

Begin again,

This time imagining activating all your positive emotions.

Inhale.

Hold your breath and anchor all your positive emotions in your head.

And exhale softly to spread it throughout your back,

Chest and belly.

Relax,

Breathe normally.

Allow these positive emotions to enter your back,

Chest and belly.

And observe these positive emotions getting stronger and stronger in your back,

Chest and belly.

Do the same thing again,

This time at your own speed.

Take a normal breath.

And welcome all these feelings and positive emotions.

And become aware of this positivity in your back,

Chest and belly.

Now bring your attention to your pelvis and buttocks.

Inhale and your belly expands.

Hold your breath and anchor this confidence in your head.

Exhale softly to spread it throughout your pelvis and buttocks.

Relax,

Take a normal breath.

And allow this confident feeling to enter your pelvis and buttocks.

Begin again,

This time imagining activating all your bold energy.

Inhale and the belly expands.

Hold your breath and anchor all your bold energy in your head.

Exhale softly through your mouth to spread it throughout your pelvis and buttocks.

Relax and take a normal breath.

Allow this bold energy to enter your pelvis and buttocks.

And observe this bold energy building in your pelvis and buttocks.

Do the same thing again,

This time at your own speed.

Take a normal breath.

And welcome all these feelings of bold energy.

Become aware of this bold feeling in your pelvis and buttocks.

And now bring your attention to your legs and feet.

Inhale and the belly expands.

Hold your breath and anchor this positivity in your head.

And exhale softly to spread it throughout your legs and feet.

Relax and take a normal breath.

And allow this positive feeling to enter your legs and feet.

Begin again,

This time imagining activating all your positive actions.

Inhale and the belly expands.

Hold your breath and anchor all your positive actions in your head.

And exhale softly to spread it throughout your legs and feet.

Relax and take a normal breath.

And allow this positive feeling to enter your legs and feet.

Observe these positive actions building in your legs and feet.

And do the same thing again,

This time at your own speed.

Take a normal breath.

Welcome all these feelings and positive actions.

And become aware of this positivity in your legs and feet.

And now bring your attention to your whole body.

Inhale and the belly expands.

Hold your breath and anchor this confidence in your head.

Exhale softly to spread it through your whole body.

And breathe normally.

Welcome all these confident feelings and sensations as if for the first time.

And become aware of the positivity and confidence in your whole body.

And activate these sensations.

And remember that these sensations are always in you.

Think about activating them in your everyday life.

And now I invite you to come back to the points of contact of your body with your support.

Feel the back of your head,

Your arms,

Your back,

Your pelvis,

Your legs and your feet.

Imagine the space that you're in.

Bring your awareness to the sounds outside.

Take a deep breath in through your nose to energize you.

And exhale through your mouth.

Take a normal breath.

Start to slowly move your hands and your feet.

And you can start to move the rest of your body.

Take a big stretch with your hands overhead.

Yawn if you need to.

And when you're ready,

You can open your eyes.

Take a moment while you're still in the state of relaxation to think about the feelings,

Sensations and images that came up for you.

And do so with self-compassion and non-judgment.

Remember that you can come back to this anchoring activity anytime you need a boost of confidence.

Thanks once again for joining me here today for Anchoring Confidence.

I'm Marianne De Clear.