This gentle and simple guided meditation will lead you through an easy exercise to combat and alleviate stress and panic.
This can be done at any time when you will not be disturbed,
Or as a calming pre-sleep exercise.
Just make yourself comfortable and close your eyes.
Take a deep breath and hold it for 5 seconds.
If that is too long for you,
Just do it for as long as you can.
Exhale and relax.
Take another deep breath,
As deep as you can and hold it.
Count for 5 seconds.
And as you exhale,
Just imagine blowing out all of your stress.
Take a third deep breath and hold it.
And as you exhale,
Blow out any stress you've been holding onto,
Saying to yourself,
Relax now.
When you become stressed in any situation,
You can use this method to help restore calm.
Simply take three deep breaths,
Hold your breath at the top of the inhale and count for 5 seconds,
Then exhale.
When you exhale,
Blow out any stresses that you feel and on the third breath,
As you exhale,
Say to yourself,
Relax now.
When you do this,
You may want to imagine yourself in a beautiful,
Peaceful place,
Perhaps a quiet beach,
Or the mountains,
Or a quiet path winding through woodland,
Anywhere that transmits a feeling of serenity to the mind.
Your health,
Both mental and physical,
Is important,
So these moments when you can practice being calm will be beneficial to you,
Because they are both self help and self care.
Now say to yourself aloud or in your mind,
Each day,
In every way,
I get better and better.
This exercise helps you to take control of the times when you feel stressed or overcome by a stream of negative thoughts.
We often allow these thoughts and feelings to control us and feel helpless before them.
But now,
We are going to begin to control them.
This means a change in how we deal with them.
We can also deal with intrusive negative thoughts by acknowledging them.
Do this by saying to yourself,
I acknowledge this thought,
But it is not helping me.
I am not going to give it room.
Then once again,
Say,
Each day,
In every way,
I get better and better.
When you are presented with feelings of stress,
Follow this breathing exercise.
Breathe in deeply,
Hold for 5 seconds,
Or as long as is comfortable for you,
And then exhale,
Blowing away the stress and the thoughts that brought this feeling on.
Be kind and understanding of yourself and tell yourself that this stress does not benefit you at all.
Say to yourself,
In order to make great changes,
I now challenge my thoughts.
From now on,
I challenge every negative and unproductive thought that arises.
From this point forward,
Whenever you find yourself having negative,
Unproductive thoughts,
You will immediately say to yourself the word,
Stop.
As soon as you say the word,
Stop,
You will find that the negative thoughts you were having will fragment,
Disappear or vanish like smoke in the wind.
Alternatively,
When a negative thought arises,
You could always imagine it as a small round black ball that you can hold in your hand.
You have caught this thought in its action,
Now squeeze your hand,
You right now have power over this thought,
Feel its surface beginning to give under your hand,
To crumple as if made out of paper mache or eggshell.
It is easy to crush it and feel it sift away through your fingers.
Imagine it doing so in front of your eyes,
Or perhaps the pieces break like a dropped cup or ash that drifts into nothingness.
If you can't imagine this,
Then it is fine to simply say,
Stop.
That moment when the negative thought breaks or vanishes gives you the opportunity to start a new positive thought process.
Begin always by saying,
Each day,
In every way,
I get better and better.
These exercises are more powerful than you might think,
You are doing something extremely empowering.
Each time you catch a negative thought and stop it in its tracks,
You are doing very powerful work.
It is a beginning,
A way to change your life for the better.
When you feel stress rising,
Or negative thoughts intruding,
Just follow the breathing technique.
Breathing in,
Holding for the count of 5,
Exhaling the stress and mentally saying,
Stop.
Then in your mind,
Say the words,
Each day,
In every way,
I get better and better.
Again,
Say the words to yourself,
All aloud,
Each day,
In every way,
I get better and better.
You could even say the words aloud,
Or in your mind,
As a mantra,
Simultaneously if you wish,
Imagining something or many things that improve in your life.
Continue to do this,
Knowing that this time is already exercising a positive effect upon you.
