Welcome,
My name is Vince and today we're going to do a guided meditation around who's the one who is anxious.
As we begin,
We're going to start with exploring the nature of anxiety and the self.
When anxiety rises,
It can feel deeply personal.
It can feel like me,
Like something is wrong with me,
But today we'll generally investigate who is experiencing anxiety and who is aware of it.
Is the anxious feeling the entirety of who you are or is it something appearing within a larger field of awareness?
There's nothing to fix here,
Only something to observe.
Let's begin.
Settle into a posture that feels both grounded and easeful.
Feel your feet on the floor and notice the support beneath you.
Allow your spine to lengthen naturally.
Let your shoulders drift away from your ears a few degrees.
Bring your attention to the breath.
No need to change it,
Just observe it.
Notice the inhale entering the body and the exhale leaving.
Now gently invite awareness towards sensations that resemble anxiety,
Perhaps in the chest,
A tightness,
A fluttering,
Maybe in the stomach,
A knot,
A hollowness,
Or in the shoulders and neck where we sometimes find tension.
You don't have to search for anxiety,
Just notice what is present.
If there's no anxiety right now,
You might recall a moment,
Just lightly,
Enough to sense how the body responds.
And as you notice these sensations,
Try relating them differently.
Instead of saying,
I am anxious,
Silently experiment with anxiety as being felt.
Just that small shift,
Anxiety is being felt.
Notice how that lands in the body.
Does it create a fraction more space?
Stay with the physical sensation for a few more breaths.
Feel the heartbeat,
If it's noticeable.
Feel the breath moving around the sensation.
You're not trying to remove anxiety,
You're allowing it to be seen.
Now gently introduce this question.
Is the self anxious,
Or anxiety appearing within awareness?
Let the question echo rather than being answered.
Anxiety is a collection of sensations,
Thoughts,
Images,
Predictions,
And yet something is noticing those thoughts.
Something is aware of the tightening in the chest.
That awareness itself.
Is it anxious,
Or is it simply aware?
Imagine thoughts as weather patterns.
They move in,
They intensify,
They pass.
Are you the storm,
Or the sky in which the storm appears?
Notice a thought related to anxiety.
Perhaps,
What if something goes wrong,
Or I can't handle this?
See if you can observe the thought as an event,
A sentence appearing,
Not a fact,
Not an identity.
Just a mental event.
And again,
Ask gently,
Who is aware of this thought?
Rest as that awareness for a few breaths.
Return attention to the body.
Feel the rhythm of your heartbeat,
If you can detect it.
Feel the breath rising and falling.
Notice how sensations shift when you observe them.
Anxiety often pulls us into the story,
Into the future,
Into imagined outcomes.
But awareness brings us back into direct experience.
Into breath.
Into pulse.
Into contact with the ground.
Place one hand lightly on your chest,
Or your abdomen,
If that feels supportive.
Feel the warmth of your own touch.
And let this be a reminder.
You can observe without becoming the story.
Silently repeat,
I can observe without becoming the story.
And notice how that feels in the body.
Not as a denial of anxiety,
But as a widening of perspective.
Anxiety may still arise,
But it does not define the entirety of you.
It moves within you.
And you are larger than what moves.
Take one slower breath now.
Inhale.
And exhale.
Inhale.
And feel the steadiness underneath the movement.
Gently bring your awareness back to your surroundings.
Notice the room around you.
The sounds.
The air on your skin.
And feel your feet again.
Your seat.
And remember,
Anxiety may come and go today.
When it does,
Perhaps you can ask,
Who is noticing this?
Carry this spacious awareness into your next moments.
Not to eliminate anxiety,
But to meet it with steadiness and curiosity.
Thank you for practicing today with me.
The inner light sees the inner light in you.
Namaste.
