Hi friends,
Welcome back to Your Journey Yoga.
My name is Natalia and today we have a meditation for anxiety.
Take a moment first and foremost to simply tune in to what the body and the mind need for support right now.
That might mean that you do this meditation lying down on a couch.
Maybe you want to do it seated in a chair or on a cushion.
Whatever is going to feel the most supportive and grounding for you in this moment,
Go ahead and find that for yourself.
This could also include grabbing a blanket or some other item of comfort.
Give yourself a moment or two if you need to pause the audio,
That's perfectly fine.
And whenever you are ready to settle in,
We will meet with our eyes softened or closed.
Take a long deep inhale in through the nose and a super slow exhale through your mouth.
Deep inhale through your nose and a slow soft exhale through the mouth.
One more,
Inhale deeply and slowly let it go.
Relax the muscles of your face,
Unclench your jaw,
Unfurl your brow,
Allow your eyelids to be soft.
Find some ease in your shoulders,
Some ease in your belly,
Allow your legs to be relaxed and heavy.
And simply observe any elements within the space you are in.
Any noises you can hear,
Anything that you can feel and touch.
Maybe noticing the temperature of the space.
Giving your mind the opportunity to come into the same time and space as the physical body.
So often when we are anxious,
We are either living in the past or living in the future.
So give yourself an opportunity to begin to clean the slate just a little bit.
And if that feels too challenging for you right now,
Just know that that's okay.
Continue to breathe,
Tune into your body and or the space around you.
Allowing your breaths to be deep and as slow as possible.
Noticing what the coolness of your inhales feel like inside of your nose.
And how it feels as you exhale and the belly draws in slightly.
The warmth of the exhales,
The coolness of your inhales.
Letting the flow of your breath keep you present and bring you a state of calm.
We are going to do some pranayama together,
Breath work.
Today we are going to utilize box breathing.
Box breathing involves a four-counted inhale,
A four-count hold,
Four-count exhale and a four-count hold.
If it's helpful for you to imagine creating a box with your mind's eye as we do this practice,
You might find that that keeps you grounded,
Focused and also helps ease your anxiety.
Simply follow my voice.
We are going to begin with a normal inhale and exhale.
Breathing in and letting it go.
Inhale for 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
Normal inhale and let it go.
Take a moment to simply tune back in to the body.
Notice how you feel.
We're going to do one more round of this box breathing.
Take your time re-relaxing through the face,
The shoulders,
The legs,
The belly.
Notice if you started gathering up tension.
Find places to let go both physically,
Mentally,
Energetically and emotionally.
Let's take a normal inhale in and let it go.
Inhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
Normal inhale and let it go.
Again,
Just taking a moment to notice how you feel.
Any physical sensations that have come up.
Any tension maybe that you are holding in the body.
Continue to soften.
Give yourself permission to release.
Give yourself permission to drop into ease.
Allow yourself to simply be.
For the next few moments,
There is nowhere else you need to be.
Nothing else you need to do except give yourself the opportunity to rest in a mindful way.
Very slowly,
Begin to bring some movement into your fingers,
Your toes.
Allowing this movement to grow easefully into the arms and the legs.
Beginning to flutter your eyelids open.
Bringing your hands to heart center.
Inhaling in and exhale,
Let it go.
Extend yourself some gratitude for choosing to do this practice.
It's not always easy to choose ourselves when we are feeling anxious or stressed out.
So thank you for choosing you in this moment.
It is an absolute honor to have been your guide.
I'll see you in the next practice.
Namaste.
