Easing Anxiety

So just taking a moment now to gather your focus to the feeling of your feet on the ground. No matter what else has being going on, right now, just inviting you to simply notice the feeling of contact, the sensations, where your feet are touching the ground. And then before we do anything else, just taking a big, slow, deep breath in. And then let it go. And just doing a couple more breaths like this.

Breathing in. And as you breathe in, feeling the chest expanding. And as you breathe out, feel the softening of all those muscles as the lungs contract. And as you take one more breath in now. And let it go.

If you haven't already, allowing the eyes to just gently close on the exhale. And just take a moment to let yourself settle and soften into your seat here. And letting yourself be as comfortable as possible. Just relaxing into this moment. And we're going to use a breathing technique called the square breath to help soothe, calm, and balance the mind and body.

I'll guide you through. So just following along with my instructions. And starting off now with a natural inhale. And a natural exhale. And on the next breath in, just breathing in for the count of one, two, three, four.

And now holding the breath, two, three, four. Exhale, two, three, four. And hold the breath out, two, three, four. Again, inhale, two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four.

Exhale, two, three, four. And hold two, three, four. So just continuing with this square breath on your own now for a few more rounds. And if the count of four feels too short or too long, feel free to find your own count. It might be just to the count of three or maybe up to six.

Just finding your own way, your own rhythm with this practice. Aware of each count of the breath, nothing but the breath, and just letting everything else go for now. And after the next exhale, just letting your breath fall back into its own natural rhythm. So no need to control the breath anymore. But continuing to follow each breath with your attention, just feeling the flow of air as it enters the body, and flows all the way back out.

Just continuing to stay in touch with the movement and sensation of the natural breath. Just one breath and one moment at a time. Each time thoughts or emotions arise, just acknowledge them and let them be. Allowing any thoughts to arise and pass, like clouds passing through the sky. So letting these thoughts and emotions come and go without pushing anything away and also without getting lost in them.

But just letting things be as they are, as you continue to rest in the soothing rhythm of the natural breathing. There's nothing you need to fix or solve right now. There's nothing you need to do or become. Just take refuge here in this present moment and let the breath anchor you and ground you in the here and now. If the mind wanders off, just notice what distracted you.

And no matter how important the thoughts seems to be, just inviting the mind back to rest in the movement and sensation of breathing. And doing this again and again, as many times as you need to, and coming back with patience. Just giving yourself permission now to take these last few minutes of meditation where you can just let everything else go and let your attention rest in the breath in the same way that a raft might rest in a moving sea. And as we approach the end of this time of meditation, just taking a moment now to notice how you're feeling after taking this time out to settle and find your center. And then when you're ready, just bringing the focus of your attention back to your whole physical body, sitting here or lying here, breathing.

And slowly just beginning to wriggle the fingers and the toes. And when you're ready, opening the eyes. As you get ready now to go about your day, just remembering that you can carry this more steady and grounded awareness with you into the rest of your day.