| Length | 6:46 |
|---|---|
| Subject | Anxiety & Stress |
| Best time | Whenever your head is going too fast |
| Position | Sitting, back straight |
| Style | Four words, and nothing else at all. Music underneath |
The simplest one I have, and probably the most effective. Breathe in calm, breathe out relax. That is the whole thing.
About 8 minutes with Steven Webb's calm voice.
Two words on the way in, two on the way out. The first is for the mind, the second is for the body. I use this before every other meditation I record, and any time my own head is going too fast. After a while the words drop away and it just happens on its own.
Treat me to a coffee, keep the podcast free, and get my Weekly Calm every Sunday. It is all on stevenwebb.uk
Thank you for sitting with me.
Steven
Who this is for
You want the one that everything else is built on.
This is the simplest thing I have recorded and probably the most effective. Four words. Breathe in calm, breathe out relax.
What happens in this meditation
That is genuinely it.
Breathe in calm, which is the half for your mind. Breathe out relax, which is the half for your body, and on that out breath you give each part permission to let go. Behind the eyes, the cheeks, the forehead.
You do not change your breath. You are not doing anything to it. Breathing out is not an action anyway, it is an allowing, which is why that half works so easily.
Every out breath, one or two per cent calmer. That is all it asks for.
How to get the most from it
Eight minutes, and it goes anywhere. This is the one I use before recording every other meditation and any time my own head is racing.
Invite rather than instruct. That word matters. Told to relax, a body argues. Invited, it almost always says yes.
After a while the words drop off and it just happens. That is when it stops being a meditation and starts being something you have.
Questions people ask
Is this too simple to do anything?
It is the plainest thing on the feed and it outperforms most of the rest. Simple is why it works when you are stressed, because a complicated practice is the first thing to go when you actually need one.
Where can I use it?
Anywhere. In a queue, in a meeting, in a car, mid conversation. Nobody can see you doing it, which is the whole point of having something this small.
Do I have to close my eyes?
No. It works with them open and it is meant to. If you can only ever do it in a quiet room with your eyes shut, it is not much use on the day you need it.
