| Length | 7:57 |
|---|---|
| Subject | Anxiety & Stress |
| Best time | While the anxiety is actually happening |
| Position | Sitting, wherever you are |
| Style | Breath, then sitting with it rather than getting rid of it. No music under the voice, it comes in at the close |
Anxiety is a message, not an emergency. You do not have to do anything with it. Sit with it a few minutes and watch the room go quiet.
About 8 minutes with Steven Webb's calm voice.
Breathing in calm, breathing out relaxed, and that is most of it. When the anxious feeling turns up you do not push it off. You say hello and let it sit there. What surprises people is that the room seems to settle too, and then everything past the room.
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
Your chest is tight and your head has gone fast, and you want it to stop right now.
This one does not fight it. Anxiety is a message rather than an emergency, and the fastest way through it is usually to stop pushing against it.
What happens in this meditation
Shoulders down, face soft, and one line to follow. Breathing in calm, breathing out relaxed.
Then the part that does the work. When the anxious feeling turns up you say hello to it and let it sit there. You breathe it in rather than shove it away, and you let it go out with the out breath.
Then the room seems to go quieter. Then everything past the room.
Then four short lines. I am okay in this moment. I am in control of how I respond. May I be well. May I be loved.
How to get the most from it
Eight minutes, and it is meant for the middle of it rather than afterwards.
Do not try to make the feeling leave. Every attempt tells your body there is something here worth being frightened of, and it agrees with you and does more.
Keep it somewhere you can reach in a hurry. This is one to have downloaded rather than go looking for at the wrong moment.
Questions people ask
Does this actually stop anxiety?
It stops you adding to it, which is most of what makes it grow. The feeling usually settles once nothing is fighting it, and that happens sooner than people expect.
Can I do this at work or on a train?
Yes. Eight minutes, sitting, eyes closed or gaze lowered, nothing visible happening. Headphones if it is noisy.
Why say hello to it?
Because ignoring it has not worked, and arguing with it makes it louder. Naming it puts a little distance between you and it, and that distance is where the calm gets in.
