16 Minute Guided Mindfulness Meditation to Manage Anxiety: Session 1

Welcome to Headspace on Anxiety. Now, this particular exercise and technique builds very much on the foundation technique that you would have learned. So, it's really important that you've learned that in full and that you feel comfortable and confident in applying that technique. Now, of course, anxiety means something different to everybody. For some people, anxiety in itself may sound a little too strong. It may just be more a sense of an undercurrent. Uh sort of this background chatter, bit of worry that's there and just feels a bit uncomfortable. For other people, anxiety may sound quite tame. It may be that you even experience sort of panic attacks or something, you know, really quite intense feelings of anxiety. But as far as the exercise itself go, as far as this technique goes, doesn't really matter where you are on the scale, the same instructions apply. So, it's really about creating a greater sense of space in the mind. Long term, we're talking about changing our relationship with anxiety, changing our perspective with it. It's not about trying to get rid of anxiety. There's no way that we can get rid of anxiety. Anxiety is part of being human. You know, we have fear in the mind for a very good reason. Sometimes we need it. It's important. It's only when it starts to become quite troublesome, when we start to apply it to areas of our life where it's not necessary, where it's not helpful, and where it starts to become quite destructive in some way. That's when it becomes a problem. So, that as a starting point is really, really important. It's not about getting rid of anxiety. It's about changing our relationship to it. Being at ease with it fundamentally being okay with anxiety when it arises in the mind so that we don't buy into it. We don't kind of push away from it. We don't resist it. Instead, we're able to just watch it come and watch it go. And that is a really comfortable and really healthy place to be in relationship to anxiety. But for now, you can just take a moment to get yourself into a comfortable position. We're just going to set the exercise up in the usual way. And then I'm just going to introduce a second part to the exercise. So, just take a moment to settle yourself, eyes open, and when you're ready, just taking some nice big deep breaths. And as you breathe out, just gently closing the eyes as you just settle into the different physical senses. And as you settle into the space around you, So as usual, just scanning down through the body, bringing the mind into the body as you just start to become more aware the physical sensations and that underlying mood.

And just as we did in the foundation exercise, just being clear in your motivation right at the beginning. This isn't about getting rid of anxiety. No matter how strong the temptation may be to think that this is about changing the relationship, not just for you, but also for those people around you as well. And when you've done that, when you've reminded yourself of that, just gently bringing the attention back to the breath, back to that rising and falling sensation. If the breath feels a little bit shallow, you struggle feel that sensation, then you can just place your hand either on your stomach or around the diaphragm. So just continuing to follow the breath in that way. If you prefer, you can count the breaths as they pass. There's no need to though. It's entirely up to you. Just being present with that physical sensation of the breath. And as soon as you realize that the mind has wandered off, which it will inevitably do at some stage, I'd like you just to gently note or label whether you've been distracted by thinking or by feeling a physical sensation. So all you're going to do in that moment that you realize you've been distracted, you realize the mind's wandered. In your mind, you just say, "Oh, okay. " Thinking, "Okay, feeling. " And then gently bring the attention back again. That rising and falling sensation of the breath.

So as soon as you realize the mind's wonder just gently noting, thinking, feeling, and then back to the breath. And now, as always, just give yourself a short while just to allow the mind complete freedom to do whatever it wants to do. And just bringing the attention back again now back into the body back to that feeling of weight in the body. uh points of contact, sounds, smells. Just bringing the mind back into the physical senses, back into

the space around you as you just gently open the eyes. Taking a moment to appreciate that feeling of having stopped. To be clear how you feel right now. And just reminding yourself that as we go through this exercise that the exercises and everyday life are not separate. It may feel very different right now, but the idea is to work towards a place where this really feels quite a seamless transition from one thing to the next. As always, be realistic. Know that this is a longer term move towards a sustainable sense of ease in the mind. This isn't some kind of quick fix strategy where overnight anxiety will disappear. That's what you're hoping, then this probably isn't the right exercise for you or it needs sort of reframing somewhat. This is about uh a longer term approach. And as part of that approach, after each exercise, I'm going to give you just a small task each day. And that's equally as important as much as possible applying that to everyday life. But we'll begin that tomorrow. I'll see you then back here for day two.