- Hi, I'm Anisa Benitez,
and we'll be doing a guided meditation to reduce anxiety,
so find yourself a comfortable seated position,
and we'll get started.
Bringing your hands to your kneecaps or your lap
and taking the first deep breath,
in through our nose, (inhales)
and out through our mouth,
closing our eyes.
Again, follow your breath,
taking a deep inhale through your nose,
and out through your mouth.
(gentle ambient music)
Follow your breath,
taking another deep inhale through your nose,
and exhaling through your mouth.
And observe the breath.
Sometimes we notice that our breathing is not as deep
as we thought it was.
We might be breathing shallow breaths throughout the day.
So how can you take more notice
of what it feels like right now,
to be breathing as deeply as you are?
Now we're gonna hold our breath for a beat at the top.
Taking a deep inhale through our nose,
inhaling one, two,
three, four,
holding our breath, one, two,
three, four,
and exhaling one, two,
three, four.
Again, inhale through your nose, one, two,
three, four,
hold that breath, one, two,
three, four,
and release one, two,
three, four.
Allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm
and see how it feels now that you're breathing deeply
at the top of your head.
Bring your awareness and your attention
to the top of your head.
If there's tension in your forehead,
how can you take a deep breath in and out
and feel tension release there?
Sometimes you might be holding tension
because of concern or worry.
Scrunching our forehead
to send some breath and awareness there.
Take another deep inhale
and continue to bring your awareness down your body
as we do this progressive relaxation technique
known as body scanning.
Bringing our awareness now to our cheeks.
Maybe it was a day of smiling,
a day of talking a lot.
How can you bring your attention there
and release any tension that might be there in your jawline?
Continuing to follow your breath,
taking a deep inhale in
and exhaling.
Bring your awareness down from your jaw to your throat.
How can you send a deep breath there?
And upon exhaling,
feel the tension release from your throat.
Maybe there is words unsaid
that you might be holding in from the day.
How can you feel that tension relax there in your throat?
Continuing to make your awareness graze down your body,
and while it does so,
releasing any tension,
stress that we might be carrying in our body.
Now in our shoulders,
it's so common that we hike up our shoulders.
Maybe 'cause of cold, maybe 'cause of tenseness.
How can you send a deep breath there
and feel your shoulders release and come down?
Feel your neck elongate.
Continuing to bring your attention down your body,
down your spine to your sitz bones,
and send a deep breath there.
Oftentimes, focusing at the base
of our body helps us feel grounded.
So take a deep inhale through your nose,
and exhale, sending a big breath there.
Feeling the tension release,
feeling ourselves sink into the earth,
feeling ourselves grounded in this moment.
Continuing to bring our awareness down our thighs,
down our calves,
into our ankles, to her toes,
to our feet in contact with the floor maybe,
and send a deep breath there.
Really feeling yourself grounded in this moment.
In this moment.
Again, take a deep inhale through your nose,
the deepest that you've taken all day,
and releasing the deepest exhale of all day.
And when you're ready,
bring your attention back to your surroundings,
away from your breath,
but know that you can always come back here.
Open your eyes.
And thank you for taking the time to tune into yourself,
to tune into your breath,
to feel grounded in this moment.
I'm Anisa Benitez, and I appreciate you.