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Some days you don't feel ill enough to stop, but you don't feel well enough to feel like yourself.

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That flat, grey, running on empty feeling, the one that doesn't quite have a proper name.

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That's where we are today, and that's exactly where this is for.

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Welcome. Let's just breathe.

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This is Calming Anxiety. I'm Martin Hewlett, a clinical hypnotherapist and a former frontline paramedic.

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I've worked in high pressure emergencies where everything demanded that I kept going, regardless of how I felt.

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And I can tell you, from experience, some of the hardest days aren't the dramatic ones.

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They're the ones where you feel a little bit blur, a bit deflated, not broken, just not quite right.

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And today, this is for that moment.

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Right now, I'm on antibiotics, an insect bite.

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Wow, what a reaction. My whole leg inflamed cellulitis, and it's knocked me back.

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So this one, it's not just for you, my friend. It's for me as well.

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Let's begin. Let's find that quiet, comfortable place where you can sit or lie down,

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whatever feels the most supportive right now.

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And if it's safe, gently let your eyes close.

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We're going to start with the vagus nerve reset.

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Your biological off switch for the low flat, deflated nervous system.

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It's beautifully simple.

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Four counts in through the nose, hold the two, and then the long, slow six count out, always through the mouth.

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That extended out breath activates your parasympathetic nervous system.

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It tells your body we're safe, we can soften.

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Ready with me in two, three, four, hold two, and out.

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Two, three, four, five, six.

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Good. Let's do that again. Ready with me.

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In, two, three, four, pause, two, and relax.

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Two, three, four, five, six.

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One more time. This one really let the out breath go.

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Let your shoulders drop away from your ears, relax the muscles on your forehead as we exhale.

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In, two, three, four, hold two, exhale, two, three, four, five, six.

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Let your breathing now find its own rhythm, natural, easy, yours.

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And in this moment of stillness, of reuniting your mind, body and soul, in true mindful harmony,

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I'd like you to imagine a quiet afternoon, late in the day, the light now soft, golden and low,

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the kind that asks nothing of you.

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You're sitting somewhere simple, maybe a bench in a garden, a chair by a window,

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somewhere with no demands and no agenda.

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Outside, the world is carrying on, but it feels far away, like background noise that doesn't reach you here.

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And you notice something, just for a moment, you don't have to be anywhere, you don't have to butchuse anything.

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You don't have to feel better on cue.

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You're just here, allowed to feel exactly as you do.

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A blurred day doesn't mean a broken day. It means your system is recalibrating.

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It means something in you is asking for gentleness.

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So we're going to give it exactly that.

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Feel the surface beneath you now, solid, brilliant.

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Supporting every bit of your weight without asking you to hold any of it yourself.

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Let your shoulders drop a bit more. Let your jaw soften.

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Let your hands rest, open and easy.

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Imagine now that with every out breath, the heaviness that you've been carrying today gets just a little lighter.

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Not gone, you're not performing wellness here, just lighter.

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As if the day is gently pulling down some of what you've been holding.

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The light outside deepens, golden, amber, warm.

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And somewhere in your body, something quietly settles.

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This is enough for being here is enough.

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Resting is enough.

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You don't have to rise above today. You just have to move through it gently.

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And within this moment, let these words land.

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See them and feel them.

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I am allowed to feel low without it meaning something is wrong.

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My body is doing its best today and so am I.

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I do not have to earn my rest.

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This feeling is temporary. I have moved through difficult days before.

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I am gentler with myself today than the world asks me to be.

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I just float now, gently, no effort.

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Feel that soft golden warmth around you.

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Not performance, not pressure, just the simple permission to be a little still.

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Breathe.

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Let the day be what it is. Let yourself be where you are.

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And know that choosing this 10 minutes of restoration over 10 more minutes of pushing,

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it's not weakness, it's wisdom.

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I am allowed to feel low without it meaning something is wrong.

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My body is doing its best today and so am I.

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I do not have to earn my rest.

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Within this moment of calm, within this sanctuary of your consciousness,

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take with you today's three daily caring tips and find your moment of calm.

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One, name it without protestorizing.

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When you feel blech, your brain often tries to find a reason and that search makes it worse.

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Instead, try saying quietly to yourself.

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I just feel low today, that's allowed, naming it simply stops the spiral before it starts.

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Two, do one very small act of care.

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Not a big reset, not a plan, just one thing.

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A warm drink, five minutes outside, a song that you love.

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Low energy days respond to small kindnesses, not grand gestures.

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One, small act of care signals to your nervous system that you haven't abandoned yourself.

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And three, lower the bar on purpose.

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Today is not today to measure yourself against your best days.

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Lower the bar deliberately.

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Do less than you think you should and then quietly notice the world didn't fall apart.

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That's important data.

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You are allowed to be human.

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Now gently my friend, bring your awareness back.

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Wiggle your fingers and toes.

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Take one long easy breath in and as you exhale, stretch out the muscles in your arms and legs.

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And when you're ready, whenever that is, open your eyes.

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You made a good choice today, choosing ten minutes of gentleness over ten more minutes of grinding.

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That matters, because you matter.

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If you'd like to go further, my online course is waiting for you at calminganxiety.fm.

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Five, focus clinical hypnotherapy sessions to help you break the cycle of anxiety.

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And it's there whenever you're ready.

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Thank you for being here.

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Smile often my friend.

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Positive thoughts.

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And then to your beautiful self.

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Be kind.

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