A you stuck in brain fog, you can't get going, you know exactly what you need to do today.
The list is right there and yet your mind feels racked and cottonwong and your body
just won't move.
If that's where you are right now, this is a guided meditation for mental fatigue, for
the fog that sits between the knowing and the doing.
Hi, I'm Martin, clinical hypnotherapist, former frontline paramedic and this is calming
anxiety, your 10 minute daily sanctuary, your coffee break for the song.
Every episode lives free at calminganxiety.fm and the anchor app where I put the whole library
in your pocket.
Today, find your quiet place, somewhere comfy to sit or lie down where you won't be disturbed
and if it's safe, close your eye.
Let's begin with the breath.
Today we'll use box breathing, a steady, even square, in for three, holding for three, out
for three and pausing for three.
Unrushed, just a moment of connection for mind, body and soul.
So ready with me.
In, two, three, hold, two, three, release, two, three, hold, two, three.
And just relax a little bit further and we'll do this again.
Ready?
In, two, three, hold, two, three, release, two, three, hold, two, three.
There's no need to think clearly right now, no need to plan anything.
Start the square breath over and over until your nervous system finds its own quiet structure
underneath the fog.
Let's do this again.
in, two, three, whole two, three, relax, two, three,
pause, two, three, in, two, three, whole two, three, relax, two, three,
pause, two, three, let your breathing find its own rhythm and in your thoughts, I want
you to picture a car on a freezing morning, you turn the key, the engine doesn't
roar into life, it coughs, it idles rough, it splutters and for a moment it sounds
like it may stall completely, that's not a broken engine, that's exactly what a
cold engine is supposed to do, and today you are that engine, your mind has been
resting or pushed too hard or simply hasn't had what it needs yet, and now you're
expecting it to leap straight to motorway speeds, but it can't and it was never
built to, what it needs is a minute of idling, not pressure, not the demand to
perform instantly, just a little patient warmth circulating before it's ready to move,
now imagine the engine settling, the rough coughs moving out, the needle on the
dial slowly rising into the green, you don't force that warm up, you simply allow
it to happen, foot off the accelerator patient, and then when it's ready, it pulls away
cleanly, not because you demanded speed, but because you allowed the warm up
for, that's permission, right now for exactly where you are, you're not storm, you're
simply warming up, so let's bring this into a few simple affirmations now, I'll say
each one and I'd like you to repeat it quietly in your mind, my mind doesn't need to be sharp
before I begin, one small movement is enough to start the engine, fog lifts in its own time,
I don't need clear skies to take the next step, I am allowed to start slowly and still
arrive, my capability returns with motion, not before it,
now allow those words to drift deeply and find their place, pass the fog into the part
of you that's already warming up and with every outbreak, allow yourself slightly more
self-compassion, self-understanding, be kind to who you are and then once more, my mind
it doesn't need to be sharp before I begin, one small movement is enough to start the engine,
fog lifts in its own time, I don't need clear skies to take the next step, I am allowed
to start slowly and still arrive, my capability returns with motion, not before it,
I am allowed to start slowly and still arrive, my capability returns with motion,
never was to create, an engine that's already idling is much easier to drive than one still
call, two externalise the plan, when your mind is foggy don't try to hold the whole task
in your head, write down or say out loud, just the next physical action, not the whole
job, just the very next thing your hands need to do, three change the air in the room, brain
fog often eases with a century shift more than a mental one, open a window, step outside
for two minutes, change which room you're sitting in, a different signal to your senses can
do more than another minute of trying to think the way clear, now relax and start to bring
your focus back into the room around you, as you come back now gently wiggle your fingers
and toes and when you're ready take a deep breath in and then as you exhale stretch out
those arms and then open your eye, you haven't failed today by moving slowly, you've simply
been a cold engine on a cold morning and you've just spent ten minutes warming up properly
and the reason for today's session, I woke up with such bad brain fog, I woke up in a negative
mood and I had to shift it, I stood outside, I'd breathed, I told myself I'm human, I'm
not perfect, I can get over this and this is how I did it.
If today's session helped and you'd like a structured path through your anxiety beyond
the daily fog, the anxiety circuit break of course is five clinical hypnotherapy sessions
waiting for you at calminganxiety.fm, it's only sixty seven dollars, it's my work and I hope
it helps set you free.
Have a lovely day, thank you for warming up with me as well and so my friend in everything,
be kind.