Take a deep breath in and let it go.
Right now, in this exact moment, nothing is chasing you.
Nothing is breaking through the door.
The threat your nervous system has been whispering about.
It isn't there.
You are here and for the next ten minutes here is the safest place on earth.
Welcome, this is calming anxiety.
I'm Martin Hewlett, a clinical hypnotherapist, a former frontline paramedic.
Every single day I bring you ten minutes of guided meditation and clinical hypnotherapy
completely free to help you step out of the noise and back into yourself.
If you're new here, welcome, there's a back catalogue of over 2,300 episodes waiting
for you, so why not subscribe and find tomorrow's session.
Now find your quiet place.
You can sit or lie down and if it's safe to do so, gently close your eyes.
Let's begin by telling your nervous system the truth that right now you are safe.
We're going to do that with the breath, specifically a long, slow out breath.
Because as a paramedic I can tell you, the fastest way to dial down a threat response isn't
a thought, it's a breath.
The long out breath activates the vagus nerve, it will drop the cortisol and physically
signals your body to stand down.
Breathe in through your nose for a count of four in two, three, four, hold at the top, out,
two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
That long exhale, that is your body's own off switch.
To breathe out slowly through your mouth, feel your shoulders dropping, imagine the tension
melting away.
Let's do that once more, ready?
Breathe in two, three, four, hold two, out, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Feel the muscles soften, you did that, you're breasted that and it has always been available
to you.
I wonder if you could now imagine that you're standing at the edge of a quiet harbor at
dawn.
The water completely still, like glass, the kind of still that only happens in the very
early morning before the world wakes up and makes its demands.
The air is cool and clean against the skin of your face, carrying with it just the faintest
trace of salt.
Beneath your feet, solid stone, old stone, the kind that has been there for centuries,
holding people just like you.
Through storms you'll never know about.
It is utterly reliable, it is not going anywhere.
You look out across the water in the distance, a single light blinks slowly on a small lighthouse,
steady, unhurried, on and on and on.
It is not alarmed, it is simply present, a quiet signal that says, "All is well here."
A small rowing boat is morn at the jetty to your left, gently bobbing, tied safely, going
nowhere.
You sit down on the harbor wall and allow your legs to hang over the edge, not close enough
to form, just close enough to feel the freedom of the open air beneath you.
And you notice something, your breathing has slowed to match the rhythm of the water.
The tiny, almost imperceptible rise and form of the harbor's surface, your chest and the
water moving together.
In this place there is nothing to song, nothing to prepare for.
The harbor wall holds you, the stone is solid.
Your water is calm and you are safe in this moment.
As you rest in the stillness of the harbor, I want you to receive these words.
Let them land not just in your mind, but in your body.
In them in bright, bold letters, forming in the quiet space behind your eyes.
Breathe them in, let them settle.
I am safe in this moment.
My body is not in danger, it is working hard to protect me and I am grateful.
I release the tension of what has not yet happened.
I am grounded, held and exactly where I need to be.
This moment is enough and I am enough within it.
I choose to come home to myself again and again.
I am safe in this moment.
Just float there now in the rhythm of the harbor, the slow blink of the lighthouse, the
cool air, the stone beneath you, ancient and steady.
You are not behind, you are not in danger.
You are a human being doing the remarkable, quiet work of choosing peace in a world that
really stops to offer it.
That matters.
You matter.
Breathe and be here.
And once more, let these words find their way in deeper, speak them in the quiet of your
thoughts.
I am safe in this moment.
And in the harbor of stillness, here are your three daily tips for finding safety in the
present moment.
One, the five, four, three, two, one, ground.
When anxiety pulls you into the future, bring yourself back through your senses.
Name five things you can see, four that you can touch, three that you can hear, two that
you can smell and one that you can taste.
Two, the safety audit.
Ask yourself this one question.
Right now, in this exact second, am I actually safe?
Not in and out, not tomorrow, but right now.
For most of us in most moments, the honest answer is yes.
And three, the anchor breath.
Whenever you feel the pull of the future worry, place one hand on your chest and take a single,
slow breath in for four and out for eight.
One breath.
That's all.
It's your physiological reset that you can do anywhere.
Now gently wiggle your fingers and toes, take a full breath in, fill your lungs and then
as you breathe out, stretch out the muscles in your arms and legs and now open your eyes.
You have just given yourself the greatest gift there is.
10 minutes of choosing peace over fear.
Don't let that go lightly.
If this session helped you feel even a fraction safer in yourself today, please consider
sharing it with one more person who needs to hear it.
And if you have a moment, a review on Apple or Spotify helps this little harbour reach
those who need it most.
If you need more help, visit calminganxiety.fm, the anxiety circuit breaker course is there,
five focused hypnotherapy sessions awaiting for you.
Thank you my friend.
Take care of yourself today, smile when you can and to your beautiful self.
Be kind.