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Take a deep breath in and let it go.

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Right now, in this exact moment, nothing is chasing you.

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Nothing is breaking through the door.

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The threat your nervous system has been whispering about.

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It isn't there.

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You are here and for the next ten minutes here is the safest place on earth.

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Welcome, this is calming anxiety.

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I'm Martin Hewlett, a clinical hypnotherapist, a former frontline paramedic.

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Every single day I bring you ten minutes of guided meditation and clinical hypnotherapy

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completely free to help you step out of the noise and back into yourself.

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If you're new here, welcome, there's a back catalogue of over 2,300 episodes waiting

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for you, so why not subscribe and find tomorrow's session.

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Now find your quiet place.

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You can sit or lie down and if it's safe to do so, gently close your eyes.

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Let's begin by telling your nervous system the truth that right now you are safe.

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We're going to do that with the breath, specifically a long, slow out breath.

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Because as a paramedic I can tell you, the fastest way to dial down a threat response isn't

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a thought, it's a breath.

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The long out breath activates the vagus nerve, it will drop the cortisol and physically

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signals your body to stand down.

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Breathe in through your nose for a count of four in two, three, four, hold at the top, out,

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two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

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That long exhale, that is your body's own off switch.

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To breathe out slowly through your mouth, feel your shoulders dropping, imagine the tension

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melting away.

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Let's do that once more, ready?

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Breathe in two, three, four, hold two, out, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

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Feel the muscles soften, you did that, you're breasted that and it has always been available

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to you.

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I wonder if you could now imagine that you're standing at the edge of a quiet harbor at

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dawn.

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The water completely still, like glass, the kind of still that only happens in the very

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early morning before the world wakes up and makes its demands.

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The air is cool and clean against the skin of your face, carrying with it just the faintest

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trace of salt.

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Beneath your feet, solid stone, old stone, the kind that has been there for centuries,

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holding people just like you.

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Through storms you'll never know about.

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It is utterly reliable, it is not going anywhere.

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You look out across the water in the distance, a single light blinks slowly on a small lighthouse,

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steady, unhurried, on and on and on.

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It is not alarmed, it is simply present, a quiet signal that says, "All is well here."

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A small rowing boat is morn at the jetty to your left, gently bobbing, tied safely, going

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nowhere.

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You sit down on the harbor wall and allow your legs to hang over the edge, not close enough

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to form, just close enough to feel the freedom of the open air beneath you.

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And you notice something, your breathing has slowed to match the rhythm of the water.

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The tiny, almost imperceptible rise and form of the harbor's surface, your chest and the

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water moving together.

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In this place there is nothing to song, nothing to prepare for.

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The harbor wall holds you, the stone is solid.

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Your water is calm and you are safe in this moment.

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As you rest in the stillness of the harbor, I want you to receive these words.

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Let them land not just in your mind, but in your body.

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In them in bright, bold letters, forming in the quiet space behind your eyes.

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Breathe them in, let them settle.

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I am safe in this moment.

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My body is not in danger, it is working hard to protect me and I am grateful.

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I release the tension of what has not yet happened.

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I am grounded, held and exactly where I need to be.

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This moment is enough and I am enough within it.

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I choose to come home to myself again and again.

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I am safe in this moment.

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Just float there now in the rhythm of the harbor, the slow blink of the lighthouse, the

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cool air, the stone beneath you, ancient and steady.

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You are not behind, you are not in danger.

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You are a human being doing the remarkable, quiet work of choosing peace in a world that

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really stops to offer it.

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That matters.

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You matter.

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Breathe and be here.

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And once more, let these words find their way in deeper, speak them in the quiet of your

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thoughts.

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I am safe in this moment.

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And in the harbor of stillness, here are your three daily tips for finding safety in the

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present moment.

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One, the five, four, three, two, one, ground.

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When anxiety pulls you into the future, bring yourself back through your senses.

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Name five things you can see, four that you can touch, three that you can hear, two that

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you can smell and one that you can taste.

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Two, the safety audit.

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Ask yourself this one question.

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Right now, in this exact second, am I actually safe?

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Not in and out, not tomorrow, but right now.

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For most of us in most moments, the honest answer is yes.

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And three, the anchor breath.

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Whenever you feel the pull of the future worry, place one hand on your chest and take a single,

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slow breath in for four and out for eight.

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One breath.

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That's all.

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It's your physiological reset that you can do anywhere.

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Now gently wiggle your fingers and toes, take a full breath in, fill your lungs and then

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as you breathe out, stretch out the muscles in your arms and legs and now open your eyes.

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You have just given yourself the greatest gift there is.

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10 minutes of choosing peace over fear.

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Don't let that go lightly.

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If this session helped you feel even a fraction safer in yourself today, please consider

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sharing it with one more person who needs to hear it.

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And if you have a moment, a review on Apple or Spotify helps this little harbour reach

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those who need it most.

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If you need more help, visit calminganxiety.fm, the anxiety circuit breaker course is there,

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five focused hypnotherapy sessions awaiting for you.

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Thank you my friend.

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Take care of yourself today, smile when you can and to your beautiful self.

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Be kind.

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