If you've been searching for how to let go of stress, you are in exactly the right place.
This is your 10 minute daily guided meditation to release stress from your body and quiet
a busy, doubting mind.
In the next 10 minutes, we'll use slow, calming breath, a gentle guided visualization
for stress relief and five grounding affirmations for stress and anxiety so that you can let
go of the stress and worry and feel calm return.
So wherever you are, settle in and let's begin to unwind together.
Welcome to calming anxiety.
I'm Martin Hewlett, a clinical hypnotherapist and former frontline paramedic and every single
day I share these short, free guided meditations for stress and anxiety relief because calm
should be something you can reach for every time you need it.
If this is helping, you'll find a deeper clinical hypnotherapy session at calming anxiety.fm
or why not, download my app and code.
It's got all of this and the catalog of 3000 shows.
Now find your quiet place to do.
Somewhere comfy where you could sit or lie down the choice is yours and if it's safe,
close your eyes.
We're going to use a simple calming breath to switch off the stress response, breathing
in for four, holding the two and then out through the mouth, slow the six.
It's that long slow out breath that matters the most.
Breathe in with me, breathe in two, three, four, hold two and out, two, three, four, five,
six, really focus on the sensations as you breathe out in and around your ribcage.
Sense of letting go of deep relaxation.
Let's do that again.
Ready?
Breathe in to three, four, pause, two, relax, two, three, four, five, six, in.
Two, three, four, hold two, out, two, three, four, let it all go, six.
And just drift now.
Maybe be aware of the weight of your body supported by the surface beneath you but with
every exhalation that the shoulders drop, let the muscles in your face smooth and in your
mind's eye imagine yourself standing in the wicker basket of hot air balloon resting
quietly on the ground.
All around the rim of the basket hang the small sandbags and each one is a weight that
you've been carrying.
The one is today's stress.
They swan a worry that keeps circling and this one, the doubt that whispers that you're
not doing enough, we're going to let them go one by one.
Reach down and take the first sandbag, the heaviest stress of your day and simply lift it over
the side.
Let it fall.
Feel how your shoulders rise a little higher as it goes.
Now the next, maybe a doubt that you've been holding in your mind over the side it goes.
With every sandbag you release the basket grows lighter and so do you.
Stress leaving your body, doubt leaving your mind.
As the very last weight falls away the balloon begins ever so gently to rise lifting you
up away from the noise into the cooler, clearer, quieter air, lighter in the body, clearer
in the mind.
This is how it feels to truly let go of the stress.
Let's anchor this calm now with five affirmations for when stress comes your way.
There's nothing to do but listen and gently repeat each one in your mind.
I am allowed to let go of stress that is not mine to carry.
With every slow breath I release tension from my body and doubt from my mind.
I am calm, I am capable and I can handle whatever this day brings.
I let go of what I cannot control and I find my peace in this moment.
Stress passes through me like weather and I remain calm, grounded and steady.
Let those settle and if your mind has wandered that's perfectly okay.
Gently float back to my voice and will let each one land once more.
I am allowed to let go of stress that is not mine to carry.
With every slow breath I release tension from my body and doubt from my mind.
I am calm, I am capable and I can handle whatever this day brings.
I let go of what I cannot control and I find my peace in this moment.
Stress passes through me like weather and I remain calm, grounded and steady.
Before we gently wake the body, here are your three daily caring tips, three small kind
things to help you let go of stress today.
One, name it to tame it.
When stress rises, quietly name what you are feeling.
This is stress, this is worry, putting a single word to the feeling tells your brain that
you are in charge of it and almost at once it begins to loosen its grip.
Two, the two minute reset.
Once today, set a timer for just two minutes and do nothing but breathe.
This same slow out breath we practice.
Two quiet minutes is enough to lower your stress and hand the rest of your day gently
back to you.
And three, lighten one load.
Choose just one sandbag to set down today.
One task, one worry, one should and either let it go or ask someone for help with it.
We do not have to carry everything at once.
Now gently bring yourself back, wiggle your fingers and your toes, roll your shoulders,
take a deep breath in, hold and as you breathe out stretch out the arms and when you are ready
softly open your eyes, carrying this lightness with you like a little coffee break for the
long.
If today helped you take this calm everywhere you go.
Download anchored the app your daily guided meditation.
It's got breathing tools, books at bed times all in one place and makes letting go of stress
a daily habit.
Thank you.
Let's reconnect tomorrow my friend for another ten minutes of daily guided meditation and
then remember in everything be kind.