Alison

Ammanford, United Kingdom

Ground yourself through your senses and find the strength to navigate difficult moments with compassion.

Science

Stress & Anxiety

Psychology

Anxiety

Self-Compassion

Visualization

English

This guided meditation was designed to talk you through a tough moment. Use it anywhere and anytime you're needing a few minutes of support and grounding--whether you're in a doctor's office, at home, preparing for a meeting, or scary phone call...anytime you're feeling anxious (as long as you're not operating a motor vehicle). This meditation briefly mentions breathing tips but does not focus on the breath. 
Background music: Autumn Sky, composed and performed by Liam Wilkinson  

Meditation For Tough Moments

 A meditation for tough moments. You're human, I'm human. We all have times that are really hard. Sometimes when it's tough to get going, to do the things we know we need or want to do. So first, try to have a little compassion for yourself. And give yourself some credit for just even deciding to listen to this. That's a big step. So there's no way to make a tough thing magically easy, right? But we can find ways to do it and to get through it. So first, let's kind of reconnect with where we are. Take a look around you, maybe there's things you can see. You might count the colors that you can see. Or name items around you. You might decide to focus on things you can hear. Just paying attention to my voice, to the music, whatever else you can hear. Or you might find it helpful to notice what you can touch. Noticing texture, like smooth or rough, soft or hard. Noticing temperature. You might find it helpful to move a little bit. So just gently wiggling whatever feels good to wiggle. Maybe it's fingers and toes or shoulders, eyebrows, torso. Sometimes a little movement helps remind us that we can move. That we're not stuck, even when we feel like it. This gentle movement. Noticing what's around you. Gentle movement. You might even notice the rise and fall of your torso, of your belly. You don't have to pay attention to your breath if you don't want to. Just know that that rise and fall is proof that you are breathing, even when you don't feel like you can. If you do choose to focus on your breath, watch your exhale, making it as smooth and long as you can. And look, you've already made it through. Many minutes that you might not have thought you could. You're still here. Maybe remind yourself why you wanted to do this tough thing in the first place, or why it's important that you get through it. Is it for somebody? Is it for yourself? Maybe it's that getting through this gets you closer to being the kind of person you want to be in the world, or helping someone else in some way. You've made it through a lot of other hard things in your life. In fact, you've survived 100% of the situations you've faced so far. That's a pretty good record. Can you make it through 30 more seconds? You're almost there. And you just did. Thirty more seconds than you did before. I know this is tough. I'm guessing it might be something scary, or something bringing up a lot of anxiety, or worry, or fear. It's remembering why you're doing it in the first place. It's okay to feel scared. You can have fear right there in the passenger seat with you. Fear might be getting kind of loud the closer you get to doing the thing that you want to do. Fear might be talking a lot, telling scary stories about what could happen, or things that have happened. Just remembering that you get to decide. You're in the driver's seat. Fear and anxiety can give you a lot of input and suggestions. Ultimately, you get to decide where you're going. Just knowing that they will get a little loud, and that you have to be willing to let them say their peace and feel uncomfortable. If you want to move towards the thing that's really important to you. If it's not important, you don't have to bother doing it. But if it is important, and I'm guessing it is, because you've made it this far, see if you can keep driving. Focusing on your body, your senses, your purpose, your success in getting through all of these minutes already. Look at you go. And if you end up pausing for a while, that's okay too. But do what you can, and make a deal with yourself to come back to it, if it is important. Over time, the scary thing might get easier the more you do it. But if it's the first time, it will be scary, and it's part of being human. But I believe in you. You've gotten this far. Congratulate yourself. Just have to repeat 30 seconds as many times as needed. Taking breaks when you need it. Coming back to your senses when you need some grounding. And giving yourself credit for all the hard work you're doing. Take good care of your sweet self. You got this.