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Use the 4-7-8 breathing technique to calm your nervous system and release physical tension from your body.

Breathing Meditation

Science

English

This practice is specifically designed to help you when you feel overwhelmed with stress and anxiety. For these moments of distress, Tomek offers his support and guidance to lead you to a safer place where you can be yourself again. During intense stress we automaticaly switch into surival mode, and our instinct in this situation is to fight or flee, not to think rationally. Regain a sense of yourself by focusing on the breath in this supportive exercise. 

SOS Help For Stress & Anxiety

 Hello, if you are listening to this meditation, your body and mind are in distress. This may have been triggered by a situation, by a person, by a thought. It doesn't really matter. I'm here to assist you and take you to a safe place, from which once again you can be yourself. It is not uncommon to feel this way and acknowledging this state of distress is necessary if you wish to take actions to change this. Say to yourself, either out loud or in your head, I experience anxiety, I experience stress, I experience fear. Choose your own words and know it is okay to feel this way. I'm sure you have already tried to talk yourself out of this state. Use your intellect to justify the way you feel. Did it work? In my experience, it never does, as your ability to process information is greatly hindered by the stress hormones that circulate throughout your body right now. Your intellect operates from the place of survival and your objectives are to fight or to flee, not to think. Since your ability to control your thoughts and your physiology is limited, we will use one thing that you can control right now. That is your breath. Science shows that in the same way as certain breathing patterns represent certain emotional states, think of a sleeping baby breathing deeply. By breathing in a certain way, we'll send a signal to your body to switch from quote unquote the danger mode to so-called rest and digest mode. As you may have already realized, this cannot be done by simply talking to yourself. Okay, let us begin. Start this meditation in any position that allows you to breathe freely. Standing, sitting or lying down, whichever suits this moment. It is important that you breathe in as deeply as possible through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth, as if you're trying to blow a balloon. Don't be afraid to make some noise as you exhale. This is an emergency procedure and this is no time to be shy. This way of breathing is specifically designed to release sympathetic part of your nervous system that governs the stress response in your body that you feel right now. Put your right hand on your heart and the left hand on your belly. Breathe in on a count of four, hold your breath on the count of seven and exhale on the count of eight as I guide you. Be deeply aware of every phase of your breath. Ready? In, two, three, four, hold, two, three, four, five, six, seven and out, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. In, two, three, four, hold, two, three, four, five, six, seven and out, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. In, two, three, four, hold, two, three, four, five, six, seven and out, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. In, two, three, four, hold, two, three, four, five, six, seven and out, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Breathe normally. Put your hands down. You just send a signal to your body to relax. Now, your body needs some time to respond and in the next part, we will be carefully observing as this happens. Notice how does your body feel right now. Recognize which part of your body holds the most tension. Use your internal senses. You may feel something in your throat. Perhaps a tension in your chest. Some sensations in your belly. Perhaps you can sense it through your entire body. Let it be the way it is. As you engage your inner sensing, most likely your active mind will try to drag you back into thinking. That's normal. Every time this happens, calmly but firmly bring your attention back to the bodily sensations. I'll be here to remind you if this happens. As you get a better feel of the sensations in your body, try to give them a shape. An intensity. Perhaps those sensations are sharp on the edges. What color comes to mind when you connect with those sensations? Does it feel warm? Cold? Do those sensations change over time? Same pattern that you just did sent a signal and the changes that you observe right now are the response. Now, to support this, allow your breath to go through those sensations in your body. Breathe in into the part of your body that you feel the sensations the most and breathe out through the bottom of your feet as if you try to release and let go of all the tension. Continue this way of feeling and breathing for a moment as I hold the space for you here. You did well. By now, you should feel a difference between how you felt at the beginning of this meditation and how you feel now. I encourage you to practice the 4-7-8 breathing technique together with sensing your emotions in your body as often as you'll feel overwhelmed by strong emotions of anxiety and stress. The more you practice it, the more your body will recognize the pattern and the faster it will get back to the balance. That's it for now. Thank you very much for meditating with me. I wish you a peaceful day.