Change Therapy – Ways to cope with anxiety during and after COVID-19

7 – Mindfulness Meditation

Thinking back to what we have managed to do in such a short space of time, I would like to talk you through a short mindfulness meditation to help you sleep/rest, as your body adjusts to the changes in your new routine of waking at dawn. Going to bed at a time earlier than you are used to can be a challenge, however you will start to feel the benefits soon, and of top of this, your anxiety level will reduce too. If you follow this post to the end, you will discover a strategy that you can use to really calm and balance your life experience.

Your mind may not be ready to go to sleep at an early time, but your body will! If you have trouble sleeping, practice the finger and toe stretches while lying in your bed. After each exercise, remember to breath slowly, inhaling and exhaling until you feel your body relaxing and allow yourself time to remember what you have achieved today. Relax and breath, being aware of your body and its need to rest.

To help further, I recommend Mindfulness Meditation, which is a way of constantly bringing attention to our internal experience, and focusing on things like the sensation of breathing; the way the inside of the body feels; and/or noticing thoughts, impressions, sensations, emotions, perceptions and feelings, as fleeting as they may be, as they register on your mind.

Mindfulness is the awareness of “some-thing,” while meditation is the awareness of “no-thing.”

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Try this: –

While lying in your bed, read this Instruction out loud to yourself once, then try to picture the story as you read it the second time.

Imagine there is a large red rose that grows in a pot outside your home.

It needs watered to grow and stay healthy. You pick up a watering can and pour water into the pot, watching the water being soaked into the soil.

Still visualizing this while breathing in for 3 seconds, hold for 3 seconds and exhale for 3 seconds and repeat once more, before visualizing that …..the water is feeding the energy into the roots of this red rose……

the water goes from the roots into the stalk and through the branches to the leaves and flowers….

the energy flows, like the energy surrounding your body now, as you breath in the positive energy and breath out the negative energy….3 seconds in, hold for 3 seconds and exhale for 3 seconds….

The red rose trembles so slightly as if to thank you for giving it life…and breath in and out once more, and relax still picturing the red rose in the pot, reaching out into the world ….

and relax…sleep and be happy that your rose is healthy, like you now feel and breath in for 3 seconds, hold for 3 seconds and exhale for 3 seconds….

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I hope that you have enjoyed this short series of articles, and you will return in the near future for more strategies. These articles are original and created by me, and if anyone wants to use them for their media or sharing, please get in touch. If you would like individual help, please get in contact with me, Steve – https://changetherapy.org.uk/