How to Be Kind to Yourself | Guided Meditation for Anxiety

If you feel like you're constantly your own toughest critic, today is for you. We're exploring how to be kind to yourself. It's through a guided meditation, anxiety. It's time to stop being hard on yourself and start building a supported inner voice.

Let's begin this daily meditation, anxiety, by simply acknowledging that you really are doing your best with the tools you have right now. Welcome back. This is calming anxiety. I'm Martin, a clinical hypnotherapist, a former paramedic, and a recoverer of childhood PTSD.

If you want to dive into these practices deeper, come over to calmingangzity.fm and try out the anxiety break course. Today, we learn how to be kind to ourselves. We first have to quiet the survival brain. We'll use box breathing today to steady the heart.

So find your quiet place, somewhere comfy, to sit or lie down where you won't be disturbed.

And if it's safe, close your eyes. We'll breathe in through the nose for four, hold for four, exhale through the mouth for four, and then hold empty and still. We'll repeat the round three times as you hold the breath, feel the stillness. This is the first step in learning to stop being hard on yourself.

Simply, you are going to give your body permission to just be. So ready, ready for the in breathe? Here we go, in two three four, hold two three four, exhale, two three four, hold on empty three four, in two three four, hold two three four, exhale, two three four, hold on empty three four, in two three four, hold in the stillness three four, exhale two three four, hold relax and wind and form. Now just let your breathing find its own rhythm again and just relax easy to say simple to do when you focus and connect with the sensations of the out breath.

You give yourself a superpower, a technique you can use wherever you are whenever you need and in the beauty of your thoughts. Simply see these words as you breathe out. I am in control. Try that now, just breathe in, pause for a moment.

I am in control. Now next time, repeated but with a smile on your face, no matter how low you are feeling today, just try it, trust me. Deeper and deeper, you allow your thoughts to settle, to fall back in love with who you are. You are the most important person in your world and you deserve to care for who you are, who you have been and who you are becoming.

Relax now my friend. Now let's move into our guided meditation for anxiety. I'd like you to visualize a warm, golden light surrounding you like a soft blanket, an aura of love. This light represents total acceptance.

There are no expectations here. No sheds, no kuts. Just balance, a softness within a monologue of your thoughts. With every rise and form of your chest, that warm, golden light radiates, intensifies your mind, cocooning you in self-worth and kindness.

As you allow yourself to settle even deeper, visualize these affirmations internally, repeating them in your thoughts to help you stop being hard on yourself. I choose to be kind to myself today.

I release the need for perfection. I am worthy of peace exactly as I am.

I am my own safe harbour. And still deeper, more at peace, more in tune with all that you are, forgiving the mistakes of your past, taking with you only the knowledge gained. Unwined, truly allow yourself to heal. And then once more, within the beauty of your mind's eye, see these words bright, powerful, repeat them either in your thoughts or out loud.

I choose to be kind to myself today.

I release the need for perfection. I am worthy of peace exactly as I am.

I am my own safe harbour.

Feel that golden light absorbing the sharp edges of your self-criticism. You are learning a new way to relate to your mind. You are learning a new way of thinking, of feeling and reacting.

And within this moment of calm, of balance and acceptance, here are your three daily caring tips. One, the best friend check. When you catch yourself being self-critical, pause and ask, is this how I would talk to a friend? If not, pivot to a kinder thought.

Two, release the shits. Removing the word "shirt" from your vocabulary for 24 hours, replace it with "I choose to fall" is okay if I don't. And three, physical softening. Three times today, check your jaw and shoulders, soften them.

Being kind to your body is the foundation for being kind to your mind. Thank you. Now wiggle your fingers and toes and gently bring your awareness back into the room. Take a deep breath in and on the out breath stretch out the muscles in your arms and legs.

Now open your eyes. Thanks for joining me for this guided meditation, anxiety. If you are ready to break the cycle of stress for good, why not subscribe, make mindfulness part of your daily routine. It's not a miracle cure, but for someone like myself, daily practice has allowed me to live my best life, to be who I've always wanted to be.

Yes, I still have my down days, I still make mistakes. But I love who I am, for who I am. And I hope that you can too. Take care my friend, truly.

And smile often, positivity especially at your reflection and then in every thought would indeed be kind.