I Feel Dizzy and I’m Scared — A 10-Minute Meditation for Anxiety Dizziness & Lightheadedness

Maybe you're standing in a supermarket aisle or halfway up the stairs or sitting still doing nothing at all and the floor seems to tilt. There's a lightness behind your eyes, a swimming far away feeling, like you stood up too quickly without actually standing up at all. The edges of the room go soft, your legs feel like they belong to someone else. And the thought arrives before you can stop it.

Something is wrong with me. My friend, I want to tell you something gently and I want you to hear it properly. That feeling can have a reason and it may not be the reason you're afraid of. Today we're going to sit with the dizziness, we're going to understand one of the ways anxiety can create that strange light-headed feeling.

And then we're going to breathe in the one particular way that can help settle it. Hi there, I'm Martin, this is calming anxiety. I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and before that for many years a paramedic. I've knelt beside a great many people who were absolutely certain they were about to collapse.

And very often, once we'd sat them down and slowed their breathing, the fear began to settle. Today's episode is sponsored by Anchored The reason I mention it today is that dizziness doesn't have the courtesy to wait until you get home. If that happens in a supermarket, on a platform, halfway on the way to work. Anchored is there for you.

Offline load it once, it's there, no bars, no buffering, no spinning wheel, it will always work. Now find your quiet place, sitting or lying. Today we breathe in for four, holding for four, and then out long and slow for eight, in through the nose and out through the mouth. Breathe in two, three, four, hold two, three, four, release two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

Allow the muscles to go soft with every out breath. For shoulders to lower just a little. And once more, ready? Breathe in two, three, four, hold two, three, four, relax two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, breathe in two, three, four, hold two, three, four, relax two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.

Relax now, ever deeper. And the next time notice the floor or the bed beneath you. Relax your body into the surface that holds you up as you breathe out. In two, three, four, hold two, three, four, release two, three, four, five.

Six, seven, eight. Let your breath go back to its own rhythm now. Notice that you're still here. You're still upright, still within this moment.

Now allow a warm golden light to gather at the top of your head. Remember, slow, heavy in the way that sunlight on your face is heavy. And let it move down behind your eyes where the swimming feels softening it, filling it.

Say these words with me then, in your own mind silently or under your breath. Visualize them in your thoughts. I am safe in this moment. I am here.

I can allow this feeling to pass. Anxiety can make my body feel strange, but I do not have to be frightened of the feeling itself. My breathing can make me feel light-headed.

I can slow it down. I do not need to take bigger breaths. I need quieter, slower breath. Now relax.

Feel that sense of unwinding, of true release, the mind and body with every out breath. Sink within it. Your body is not betraying you. It is there to protect you, sometimes a little too enthusiastically.

Relax now. Deeper and deeper and deeper. Further and further, your consciousness floating down. And then once more, within the beauty of your imagination, imagine these words and repeat.

I am safe in this moment. I am here. I can allow this feeling to pass. My breathing can make me feel light-headed.

I can slow it down. I do not need to take bigger breaths. I need quieter, slower breaths. My body is not betraying me.

My body is trying to protect me, sometimes a little too enthusiastically.

I have felt this before and I have got through it before.

Now just drift. Enjoying the moment, loving all that you are. And give you the strength and understanding, the clarity. Here are three daily caring tips.

One, when the light-headed feeling starts, sit down if you can and put both feet flat on the floor. Don't fight to stay upright. Lower yourself safely and give your body a moment to settle. Two, check the basics today.

Water, food, sleep and caffeine. Sometimes the simplest things can make an already anxious nervous system much more reactive. Three, once today, for one single minute, breathe out for longer than you breathe in. You are teaching your body on a calm day that it does not need all that extra air.

Now let us come back. Not to wiggle your fingers and your toes. Feel the chair or the bed or the floor holding you up beneath you. Roll your shoulders once.

Take a breath in, hold and as you breathe out, stretch out the arms overhead. And when you are ready, open your eyes. Today I recorded this because I sat through a moment of anxiety, of tingly fingers and that feeling on your lips which is just like electricity. And I breathed.

I controlled my panic attack and I hoped that you can too. Right, you are here, you are grounded, you know a little bit more about your body than that has been trying to tell you. If today helped, please do download Anchored. It is on iOS, there is a link in the show notes and it is coming to Android next month.

If you try it, please leave it a review. Thank you. Have a lovely day my friend. Smile often, positive thoughts when you can and then to your beautiful soul.

Be kind.