I’m Exhausted From Holding It All Together — A 10-Minute Meditation for Anxiety & Overwhelm

You answered every message today. You showed up. You made sure everyone else was all right and somewhere in the middle of all of that. Nobody asked if you were. You look like you're coping, you are coping, but underneath that word coping, there's a person who is simply quietly exhausted. So for the next 10 minutes you don't have to hold anything together, not one thing. Let's put it all down together. This is calming anxiety.

I'm your host Martin, I'm a clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic. If today is one of those days when you're strong, the reliable one, the one who copes. Anchored's instant calm session is there the moment it all gets too much. It's always free, it's always there offline, no signing, just open it and breathe with me. Right now though, let's just be here. Let's start with something simple, the physiological side. Two short inhales through the nose followed by one long slow out breath through the mouth. It's the quickest way the body has of easing itself down a gear. There's nothing to force, nothing to fix, just this.

With me, breathe in through the nose and that's sip at the top. Now let it go long and slow, audible if you want, like a deep side that you take as you crawl into bed and settle down under the sheets. Ready, again with me, breathe in, and out, just let it go. Roll the shoulders back on the out breath. One more time with me, ready, in, breathe in, sharp sip and now out, always longer, always out through the mouth. Now let your breathing find its own rhythm. I'd like you to picture this just for a moment that everything you're holding onto today is stacked in boxes in your arms. The one on top is today's to-do list. Underneath that, the things someone said that you're still turning over, under that, tomorrow's problems, and the one after that, and someone else's feelings you've quietly taken on as your own. You've been carrying so many boxes for so long that you've almost forgotten your arms could be empty, suggest these few minutes, set one down, not all of them, just one, let it rest on the ground beside you. It isn't gone, it isn't forgotten, it's simply not in your arms right now. Set down another, maybe notice how much lighter that is, notice you're still standing, nothing fell apart. You can pick them back up later if you need to, but right now your arms can just rest. I have to hold everything together, that's what you've been telling yourself, but let's try a different sentence. I can put some of this down, go on, say it quietly if you'd like, even just in your mind. As a hypnotherapist, I've learned that the sentences we repeat quietly to ourselves are the ones that eventually become true. So let's give your mind some better ones to hold on to. So within this moment, in the beauty of your mind's eye, listen to these words, visualize them as I say them, and then repeat them. You don't have to believe them just yet, but do allow them to land. I do not have to carry everything right now.

I am allowed to rest before everything is finished.

[Music] Someone else is worried, does not automatically have to become mine. I can care about people without carrying them.

I can put some of this down. I do not have to learn my rest. I am allowed it simply because I am tired.

I have carried enough for today.

[Music] Now let those words settle for a moment. Again, you do not have to believe them completely just yet.

Just allow them to sit there quietly next to the boxes that you've put down.

And then once more, within the beauty of your consciousness, imagine and repeat.

I do not have to carry everything right now. I am allowed to rest before everything is finished.

[Music] Someone else is worried, does not automatically have to become mine. [Music] I can care about people without carrying them. [Music] I can put some of this down. [Music] I do not have to learn my rest. I am allowed it simply because I am tired.

[Music] I have carried enough for today. [Music] To take these thoughts with you, not just for the day, but the weeks, months and years ahead. Here are your three daily caring tips. One, notice one thing you're carrying today that was never actually yours to carry.

Two, give yourself 10 minutes today when you don't solve, organize or improve a single thing.

Three, next time someone asks you if you're okay. Try answering honestly, instead of saying, "I'm fine." Now gently, my friend. Bring your awareness back into the space around you.

Feel the chair, the bed, the surface beneath you. Safe, carrying you. Now breathe in through the nose, hold and as you breathe out, roll the shoulders and then stretch out the arms. And when you're ready, softly open your eyes. Years ago, I was always telling myself, "I'm a failure. I'm no good at anything."

And once I realized, I was self-destructing. I spoke to myself with kindness, with care. I may not get it right every day, but every day I speak with truth to who I am. I speak to myself as it's talking to my own children, with care, with compassion.

And it's let me become me. And that is the core ethos behind calming anxiety and anchored.

My one simple wish is that you and everyone else, wherever you are, whenever you hear this, let go of the negativity of your past. That's all this is for. Pure and simple. You don't have to hold everything together. You're allowed to put things down. You're allowed to rest. You're allowed to make mistakes. But you'll get back up again when you're ready, faster and with more focus than ever. If today is one of those heavy arms days, anchored is there, free, online, waiting whenever you need it.

Please, if you're on iOS, download it now. Maybe leave me a positive review. It's free. Although for the price of a large mocha, you get a month's worth of ad-free content, all the books at bedtime and everything else. Have a wonderful day. Smile, positivity when you can. Share your love for life with those around you. And then in everything. Be kind.