A 10-minute guided meditation for overthinking after conversations - Part 1 of 3 - Guided Meditation for Panic and Anxiety

Do you ever leave a conversation only to carry around for the rest of the day? Perhaps you replace something you said you remember a silence, a look, a change in someone's voice and your mind begins filling in the gaps. Did I sound foolish? Have I upset them?

Should I have said something different? If you're wondering how to stop replaying conversations, let these next few minutes be a little breathing space. You don't have to work out what everyone thinks of you before you can rest. Welcome to calming anxiety.

I'm Martin and this is the first of three sessions in when your mind won't stop. Today we're gently stepping away from overthinking after conversations and finding a kind of way to speak to ourselves. Each session stands on its own. There is nothing you need to catch up with, and nothing you need to get right.

Find somewhere comfy now, somewhere where you won't be disturbed for a moment either sitting or lying. And close your eyes if you wish. There is no breathing pattern to follow today. There is no counting and no need to take a particular deep breath.

Simply notice your breathing how it is. Feel the gentleness arrive with the in-breath. Then notice the moment the air begins to leave. As you breathe out, see whether your shoulders can settle a little more.

Let your jaw loosen. Allow the muscles around your eyes to soften. You don't need to push the breath away. Let the out breath finish in its own time and allow the next breath to arrive when it's ready.

And if watching your breathing feels uncomfortable, rest your attention on the feeling of your feet against the floor instead or how relaxed your hands have become. Perhaps that conversation is already appearing again. You haven't failed at relaxing. You're simply noticing where your attention is gone.

Try quietly naming it. I'm replaying a conversation. There is no need to follow the replay all the way through. Feel the support beneath your body once more.

Notice the out breath. Allow the shoulders to unwind a little further. Sometimes we return to a conversation because we care about people. We want to be understood.

We want to be considerate. It can feel difficult to leave an interaction without knowing exactly how it landed. But another person's silence can have many meanings. A brief reply doesn't give you their whole story.

You may not have enough information to know what they were thinking. You can allow that gap to remain a gap. But the next breath comes naturally. And as it leaves, soften any effort you can comfortably soften.

For now, feel the weight of your hands. Notice the temperature of the air against your skin. Listen to a sound somewhere around you. This is where you are now.

The memory may be blurred, but you are here listening with your body supported and another breath gently finding its way in. Allow yourself a little space between remembering something and judging it yourself.

I'll offer you now five affirmations. You can repeat each one quietly or simply listen. Let the words be an invitation. You don't have to force yourself to believe anything.

But imagine the words in your mind's eye as you hear them. And then imagine the echo, the shadow of them. Everything is place within your consciousness. I can let a conversation end without knowing exactly what everyone thought.

I am allowed to be human and imperfect when I speak.

I can learn from a moment and still treat myself with kindness.

I can take a useful step when needed and leave the replay behind for now.

I am bringing my attention back to the life in front of me.

And then breath and unwind just a little further if you can. Feel the in breath, release and relax on the out breath and learn to love all that you are letting go of the negative words and actions of others and empowering the new you, your new future. Relax deeply my friend. And then once more in the beauty of your mind's eye, visualise and repeat.

I can let a conversation end without knowing exactly what everyone thought.

I am allowed to be human and imperfect when I speak.

I can learn from a moment and still treat myself with kindness.

I can take a useful step when needed and leave the replay behind for now.

I am bringing my attention back to the life in front of me.

And now simply be drifting in this moment with a sense of self-worth, of courage and belief in all that you are. There may be still thoughts in the background. They don't need to be chased away. Each time you notice them, you can gently choose where to rest your attention next.

Before we finish, here are your three daily caring tips. 1. Separate what happened from what you are imagining. You might know that when someone gives a short answer, you may be guessing that they were annoyed with you.

Try asking what did I actually observe? 2. Ask whether there is one useful action to take. Perhaps a brief clarification would help.

Perhaps there is a lesson that you need to remember. 3. Turn to something concrete and ordinary. Feel your feet as you walk.

Notice the warmth of a mug. Listen carefully to the person who is with you now. Now begin to notice the room around you once more. Move your fingers and now your toes.

Take that deep breath in this time. Hold at the top for a moment and then as you breathe out, stretch out the arms, roll the shoulders and open your eyes whenever you feel ready. You don't need a final verdict on that conversation to continue your day. This has been how to stop replaying conversations, the first session in when your mind won't stop.

In the second session tomorrow, we'll explore how to stop overthinking the future and give those what if thought a little less of our attention. If you would like more support between episodes, anchored is my app for panic and anxiety with guided sessions and are free offline instant calm tool. There is a link in the show note to download it. If you like what I do, it's a way of saying thank you.

It helps support all I do. And if you'd like to turn off the adverts, it's only 5.99 a month or 49.99 for the year.

Thank you. Thanks for spending this time with me. Take good care of yourself my friend and I'll speak to you tomorrow and you speak to yourself with a little more care and understanding and then in everything. Be kind.