The Open Field: Creating Mental Space (Part 3 of 5)

Welcome back. We started in the ice, frozen and still. We moved into the water, learning to flow. Now, the stream has deposited us on the banks of something new. Today is about expansion. It's about stepping out of the narrow channel of anxiety and into the wide open possibility of your life. Welcome to the field. Settle in since today is about taking up space. See if you can make your body just a little bit bigger. Drop your shoulders down. Unclench your hands. If you are lying down, let your feet flop open. Claim your space. Let's move into horizon breathing. Often, when we are stressed, our breath is narrow and shallow, trapped in the chest. Today, I want you to imagine your lungs and wings expanding outwards. Inhale deepening, meaning your root cage expand out to the sides. And exhale, letting everything soften back towards the centre. Inhale, imagining the breath, travelling all the way down to the edges of your body. And exhale, releasing the constriction. Continue this wide, expansive breathing. With every breath, you are creating room, room for new ideas, room for peace, room for you. Now scan your body for the tight corners. Anxiety loves to hide in small places between the eyebrows, between the knees, in the palms of your hands. Send your breath into these tight corners.

Imagine you are opening a window into a stuffing room, letting the fresh air blow through.

Imagine a gentle breeze at just the right temperature, brushing the skin on your face.

You are not confined by your stress. You are vast. You are open. In your mind's eye, you turn to that warm golden stream from our last session. Imagine the water on your ankles.

Now step out of the stream and onto the soft grassy bank. You lift your head and look forward.

One is the winter frost, gone is the grey sky. In front of you now is a limitless, open field.

The grass is a vibrant, spring green. It ripples gently in the breeze, like an ocean of emerald. Feel the softness beneath your feet, taking it all in, take it deep breath, imagine the freshness on the air and then as you exhale a genuine warmth of calm and acceptance of those through the very core of your soul. You walk into this field, noticing the wild flowers dotted through the grass that purples the yellows, the whites. The air smells like damp earth and sweet flowers. There are no walls here. There is no ceiling. Just a vast blue sky stretching forever. Imagine a perfect spot in the middle of this meadow and you walk there now, take a deep breath out and lie down in the grass. Feel the earth supporting you from beneath and look up at the sky. Feel how small your problems look when set against the endless blue horizon. As you lie here you are safe, you are held by the earth and in this moment repeat these affirmations with me. You can say them silently in your thoughts, always put them, imagining them, written in the sky above. I have space to grow. I welcome new possibilities. My future is wide open. I am ready for what comes next.

I breathe in the potential of this moment. I feel the freedom of the open field. Just allow these words, the sentiment to float down and fuse itself into the fabric of your song.

Feel the ground beneath you. Appreciate the sky above and then once more, imagine and repeat.

I have space to grow. I welcome new possibilities. My future is wide open. I am ready for what comes next.

I breathe in the potential of this moment. I feel the freedom of the open field. And now relax. Appreciating this gift of time from you to your song.

Before we finish today, here are my three caring tips for a happier life. Today they are about bringing this sense of space into your real world. One, create physical space, a cluttered environment often leads to a cluttered mind. Today, clear just one small area. Maybe it's your nightstand, your desk or even one drawer. Create a small open field in your home where your eyes can rest. Two, expand your vision. We spend so much time looking at screens, 12 inches from our face.

Today, go outside or look out a window and focus on the furthest point you can see. The horizon, a distant tree, a cloud, physically stretching your vision helps signal safety to your brain.

Three, plant a seed. Spring is about planting. Do one small thing today that is just for the future of you. Not at all, but a seed. Maybe read five pages of a book. Drink green smoothie or send a kind text. Plant your seed of positivity. Now slowly come back to your body. Wiggle your fingers and toes. Take a deep breath in and then on the out breath stretch out the muscles in your arms and legs. You have left the ice. You have flowed through the water and now you have found your space in the field. In our next episode we are going to look up because at the edge of this field there is a mountain and we are going to climb it together in the ascent. But for just now, breathe. Enjoy the space you've created and rest now. Thank you for being part of the calming anxiety. I'm your host Martin Eulip, clinical hypnotherapist and creator of all these shows. If you want to embrace mindfulness as part of your daily routine, why not subscribe? There's two thousand to choose from, so explore and enjoy and then in everything. Be kind.