Why Do I Feel Worse When I Finally Stop — A 10-Minute Meditation for Anxiety When You Rest

You got through it, the week, the deadline, the thing you were dreading, you held it together the entire way and you did it well and nobody watching would have guessed how much it cost you. And then you sat down and it all arrived, the dread with no subject, the heart going for no reason. The strange hollow wrong feeling that has waited until the exact moment you were finally allowed to feel good. And now you're sitting there on your own safer thinking, what's wrong with me?

Everyone else looks forward to stopping. Why does stopping make you feel worse? My friend, nothing is wrong with you. And by the end of these ten minutes, I'd like you to actually believe that.

This is calming anxiety, I'm your host Martin, clinical hypnotherapist and for many years before that, a paramedic. Today's episode is sponsored by Anchored, my own app. And there's one thing in Anchored I want to mention today because it's the thing that matters for people like us. You choose the session length, three, five, twenty minutes, whatever you can tolerate.

Because if stillness is the thing that sets you off, being told to sit quietly for half an hour isn't kindness, it's a dare. Three minutes that you've finished will do far more for you than twenty and then abandon it. That's Ankit, there's a link in the show note. Now.

While you were busy, your body was running on something useful, adrenaline, purpose, the next thing on the list. And a nervous system in that state doesn't feel anxiety, it feels focused. Anxiety needs a gap to appear in. So when you stop, when the last thing is done and there's suddenly nothing between you and yourself, everything that you've been out running all week, catches up.

And one go, it isn't new anxiety, it's the anxiety that's always there arriving in the first quiet moment it could find. To find that moment of calm today, we'll use alternate nostril breathing. Think of it as something to do. The science in one line, the deliberate switching gives the thinking part of the brain a small harmless job.

It helps slow down the nervous system. So take your right hand, rest your thumb gently against the right nostril and your ring finger near the left. Elbow down, shoulders soft. No need to hold it like a statue.

Close the right nostril with your thumb. Breathe in for the left, two, three, four. Now swap and release the right and breathe out and relax. Good.

Let's do this again. Breathe in through the right, two, three, four and out through the left, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Let's see if we can do this. We'll see if we can do this again.

We'll see if we can do this again. We'll see if we can do this again. We'll see if we can do this again. We'll see if we can do this again.

We'll see if we can do this again. We'll see if we can do this again. We'll see if we can do this again. We'll see if we can do this again.

We'll see if we can do this again. We'll see if we can do this again. We'll see if we can do this again. We'll see if we can do this again.

We'll see if we can do this again. We'll see if we can do this again. We'll see if we can do this again. We'll see if we can do this again.

Five, six, seven. In through the right, two, three, four. Out through the left, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

Just relax a bit. One more time, round three. Ready? With me, in through the right, two, three, four.

Out through the left, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

In through the left, two, three, four. Out through the right, two, three, four. Out through the right, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Now let the hand come down to your lap.

Breathe in normally. And notice you've just been still. And you are all right. Not because you emptied your mind.

Because you gave it somewhere gentle to stand. Now let a warm, golden light gather around the top of your head. And begin to move down through you. Slow, unhurried, like honey of a spoon.

And as the warmth spreads through your thoughts and mind, say these quietly with me. This is not a relapse. This is simply the bill arriving. I am allowed to feel anxious on my day off.

Rest is safe, even when it doesn't feel safe just yet.

I do not have to earn the right to sit down.

My nervous system is not disobeying me. It is catching up with me.

I can be still without being in danger.

I do not have to relax perfectly. I only have to stay. I am safe. I am here. There is nothing to fear right now.

I am safe. I am here. There is nothing to fear right now.

Now simply just be. Feel your breathing with your mind. The almost hypnotic rhythm of the rise and form of every breath. With every exhalation, just melt, floating down, further and further.

So the within this space, within this newfound connection for mind, body and soul.

Here are your three daily caring tips. One, do not go from full speed to complete stillness. Give yourself a slow lane in between, like a short walk or washing up before you sit down. Two, when the dread arrives on your evening off, say out loud, this is the catch-up, not a crisis.

Naming it takes most of the power away. Three, choose one small ordinary thing today that you do purely because you want to. And refuse to justify it to anyone, including yourself. Now slowly, gently.

Bring your focus back into the space around you. Feel your weight against the surface underneath. Take a deep breath in. Hold at the top and then as you breathe out, roll the shoulders, stretch out the arms. Wiggle the fingers and toes. And in your own time.

Just open your eyes. Thank you. Here's what I'd like you to take with you today. The crash you feel when you finally stop isn't your body failing you.

It's your body trusting you enough to let go now that it's safe. This is not weakness. That is, in its own strange way, to kind of homecoming. If you'd like more of this, Anchored is there in the App Store, Android soon?

It's there for every moment. Even if you prefer your audio on Spotify or Apple podcasts, but you want to support the show, please download it.

It means everything to me. It takes you 30 seconds. And if you do like it, please leave it a review. That helps more people find their moment of calm. Thank you, my friend.

Now take care of your beautiful soul. Smile often. Positive thoughts whenever you can. And then in everything you do.

Be kind.