Even on the most beautiful and calm healing journey, anxiety can creep in. Especially in this crazy world we live in. The pace at which we are expected to reply, text, do our work, and live, is rather insane - further feeding our basic instincts towards being on alert or in danger. And those instincts are the ones that mostly trigger anxiety.
Anxiety is our body’s way of saying: “Hey, this is too much stress at once, I must be in danger.” When I started my healing path, anxiety kept me always on alert, like I was expecting the worst to happen at any moment. For myself being constantly anxious, was like having background noise that doesn’t go away. Thankfully, a big part of my healing journey was overcoming anxiety and staying grounded and focused on my healing path. For myself, the most effective way to calm my anxious mind was with the help of meditation.
How does Meditation help to calm anxiety?
Usually, meditation is associated with “emptying your mind”. This is a big misconception. Some meditations might revolve around that purpose, however for myself, meditation was the process where I gave my mind some breathing space to sort all of my anxious thoughts out.
Furthermore, it helped me understand that I don’t need to engage with every anxious thought I had, which was a big relief, and a good habit to adopt.
Meditations for calming your anxious mind:
Sometimes, you need a quick and easy way to calm yourself when it’s too much. And that’s okay, several techniques may support you when the anxiety is too much to bear. But you have to understand that, although the relief is genuine - if you don’t focus on retraining your mind back to a state of calmness by default, that relief won’t last. It will always be until the next intrusive thought comes along and you kick off the entire anxiety pattern all over - which builds up until it’s too much to bear.
Today I am sharing with you some of my favorite meditations that helped me calm my anxious mind in both emergencies and my daily healing practice:
Daily Healing Practice
If you are looking to incorporate meditation into your daily healing practice, that’s excellent news! And I have even better news - it takes a lot less time to incorporate meditation than you thought. Meditation is the most effective when you are consistent, so doing shorter meditations daily, vs one big one once a month is a lot more effective. Here are my favourite meditations for adding to your daily practice:
1. Morning/Evening Body Scan
One of the best ways to start or end my day is with a body scan meditation, and I usually set aside 3-10 minutes for it in the morning and evening (it all depends on how I feel, and how much time I have).
Once I wake up or am in my bed, I like to take the pillow aside, turn my palms towards the ceiling, spread my arms and legs slightly, and take a few minutes to notice my body.
With each breath, I pay attention first to my head, then to my neck, my arms, torso, hips, thighs, knees, and feet. Then I take three deep breaths and with each one of them, I focus on the thought: “I am peaceful and calm”.
If I feel especially anxious, restless, or had a stressful week I like to wear or keep close to my head a Natural Natural Blue Chalcedony Lotus Mala in bed. Blue Chalcedony is a deeply soothing and nourishing crystal that helps to soothe anger, fear, panic, stress, and anxiety.
2. Anchoring Yourself Meditation
When intrusive anxious thoughts keep taking your mind hostage, it’s very important to do daily check-ins and anchoring meditation. A good reminder to check in with yourself and do a short meditation is a crystal healing bracelet. I like to wear a Natural Black Onyx Wrap Bracelet for anchoring myself.
By wearing Black Onyx, it absorbs and dissolves negative energy, and offers support and self-discipline when making life changes. Its protective energy prodes deep towards the Root Chakra, allowing you to anchor yourself in the present moment.
I use this bracelet as a check-in, every time I notice it on my arm, I take a deep breath and simply notice myself for a couple of seconds.
When I feel my intrusive thoughts taking me to the land of “what ifs”, I hold the center stone of my bracelet with my palm, take 3-10 deep breaths, and before I inhale I repeat my mantra (out loud if I am alone, or within myself if I’m outside): “I am my inner anchor of strength and calmness”. This is an excellent way to incorporate small, but effective anchoring meditation each day, without feeling overwhelmed or pressed for time.
Quick and easy meditation to calm your anxious mind
If sometimes it feels like the anxiety is too much to bear, a short and quick calming breath meditation can help you get immediate relief. I wholeheartedly recommend doing the 4x4x4x4 calming breath meditation:
The 4x4x4x4 Calming Breath Meditation
One of the easiest ways to calm my anxious mind when I feel extremely overwhelmed has been the 4 by 4 by 4 method. It only takes a minute to do and gives your mind a chance to catch a breath amidst all the anxiety. If you have a piece of Amethyst around you or you are wearing out Natural Amethyst Wrap Bracelet, hold it as you do this meditation. Amethyst is an especially calming, soothing crystal that naturally eases anxiety. Here is how to do it:
- Close your eyes and visualize your thoughts floating around you.
- Hold the thought: “I am peaceful and serene.”
- Immediately after the thought, start inhaling and counting to 4.
- Then hold your breath as you count to 4.
- Then as you exhale, breathe out while counting to 4.
- Repeat this mini-meditation 4 times.
Happy healing!
