Untangle from Worry

(ocean waves) One of the best ways to relax the grip of a habitual pattern is to just simply see it more clearly so let's see if we can see the temptation of worry more clearly. Okay, find a comfortable seat, maybe cross-legged, maybe in a chair. Big deliberate inhale. Exhale everything. Do this again. Inhale.

Exhale everything. Soft belly. Soft jaw. Nice. Let the back of the heart soften. Find the upper palette open and be aware of the tender quality in your hands.

Now to help bring the awareness into the body we'll use the vehicle of the breath so bring your awareness into the left lung and really feel the movement of the breath here. Whole lung. Top, bottom, sides, middle. Yes. Move your awareness over to the right lung. Let the right lung help land you.

The yogi's sincere effort of study takes place in the body. Move your awareness back over to the left lung. As you're feeling the movement in the left lung, become aware of the location of your physical heart which sits central but snuggles into the left lung. Just underneath the mechanism of the lungs and the heart be aware of the diaphragm, this beautiful bowl-shaped muscle that attaches to the fifth rib. So we're using this inner landscape to help ground us, to hold us steady as we research.

So please now, with your eyes still closed, bring your awareness to one of your favorite places on the planet. Maybe it's a beach, maybe it's the mountains. Maybe it's a lake or a stream. Maybe it's somebody somewhere that only you know about but come here, be here in this place in your imagination, and feel how your breath responds. Yes.

Be aware of the quality of the breath, how your face feels, how your hands feel, how your throat feels. Like study. And if there's no change you might pick a different place. We're looking for a place that feels inspiring and enlivening and you can feel it for real. Okay, nice.

Relax this project. So this is a reference point. Come back into simply being aware of a more sort of unaffected breath. Now this next part you're dedicating your body to yogi science. So with your eyes closed now, please let your awareness, you mind, come to one of your favorite latest worries.

If the word worry doesn't have meaning for you maybe one of your latest fears. Or something you're trying to figure out but just let yourself come into this space. Worries tend to travel in packs. You might have one worry and others might be clamoring for space. Just go with it.

Yes. Now for real, like a good yogi scientist, as you're in this worry, please become aware of what's happened to your breath, the quality in your heart, your lungs, your face, your hands, your throat. Yes. Okay, awesome job. Relax that worry. Drop it.

Big, deliberate inhale. Exhale everything. Do that at least one or two more times. Big inhale. Exhale everything. If it's really intense in there then use the inspirational place like a chaser.

Come back to the inspirational place for a few moments and bring yourself back. Nice. Okay, awesome work yogi scientists. Relax the project. Eyes wide open.

This is the project. I'm not trying to tell you that you won't worry because don't worry you will for the rest of your life. But the yogi scientist starts to understand what she's really doing and she's able to make better choices. And to maybe worry just a little less. Love.