 and welcome to day 75 of the Mindfulness Challenge. I hope you're doing well and today is another good day, but I wanted to talk to a little bit about anxiety. And the reason I ask that question is, is that there's a lot of, I get a lot of emails and generally when people email me, there's like a wave, there's like a consistency and I've probably said this before, it's really interesting that when I wake up and obviously people watch this all over the world, wherever in the world you're watching today, I'm in the UK, but I see the first email and I can always guarantee then the next four or five emails are gonna have a very similar thread, okay? And what I talk about here is anxiety, but also sort of social anxiety. It is a lot of people who, we've been all told to stay in and lock down and we can't do this and we can't do that and these things are slightly lifting now and some people are feeling quite anxious about it and we know that some of the signs of feeling anxious really include sort of tension of muscles, shallow sort of rapid breathing, worried thoughts and in some instances, shaking and anxiety can really start to creep upon us, but the one thing that can really quash sort of anxiety or anxious or I used to have panic attacks, I've had two in my life and now I manage, I'm fine with it, I'm not one in, I don't know, eight years or something, but it's about calm breathing, it's about taking back control, it's about that deep breath. You know, having that ability to when you breathe out on that, taking that deep breath in, it's you gotta imagine you have the ability to blow out a really big candle, you know? And that's the key to it. So it's breathing through your nose, out through your mouth and just sort of really blowing that candle out in a way that, you know, you can exhale and release the air as you go forward. So breathing slowly and calmly to allow your body to get a lot of X oxygen into your body, so you don't start to hyperventilate or you don't start to, you know, have less oxygen in your muscles, which then sort of contracts and then this whole thing of, you know, of anxiety taking control, you know, is an interesting thing. And, you know, for me, when we go into these situations, when we're going back out and we can feel, you know, oh, I don't feel comfortable here. You know, we say those things to ourselves on times, or you know what, ooh, I don't like this. Just then just cycle a really deep breath and then come back to blowing the candle out again. And it's, it really may sound very basic, but these techniques absolutely fundamentally work. And how do I know? Because I've done them and they really did help me, you know, get through a lot of these things. So, you know, if you're feeling anxious or you're feeling anxiety coming, you can just say to yourself, I'm okay. I know this feeling will pass. No harm's gonna come to me. I'm safe. I feel okay. I know, you know, there's a lot of people around me, but I'm comfortable with it. You know, I'm just watch it and it's possible to again differentiate yourself into this place where you can just watch it as an observer and allow it to dissipate. So let's do a little bit of a meditation based around helping people who, you know, at the time may feel anxious. So I'm gonna pop a picture, as I always do. And, you know, I want us to just think about how we're gonna relax here. So get into that position where you can relax and just breathe, okay? And when you inhale, just think I'm becoming more and more calm. And when you exhale, think I'm feeling more relaxed. So when you inhale, you're calming. On your exhale, you're relaxing. Calm and relaxed. Just focusing on your breath. Breathing in and breathing out. Just feel your body, just relaxing. Breathing in, calm, breathing out, relaxation. Just feeling, breathing in and breathing out. And do it in a way that just you feel yourself becoming comfortable with the surroundings that are around you. And there's nothing else you need to do right now or where you need to be, except here. And relaxing and enjoying this time for yourself, enjoying this generalized anxiety, relaxation. You deserve this time and need this time to function at your best. This time of relaxation will allow you to be as calm and healthy as possible. And any anxiety will just dissipate with relaxation. And this is a very productive and healthy time. And you're looking after your health with this beautiful relaxation. And as you continue to breathe slowly and comfortably, turn your attention to your body and notice how you're feeling physically. Without trying to change anything, simply become aware of the sensations in your body. And all you need to do right now is just observe any anxiety or stress you may be feeling. And how you're feeling right now is okay. None of your physical sensations can cause for concern. Some of them may be unpleasant because they're signs of built up stress. But just notice how you're feeling. Noticing any signs of stress and tension you may have without trying to change anything. Scan your body, beginning at the top of your head and moving downward and turn your attention to your head, observe it, and moving your attention downward to the level of your eyes, your nose, your chin, down to your shoulders, noticing each area and observing how your body feels. And again, as I said, moving your attention downwards to help level your eyes and your nose and your chin and down to your shoulders, noticing each area, observing how your body feels. It's really important that we just check in with ourselves. Just focus on our breath and feel our sensations. But keep scanning, gradually moving down your body. How does your upper body feel? And take note of any of the areas of tension near in the center of your body or at the level of your stomach. How is this part of your body feeling? And keep observing your physical state, continue to scan your body, moving the focus of your attention downwards, reaching your hips, keep observing and moving your attention down. How does this part of your body feel? And notice any tension without trying to change anything, reaching your knees. How does this area of your body feel? Keep scanning it all the way down to your feet. And just take a moment to scan your whole body, noticing how your body feels as a whole and where's the tension. Focus intently on one area of tension. Can you feel any tension anywhere? And imagine the muscles here letting go of their hold, becoming loose, becoming relaxed, letting the tension go. Releasing the tension, breath by breath, moment by moment, bit by bit until this area completely relax. Feel the tension softening, feel the muscles as they loosen, they lengthen, they warm and relax as if they're just melting into relaxation. And notice where your body is most relaxed. How does relaxation feel there? Imagine that this relaxation is warm and tingly moving, growing, spreading to relax other parts of your body. And feel your body becoming more relaxed as the area of relaxation grows and you continually move away from many stress or anxiety. Imagine that the air that you're breathing in now is pure relaxation. Imagine the oxygen you breathe in is a relaxation. And carbon dioxide as you breathe out is tension. And this air exchange is an efficient relaxation system, feeling the relaxation as you take it in through your nose and relax your body add into the area of relaxation you already have and expel your body's tension, breathing it out through your mouth. And continue to exchange tension with relaxation and continue to move away from anxiety during this exercise. And feel the relaxed area you had just a few moments ago getting bigger as you breathe more and more relaxation into your body, breathing out tension and feeling the tension get smaller. Breathe in relaxation and breathe out tension. Each breath adds to the relaxation. A further breath of more relaxation every time you breathe in and removes tension. Keep breathing in and breathing out. And soon all of the areas of tension in your body now are very small, your breathing can eliminate them entirely. Imagine breathing out any last bits of tension in your body. You're feeling so calm, so relaxed. Breathing in relaxation and now breathing out relaxation. Breathe in relaxed, breathe out relaxed. And keep breathing smoothly and regularly relaxing more and more with each breath. And as you realize this anxiety relaxation scan, notice how your body feels now. Notice and imagine that your body is made of caramel or chocolate or some other solid that can be melted right now. Your body is like a hard piece of caramel. But imagine a feeling of warmth starting in your hands and your feet that starts to soften the caramel that is made of your body. And soon your hands and feet are soft, getting softer and more liquid. This warmth spreads throughout your body from your hands up to your arms. And feel your arms melting softly. It's a very pleasant feeling and relaxing. And feel the warmth as it continues up from your feet up your legs and notice your legs softening as they're melting completely in this relaxed state. Feel the core of your body as the warmth coming from your arms and legs meet your stomach. Feel your core relaxing and melting. And just imagine now that your body is very soft like caramel that is melted on a hot sunny day. Simply rest, enjoy in the relaxation, may even feel floating, completely relaxed. Now focus on your thoughts. Notice your calm thoughts, enjoying this relaxation, enjoying this beautiful exercise. And see how you can focus your thinking of a state of complete calm by meditating on a single word. Meditate now on the word relax by mentally saying relax each time you breathe in and each time you breathe out. Breathing in and breathing out. And continue breathing saying the word relax and just keep going and going. It's normal for your thoughts to come in here and maybe wonder, but just come back to that word relax, breathing in and breathing out. And simply allow your mind to drift. You don't need to focus on anything, just rest and relax. Enjoying this pleasant calm feeling, this feeling of calm that you have right now can stay with you even after your fully awakened alert. You can keep with your feeling of calm and confidence and your muscles can remain relaxed. You can feel as you go about your activities of your day. In fact, the next time you start to feel anxious, you might even remember this moment of relaxation and find that anxiety by breathing just goes straight away. You may even keep a relaxed feeling with you as you encounter stressful situations. Imagine the confidence and composure you have as you face stressors while still feeling calm. Take another deep breath in, breathing in relaxation and breathing out, emptying your lungs completely. Keep breathing smoothly and calmly and you can breathe like this anytime. Draw it in relaxation and breathing out tension. Every day, your breathing can relax you, making you strong and resilient, able to cope with the stresses that come our way. Now it's the time to finish this beautiful meditation. Your energy can increase until you fully awake, alert and energetic, but take a moment just to wake up your body and your mind so you can return to normal activities and just take a deep breath in and as you start to come back around, you say to yourself, I'm ready for the day. With your fingers open your eyes and come back into the room. It's a beautiful meditation. It's quite a long one, it's quite repetitive, but we want to get your mind conditioned into those words relaxation and calm, breathing in relaxation, breathing out calm. Boom, boom, boom. It just brings you down. Your body has the ability to slow everything down and that's an amazing feeling. I hope you enjoyed day 75, day 76 tomorrow, guys. Thank you for following me. If you can leave some comments, of course, please share, importantly, subscribe and click the bell button because then you get notifications to tell you when the next video comes on. I really do appreciate the time we've spent together and we've got 24 of these to go, but it's been a pleasure. Good morning, Julian, I love you. Good morning, Julian, I love you. Be loving, give love, and I shall see you tomorrow. Take care, have a lovely day, bye-bye.