So…Does this ever happen to you?

You are asleep in bed, your morning alarm sounds, you turn it off, and then pow! Anxiety sets in….

You then feel your body immediately tense up and your

Heart starts to race

Jaw tightens

Breath becomes shallow

& you start to sweat…..

And your mind is now going a mile a minute…thoughts, more thoughts, more thoughts…hitting the ground running with thoughts beginning your 60K + thoughts per day right away. And I will bet that many if not all of those thoughts aren’t happy thoughts but instead, full of worry, “I have to’s”, and “why’s”….why am I so tired, why do I have to get up, why do I have to do that”….lists….

So what do you do next?

Maybe you reach for your phone and start scrolling through your emails, texts, answering emails and texts….social media…that all creates more thoughts! …more tension…and so on…

And you don’t want to get up…but you do.. and you start racing around getting ready for your day …starting off full of tension, your thought bubble above your head isn’t big enough for all of those thoughts that are then pouring out all over the place….may be you grab a caffeinated beverage if you are waking up tired which only enhances how you are feeling and begin your day with overall feeling unsettled and jittery.

Now imagine this instead:

Your alarm sounds…you turn off your alarm…you get out of bed feeling calm, grounded, focused and ready for your day!

Sound amazing? Yes! And now you may be wondering,  “I want that and how do I get that?”

Let’s roll back the tape…..

You are asleep in bed, your alarm sounds, you turn it off, and then you sense the anxiety setting in..

You feel your body immediately tense up

Heart starts to race

Jaw tightens

Breath becomes shallow

And your mind is going a mile a minute

But instead of checking your emails, texts, social media…or instead of getting right up, you stay in bed….yes ….doctor’s orders.. I am ordering you to stay in bed (well just for a few minutes more)…why? So you can reset your hijacked nervous system and mind from your cranked up stress response

What now?

Here’s the thing…You can’t think and feel at the same time…you are not wired that way

So to get out of your thinking mind…you intentionally draw your attention to your body—and all 5 senses. When you are back in your body, your mind calms down, has space, and you can actually think clearly….

If it feels comfortable, roll over prone ,may be onto a pillow, kneel and fold forward (in yoga it is called child’s pose)– otherwise stay supine

Eyes soft (or closed but don’t fall back asleep…!)

Take a few cleansing breaths by slowly breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth and sink into the support beneath you with each exhale

Now sense:

The parts of your body that are supported by the bed – noticing what parts of your body you feel touching the surface beneath you

The parts of your body that are touching your clothing, sheets, pillow, blanket

The temperature on your skin that is not covered….the temperature on your skin that is covered…

The sensation of the air coming in and out of your body….temperature of the air entering and leaving your nose and mouth,  parts of your body that gently move with each breath, length and volume of each breath…compare inhale to exhale….

And notice if you feel your abdomen moving with your breath and if not…invite your breath deeper into your abdomen

Listen to sounds…your own breath, in the room, outside the room…

Notice smells…taste…

All of your senses open…

And just settle…

As you come back into your body become reembodied,  your stress response will decrease, your relaxation response will increase and your nervous system will be balanced…you will feel balanced..

When you are ready, you can slowly step out of bed and then stand for a few moments….

Sensing the floor beneath your feet…and your breath in your body…

You can say out loud or to yourself “I feel calm” 3-5x 

Feeling calm, grounded, focused and ready for whatever your day will bring!

So that’s it! My doctor’s orders for how to relieve your morning jitters! It works for me each and every morning and it works for so many of my clients as well and I hope you find it helpful too!