Overwhelm tightness in the chest

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<Silence>.

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Welcome to this meditation for overwhelm,

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stress, and tightness in the chest.

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Let's begin by finding acomfortable seated position

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with your feet flat on thefloor and your hands gently

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placed in your lap.

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If you're lying down,straighten your spine,

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uncross your feet,

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and lie with your arms besideyou or gently placed on your

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belly.

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Often when we feeloverwhelmed and stressed,

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taking time for ourselves isthe last thing we prioritize.

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Even though we know we need it the most,

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we are quick to come up with excusesand reasons why we don't have

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the time or why we shouldbe doing something else,

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and sometimes we even get socaught up in the stress that

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it feels like we almost don'tknow how or even want to

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escape it.

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I want you to know that ifyou are feeling these things,

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that I too feel thisway. From time to time,

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I have begun to learn thatthis feeling in my chest is a

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message,

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a message from my body kindlypulling me back, inwards,

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kindly reminding me tofocus on what's important,

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kindly reminding me topause, to go slower,

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to be more, and to do less.

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I want you to take amoment to thank yourself,

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to thank yourself for showing uphere, for putting yourself first,

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and putting your health first.

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If you haven't already,

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I want you to close youreyes and let's begin by

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tuning into your breath.

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Often when we are overwhelmedand we feel tight in our chest,

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our breath becomes more shallow.

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We don't fully expand or relax our lungs.

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Start by simply noticing your breath,

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not trying to change it,

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just it here and now.

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Notice where you feel the breath.

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Do you feel it as the airpasses through your nose,

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or is it in the rise of your chestor the falling of your belly?

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Go ahead and take a big, long, slow,

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deep breath into the count of

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4, 2, 3, 4.

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Hold for two, and slowlyexhale to the counter.

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4, 2, 3, 4.

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Every time you breathe in,

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imagine expanding yourlungs and making room for

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all the tension and all thesensations in your chest.

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Then on the exhale, let it all go.

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Let the tension leave yourbody through your breath.

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Again,

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slowly inhale to the counter for expanding

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and making room for the tension,making room for the overwhelm.

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Hold for two and exhalefor a count of four

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releasing and letting it all go.

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Repeat this a few more times on your own.

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If you notice your mind wandering,

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thinking about what you should orcould be doing or what's on your

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to-do list, don't fight it.

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Simply notice it and thenreturn to your breath.

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Counting the inhale andcounting the exhale.

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Now I want you to visualize a boxbeside you or in front of you.

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This box has been especiallydesigned for you in the way that you

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like.

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It's made out of your favoritematerial and it has your name on it.

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You reach over to seewhat's inside the box,

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and as you open it, yourealize the box is empty.

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Aside from a small note,

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you pick up the note and it reads.

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This box is your special magic box.

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It is here to help youoffload all your stress and

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restore your energy.

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You pop the note down andsit down beside the box,

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beginning to think about allthe stresses in your life,

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all the pressures,

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all the expectations,

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all the deadlines,

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and all the to-do lists

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one by one. You pull thesethings out of your body,

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Out of your mind,

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and you place them in your box.

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You know that your box will keep themsafe so that you don't have to carry the

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load bit by bit.

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You continue to place all thethings you've been worried about

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into the box.

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After a while,

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you notice the box beamsa bright yellow light

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that now travels directlyfrom your body into the

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box.

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You notice the box is now pullingall the overwhelm and stress

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from your body like a madness.

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All the a tension in your chest.

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All the tension in your bodyis now being pulled from your

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body without you having to do anything

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lay still and allow the boxto pull out all the stress,

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all the anxiety, and allthe tension from your body.

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Now that the box hasabsorbed all the stress,

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all the overwhelm from your body,

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you notice that there's asetting on the outside of the.

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Box.

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The setting is currentlyset to absorb stress,

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but you notice that you can changethe setting to restore energy.

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You decide to turn the dialtowards, restore energy,

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and you lie back down.

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You soon notice a calming purplelight beaming from the box.

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The calming purple light is leavingthe box and is now surrounding you.

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The light and calming energyis coming directly from the box

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into you.

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You feel the energy filling yourlungs and entering your body.

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With every inhale,

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the calming purple energyexpands down into your abdomen,

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your legs, and all theway down to your toes.

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You notice as this calming purpleenergy moves through your body,

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that it relaxes every muscle. It touches

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that it's restoring every partof your body with a relaxed

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and renewed energy.

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Every inhale,

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the light enters your bodyspreads up through your nose

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into your head,

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and down through yourspine into your lower body.

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As this energy moves through your body,

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you feel your body relax more deeply,

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deeply into the surface of thebed that your body rests on.

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You feel your body growheavier and heavier.

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You notice this calmingpurple energy is now

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fully surrounded by you and inside of you.

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Now that you are fully relaxed andthat you have let go of all of your

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stresses and all of your tensions,

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and filled your body with calming energy,

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you gently close the boxknowing that you can return

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at any time you need to,

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and that the box isalways here just for you

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whenever you need it.

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Now, slowly bring yourself backto the room that you're in.

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Gently wiggle your toes,and when you're ready,

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slowly open your eyes.