Unemployment Anxiety

Hi, welcome to managing anxiety. So whether you've just begun a period of unemployment or whether it's been going on for, for quite some time. Anxiety, some degree of fear of the consequences, the implications, is almost inevitable. Of course we don't like the way that it feels. Of course, we'd rather we didn't feel that way. And yet it's natural to feel that way. Everyone feels that way and it's more important actually, that we can find a way of working with it, understanding it and maybe even starting to go beyond it. So this particular exercise is designed to allow us to step out of that thinking mind. When we see the mind going down that road of anxiety, rather than just following it and going down that way, this allows us to sort of step out of it. When we feel the emotion of anxiety beginning to build in the body, it allows us to step out of that feeling, almost sort of cutting the loop if you like. So obviously this one exercise isn't going to change everything. And at the end of the exercise, I'm going to be recommending a couple of courses you might like to check out, but it will hopefully introduce you to the idea that it is possible to step out of that anxious thinking. So we're going to start with our eyes open. So a nice soft focus, just aware of the space around you. So not looking at one particular thing but just a soft focus, aware of the colors and the shapes around you. In just maintaining that soft focus, just take in a couple of big, deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. As you breathe in and sense of the lungs filling with air, as you breathe out, just noticing how the muscles in the body soften as you breathe out. Just one more time, breathing in through the nose, and as you breathe out this time, just gently closing the eyes and just allowing the body to sink down, allowing the weight of the body, press down into the seat or the floor below you. So take just a moment to pause, to allow the body and the mind time to settle. Don't worry if the mind is still very active for a lot of thoughts. For now, just allow those thoughts to come and go. Take a moment to check in with the body. Notice if the body's feeling perhaps a little restless or still today. Whether there's a feeling of heaviness or lightness in the body today. And just slowly becoming more aware of the breath. So in this time, we don't have to breathe in any special way. Just allow the body to breathe in his own natural rhythm. Just notice which parts of the body move with that rising and falling sensation. So it might be in the chest, diaphragm, the stomach. We're just settling the...