To begin this meditation before bed for anxiety, lie down, fully supported.
Night can make worry louder. We will make the body louder than the worry.
When your body feels ready, you may softly close your eyes.
With your eyes closed, place a hand on the belly if that is comfortable.
First, simply noticing the mechanical, animal fact of breathing under the palm.
Anxiety is a future. The belly is a present. Keep choosing the belly.
What else — longer out-breath, dark room, heavy limbs — is already here?
What is it like to be anxious and still lying down on purpose?
You are not required to solve anything after dark.
Safety can be practiced as weight, and as this minute — not the next year.
Let the bed be a shoreline. Let the worry be water you do not have to drink.
That choice — to stay with the belly — is already courage.
What do you notice when the belly is louder than the story?
Just observe. Accept. And allow. This is not a cure. It is company.
Keeping your eyes closed, allow your awareness to include the dark of the room.
The palm. The mattress. The ordinary night. And you, still here.
There is nothing to fix. There is nowhere else to be.
If your mind wanders into worry, that is okay. Return to the next rise of the belly.
Being connected to the hand, the breath, and this small stretch of night.
You let the body be louder. Including yourself.
Keep the hand on the belly until it is almost boring. Boring is close to rest.
Keep the eyes closed. Stay lying down. Let the night keep you.