15-minute guided gratitude practice for health anxiety — on a plane

About this practice

When health anxiety shows up on a plane, this 15-minute gratitude session gives you somewhere to put it down. A guided session of about 15 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: health anxiety

Health anxiety runs on a loop of scanning and checking. Each check briefly relieves the fear and then strengthens it, because the relief teaches the brain that checking was necessary.

It tends to show up as:

• Repeatedly checking a symptom or a pulse
• Searching symptoms late at night
• Reassurance that only helps for an hour

Attention moved out of the head and into the body as a whole reduces scanning. You are not arguing with the worry, just giving it less to grip.

Doing this on a plane

• Use headphones, and keep the seatbelt on
• Bring a layer — being cold works against settling
• Skip alcohol; it makes the alertness worse

Cabin noise is constant and will mask the audio more than you expect. Try the headphones before you settle in.

How gratitude works

Gratitude here is an attention practice, not a demand for a positive mood. Attention defaults to threats because they are urgent, so pleasant and ordinary things get skipped simply for being safe.

• Pick one ordinary thing rather than something impressive
• Stay with it for two breaths — depth beats length of list
• Do not aim at feeling grateful; aim at noticing

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Let your tongue rest down, away from the roof of your mouth.
2. 0:13Nothing here needs to be efficient.
3. 0:23Let your breathing find its own pace. We're only going to watch it.
4. 0:36Let your sense of the room shrink down to just your body and the surface you're on.
5. 0:51Let the out-breath be a little longer than the in-breath, without forcing it.
6. 1:04Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
7. 1:20Start at the top of your head. Notice the scalp, which you almost never notice.
8. 1:34Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
9. 1:45Now the right shoulder. Let it be a centimetre lower than it was.
10. 1:58Feel the outline of yourself, from the top of your head to your heels.
11. 2:12Feel your upper arms hanging. They're heavier than you remember.
12. 2:24You have been carrying the worry about what your body might be telling you for a while. You can set it down for the length of this session and pick it up after.
13. 2:47Let the habit of checking for something wrong be exactly as big as it is, and let your breath be exactly as slow as it is. They can coexist.
14. 3:08Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
15. 3:21Imagine softening the edges of the fear attached to each new symptom. Not erasing it, just letting the sharp parts go a degree softer.
16. 3:40Imagine the worry about what your body might be telling you as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
17. 4:00Notice the backs of your knees, which you feel more than you think.
18. 4:13Let the pause stretch out.
19. 4:22Let the in-breath be short and the out-breath unhurried.
20. 4:33Feel the parts of you that have gone quiet.
21. 4:44Let it be this simple.
22. 4:53Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
23. 5:04Feel the back of your neck. That's a place that holds a lot.
24. 5:17Stay with it.
25. 5:25Follow the breath down into your belly and feel it come back up.
26. 5:38Feel the middle of your back, the part that never gets attention.
27. 5:51No rush to move on.
28. 6:00Follow one full breath from the moment it starts to the moment it ends.
29. 6:14Feel your tongue sitting in the bottom of your mouth.
30. 6:26Nothing changes for a moment.
31. 6:35Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
32. 6:48Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
33. 7:00Let the quiet do its work.
34. 7:10We'll keep it quiet and unhurried.
35. 7:20If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
36. 7:33I'll step back. You stay here.
37. 7:43Small efforts are the whole method.
38. 7:53If you're irritated, that's allowed. Irritation is just weather.
39. 8:04Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
40. 8:16Let this be easy, if easy is available.
41. 8:27If you're counting the minutes, that's fine. Count them and come back.
42. 8:40Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
43. 8:51You can be as unimpressive as you like for the next few minutes.
44. 9:04Notice if you're waiting for something to happen. Nothing is scheduled.
45. 9:16A short silence. Let it be empty.
46. 9:26If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
47. 9:39You might be planning something. Notice the planning, then come back.
48. 9:51Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
49. 10:03We'll take this slowly, and there's no version of this where you get it wrong.
50. 10:17If a worry shows up, name it quietly and let it sit beside you.
51. 10:31Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
52. 10:46Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
53. 10:57Give the habit of checking for something wrong a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
54. 11:16You do not have to win against the fear attached to each new symptom. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
55. 11:35Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
56. 11:48This is not the last time the worry about what your body might be telling you will visit. That is not bad news. It means you will get more practice.
57. 12:09Think of the habit of checking for something wrong as a guest that arrived without knocking. You can let it stand in the hallway.
58. 12:28Feel the pause at the top of the in-breath. It's shorter than you think.
59. 12:42If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
60. 12:57If you're judging your performance, that's the same habit as judging everything else.
61. 13:10If you feel restless, that's a feeling, not a failure.
62. 13:22Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
63. 13:33There's no need to try harder than this.
64. 13:44Keep following the air.
65. 13:53Notice the quiet you made, and let it close gently.
66. 14:05Let your breathing go back to whatever it does when nobody is watching.
67. 14:18Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.

Questions people ask

Meditation is a practice, not a treatment. If you are dealing with ongoing distress, please also reach out to a professional.