Breathing for anticipatory anxiety: 10 minutes, between calls

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for anticipatory anxiety. A breathing session you can do between calls. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: anticipatory anxiety

Dread of an upcoming event is often heavier than the event itself. The waiting period keeps the body in low-level alert for days.

It tends to show up as:

• Stomach dropping when you remember what is coming
• Sleep getting worse as the date approaches
• Wanting to cancel to get relief

The anticipation is a state, not a warning. Practising being in the present while the dread is present teaches the body it can wait without bracing.

Doing this between meetings

• Start it in the gap, not after the next one begins
• Write down the open thread from the last meeting first, then let it go
• Two minutes done beats five minutes planned

The back-to-back day is exactly why the gap has to be protected rather than used for one more task.

How breathing works

A breathing practice uses the breath as the object of attention and as the control lever. Because exhaling slows the heart through the vagus nerve, it acts on the nervous system directly rather than through thinking.

• Keep the exhale longer than the inhale — that is the active ingredient
• Count the exhales and start again whenever you lose count
• Do not force depth; let the breath find its own level

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00If you're sitting, let the chair do the work of holding you upright.
2. 0:13If the breath feels tight, do not deepen it. Just watch it, and let it find its own depth.
3. 0:29Let your breathing find its own pace. We're only going to watch it.
4. 0:42Nothing here is a test of concentration. Drifting off is part of it.
5. 0:55Breathe as if you had all evening. There's no rush in this part.
6. 1:08If you're holding your breath at the top, stop. There's no need to hold anything.
7. 1:22Notice your shoulders, one at a time. The left one first.
8. 1:34Notice your pelvis resting on the surface below you.
9. 1:45Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
10. 1:57Feel the tops of your thighs.
11. 2:07If the dread of an event that has not happened has been with you all day, it is probably tired too. Let it rest alongside you.
12. 2:26Feel the weight of the waiting that feels heavier than the thing somewhere specific, then let the floor take a share of it.
13. 2:44If your mind has wandered, that's not a mistake. Noticing is the practice.
14. 2:57Your anchor for the next few minutes is the breath itself. Nothing else needs following.
15. 3:11Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
16. 3:23If you're thinking about the next thing on your list, that list will still be there.
17. 3:38Follow the air from the nostrils down to the belly, then back out. One full trip at a time.
18. 3:54No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
19. 4:05Notice the pull to make this mean something. It doesn't have to.
20. 4:18There is no target number here. Only the next breath, and then the one after it.
21. 4:33Let's pause. Just the breathing for a while.
22. 4:44If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
23. 4:59Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
24. 5:12Stay here a little longer.
25. 5:21Notice the small movement in your belly when you breathe.
26. 5:33Let your breathing find the rhythm it uses when you're almost asleep.
27. 5:46Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
28. 5:56Feel your calves, front and back.
29. 6:06Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
30. 6:17Let it be this simple.
31. 6:26Now feel both feet at once. That's a lot of contact with the world.
32. 6:40Let the breath move at the speed of a sleeping person.
33. 6:52Silence. Let your shoulders drop again if they've crept up.
34. 7:04You do not have to like the nervous hours before to breathe through it. Liking was never the requirement.
35. 7:20Nothing about the dread of an event that has not happened has to be explained or justified in this room.
36. 7:37Notice the breath you're taking right now. That's the only one that exists.
37. 7:50Give the waiting that feels heavier than the thing a shape, a colour, a temperature. Turning it into something specific makes it easier to hold.
38. 8:09If you feel emotional, you don't have to explain it to anyone, including yourself.
39. 8:23Notice if your attention is in the future. Bring it back to the room.
40. 8:37Silence for a few breaths. Nothing to do in it.
41. 8:49Keep the exhale a little longer than the inhale. That is the entire technique.
42. 9:03Take the next breath slowly.
43. 9:12Give your hands a stretch before you go back to using them.
44. 9:25When you stand up, do it slowly. There's no reason to hurry.

Questions people ask

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