Meditation for health anxiety: 5-minute gratitude session, before public speaking

About this practice

For the times before public speaking when health anxiety takes up more room than you would like — 5 minutes, gratitude. A guided session of about 5 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 before public speaking

• Do it somewhere private, or in the washroom if needed
• Slow the exhale deliberately and check your speaking pace after
• Warm the voice by reading a line aloud, not by staying silent

Rushing is the tell of nerves. A slower breath now is what sets a slower pace in the room.

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. 0:00If you're sitting, let the chair do the work of holding you upright.
2. 0:13Let this be easy, if easy is available.
3. 0:24Bring your attention to the parts of you that are already still.
4. 0:37If some part of you is resisting this, that resistance is worth noticing too.
5. 0:51Count down from ten, one number per exhale.
6. 1:02Feel the air move past your upper lip. It's the coolest spot on the way in.
7. 1:17Feel your face. It's probably softer than it was five minutes ago.
8. 1:30Feel your belly. Let it be soft instead of held in.
9. 1:42Notice your breathing, without changing it.
10. 1:52Let this one be unhurried.
11. 2:01No words for a moment. Only the next breath.
12. 2:12If you only manage half of it, that's half more than nothing.
13. 2:25If you feel numb, that's a valid thing to feel. Nothing to fix.
14. 2:38Imagine the habit of checking for something wrong as a room you can walk out of for a minute. The room will still be there.
15. 2:57You are allowed to be unimpressed by the fear attached to each new symptom. Indifference is a legitimate response.
16. 3:13Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
17. 3:29If the worry about what your body might be telling you shows up, let it be there without arguing with it. You are not trying to remove it, just to sit beside it.
18. 3:52Notice whether you're breathing or holding. Start breathing again.
19. 4:03Quiet now. The next part will wait for you.
20. 4:14Nothing here needs to be efficient.
21. 4:24Take one last look at whatever your attention settled on.
22. 4:36No need to open your eyes yet.

Questions people ask

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