The Modern Matriarch

05. Calm Your Racing Mind & Relieve Anxiety

• Sara Putney | ReMothering Mamas

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Your mind is sprinting ahead, replaying conversations, stacking to-do lists, and pulling you out of your body. 

I made this guided grounding and breathwork practice for that exact moment, when you feel disconnected from the present and you just want your nervous system to stop sounding the alarm. 

If you’ve been living in survival mode, calm can feel unfamiliar, even unsafe, so I name the sensations that can come up like tingles, emotion, or lightheadedness and why lying down can help. 

From there, we move into a steady rhythmic breathing designed to quiet racing thoughts and support stress relief through the body, not willpower. 

If anxiety has been running your life, this is a short, practical way to come home to yourself and remember that you can be held and supported. 

If it helps, subscribe, share this with a friend who’s overwhelmed, and leave a review with the moment that made you exhale.

You can learn more about my work here: https://remotheringmamas.com/

Let's connect on IG: https://www.instagram.com/remotheringmamas

Why The Mind Races

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Today's episode is all around what you can do when your mind is racing and you're just feeling so disconnected from the present moment from your body. I invite you to come back to this practice. So it's recommended you do this practice when you are either seated, seated, or lying down. It is not recommended to do while driving.

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We're going to start by looking around your space. Maybe you're outside, you hear animals, maybe you hear birds. Maybe you're inside.

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And you can hear the surface beneath you squeak. See what you can notice about your surroundings. And if your mind is wandering, that's normal. It's natural. You're someone whose mind is always racing. You

Grounding With The Five Senses

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can think your thoughts, and just try to follow my voice and my guidance. Continuing to look around your space. Notice what's around you. Notice the colors. Is it light? Is it dark? What's the temperature? How are you feeling?

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Noticing the part of your body, touching the ground beneath you, and bringing your awareness to the contact with that surface.

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Whether it's grass, soil, mother nature, maybe it's a chair or a bed or a floor. Just noticing it, feeling it holding you and supporting you. To help you drop in a little

Feel The Surface Supporting You

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deeper, I invite you to take three deep breaths with me. A deep breath in through your nose, all the way into your belly, filling your belly with oxygen and air.

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And a deep exhale out through your mouth, releasing all that air from the belly. Another deep inhale in through the nose.

Three Deep Breaths To Drop In

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Bringing in as much air and oxygen as you can. And a deep exhale out of the mouth. Maybe you sigh.

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Maybe you open your jaw. Maybe you yawn. Allowing your body to relax just a little bit more and settle into the present moment. Taking one more deep breath in through your nose, allowing it to be the deepest breath that you have taken all week. And just when you don't think you can take any more air in, take a little sip and let it all go. Deep exhale out of the mouth. I invite you to open the jaw to maybe shake out your hands, shake out your legs, maybe shake your body. Allowing that energy to just release and just be. Allowing any quote-unquote distractions to just be, just noticing them and allowing them to pass by without judgment or without your attention, getting stuck on them, seeing if you can allow your body to relax just a little bit more. If you're not lying down, it's recommended that you now lie down as you may become lightheaded from increased oxygen intake. Your body might feel tingly, you might feel a wave of emotions, and it's all part of the process as you deepen the connection with your body and allow your mind to calm. Stick with me, and you may be surprised how you feel afterward.

Safety Notes And Body Sensations

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We're going to breathe in and out through the mouth, taking a slow deep inhale, a slow deep exhale, another slow deep inhale, and a slow deep exhale, again fully through the mouth, allowing more oxygen to enter your body, enter your lungs, and enter your bloodstream.

Mouth Breathing To Quiet Thoughts

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A deep inhale in through the mouth. A deep exhale, allowing yourself to rest on the surface beneath you that's holding you and supporting you. Your only job during these ten minutes together is to just breathe. Breathing deep into that low belly through the mouth. And a deep exhale through the mouth. Deep inhale through the mouth. And a deep exhale. Continuing at your own pace in your own rhythm, breathing deep in through the mouth, and a deep exhale through the mouth.

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Keep breathing.

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You're doing great. You're doing it. The more oxygen you allow to come into your body, the more the thinking mind will begin to calm, and you might experience a level of peace like you haven't before. Maybe you yawn listening to your body and what it needs in this moment. Now, since this is a podcast episode, I can't play music because I don't think it'll be allowed to be published. But usually within breath work journeys, music and rhythm and lyrics accompany the breath, giving your mind something else to focus on besides my voice. But for this simple practice, we're just going to stick with the breath and my guidance.

Why There Is No Music

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Breathing deep into that low belly through the mouth. Deep exhale through the mouth. Keep going. Deep inhale. And a deep exhale. Allowing the thinking mind to calm.

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Any to-do lists.

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Any conversations you might be replaying in your head. Anything that you have to get to, I promise it'll still be there for you when we finish. For you to come back to.

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And if it's not, then it wasn't that important, anyways.

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And you have other plans in store.

Let Go Of To Dos And Control

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Seeing if you can release a little bit of control. Following your breath on the deep inhale and deep exhale. Allowing your body to settle in even more to the ground beneath you to feel supported and held. As you continue breathing, I invite you to place a hand on your heart. Maybe another hand on your belly where you're breathing into. And as you keep breathing, maybe repeat this affirmation in your head. Or out loud, our voice is a powerful tool, and speaking things into existence is truly a magic of its own.

Hand On Heart With Affirmations

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I am worthy of peace. I am worthy of peace.

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I am worthy of harmony. I deserve to feel harmonious.

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Harmony is my birthright. Breathing into that low belly. And out through your mouth.

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And out through your mouth. Keep breathing.

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When your body has been living in a state of survival, it can feel so foreign for the mind to calm and for the body to calm.

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Inner peace is possible.

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It's accessible.

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You deserve to feel rested and nourished. You deserve to get out of a constant survival mode and into a state of peace and prosperity. Taking your last deep breath of our time together. And seeing what your body needs. Maybe it needs another stretch. Maybe it needs to lie perfectly still.

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Maybe you need to shake it out. Shake out your hands or your feet or your legs. Maybe you want to make some noise. Ah allowing yourself to be silly.

Final Breath And Gentle Release

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Not having to take yourself so seriously all the time. You don't have to be go, go, go rushing and providing for others all the time. You can be supported, and you can be held. Thank you for joining me on this episode. And thank you for participating in this practice with me.