Guided Meditation for Anxiety: Four Elements
Guided Meditation for Anxiety: Four Elements
“I am so tired of feeling anxious all the time! I am not sure why I feel so nervous and have difficulty feeling settled!” If you’ve said these words before, you are like most of the clients that call me for counseling.
The therapists at Mindful Living Counseling teach clients about mindfulness and meditation practice and how helps to calm anxiety in a natural way. It brings online the part of the brain that tells the nervous system that you are safe now.
As an anxiety therapist Orlando, I recommend you start a daily mindfulness and meditation practice if you have been struggling with anxiety.
One of the practices I teach my clients that are struggling with anxiety is The Four Elements. These practices teach your brain and nervous system the ability to discern the difference between a threat and a trigger.
Please feel free to listen to this practice now, download it for later, or read the meditation script. This guided meditation helps calm anxiety and restore a sense of safety in the body, mind, and emotions. When I’m not listening to The Four Elements, I enjoy using the Chopra App on my phone which has a library of guided meditations that I can listen to anywhere.
Guided Meditation Practice for Anxiety
Guided Meditation Script for Anxiety
Welcome to the Practice Four Elements
This practice is helpful for calming anxiety…for feeling grounded… and we use this practice a lot in EMDR therapy. So we’ll begin by allowing yourself to land here now. Let go of everything that happened before you sat down to do this guided meditation practice. Let go of the anticipation of what might happen after…and allow yourself to be here now.
So this practice is called the four elements because we bring in the element earth, air, water, and fire. And I will walk you through each element. We start with the element earth. So bring your awareness to your feet on the ground…or you body on a chair, couch, or cushion or wherever you may be sitting… and just notice the contact points of where your body meets the earth. And next, bring your awareness to the sounds you hear now… and that would include my voice…and anything else that you may notice in your immediate surroundings. Then expand your awareness to include any sounds you may hear outside of your immediate surroundings… whether it is outside the room you are in, or the building you are in… just becoming aware of the different sounds…
Next, we’ll move on to the element of air… and this is where we bring our awareness to our breath…and just notice the natural inhale and exhale…Now I’ll introduce you to a breathing practice called square breathing… and so in this practice, you will inhale to the count of four, hold for the count of four, exhale to the count of four, and then hold for the count of four again… and we will do that four times.
So lets begin…
Inhale…one…two…three…four
Hold…one…two…three…four
Exhale…one…two…three…four
Hold…one…two…three…four
Again…
Inhale…one…two…three…four
Hold…one…two…three…four
Exhale…one…two…three…four
Hold…one…two…three…four
Two more…
Inhale…one…two…three…four
Hold…one…two…three…four
Exhale…one…two…three…four
Hold…one…two…three…four
Last one…
Inhale…one…two…three…four
Hold…one…two…three…four
Exhale…one…two…three…four
Hold…one…two…three…four
And now breathe naturally.
Next we’ll move on to the element water. And so with this one you intentionally bring water to your mouth, making your mouth water. And the reason for this is because when the nervous system is in a rest and digest mode we can bring water to the mouth. So when you intentionally do that… you send the signal to the nervous system that you are settled and calm.
And the final element is fire. In this one we will fire the imagination to a calm place. A place that we have either been, or a place that we would like to go…that represents calm, peace, or being settled…and in this place we will fire the imagination. So I’d first like you to see the sights… bring into your mind’s eye the sights you would see in this calm place… seeing the colors… the textures… the landscape… really taking in the soothing sights. Next I’d like you to take in and notice to sounds you would hear in your calm place. Often times people will choose a place in nature… they will hear the wind blowing… or waves crashing…or birds chirping…so just allowing yourself notice the sounds you would hear in your calm place.
And next we will bring our awareness to the scents you would smell in this calm place… maybe it’s the salty air… or suntan lotion… if you’re at the beach… and whatever it may be that you would notice in your calm place. And next we’ll bring our awareness to what it would feel like on your skin in this calm place… would it be cool and crisp…hot and humid…would you be bundled up in a lot of clothing? Would you feel the wind on your skin? Are you in the sun? Are you in the shade? Really bringing into your awareness what it would feel like on your skin…in this calm place…and so now just take in anything else that would be particularly calming… soothing or nourishing to you in this calm place…
So this concludes the practice of the four elements… earth…air…water…and fire… and so we’ll close this guided meditation practice with three inhales and exhales…so inhaling…exhaling…inhaling…exhaling…inhaling…exhaling…
Ready to Start Anxiety Therapy in Orlando, FL?
The therapists at Mindful Living Counseling Orlando are here to help you with your healing journey to becoming your best self. To get started reach out to our Client Care Coordinator and schedule a free 15-minute, so we can get you started right away.
Not Quite Ready for Anxiety Therapy?
We have a highly trained team that is ready to help gain the tools you need to feel peace every day. Orlando therapists will help you gain tools that will help you overcome any anxiety you may be feeling. If you’re not ready to start anxiety therapy, we understand. In the meantime, you can read some of the articles below.
Additional Anxiety Resources
An Anxiety Therapist Explains: What is High-Functioning Anxiety?
Guided Meditation for Anxiety: Calm Place
An Anxiety Therapist Shares Everything You Need to Know About Anxiety
51 Grounding Techniques to Help You Feel Grounded Now
177 Ways to Ground Yourself Now
Other Therapy Services Offered at Mindful Living Counseling in Orlando, FL
Our therapists understand that anxiety is not the only challenge you may struggle with so we offer a variety of therapy services at Mindful Living Counseling. Our therapy services include Trauma therapy, EMDR therapy, Eating Disorder Therapy, Toxic Relationship Therapy, and Teen Therapy. We also encourage you to check out our other Guided Meditations.
About the Author
Orlando Therapist, Lauran Hahn, LMHC, loves writing and recording guided meditations for her clients. Lauran specializes in anxiety, trauma, and toxic relationships. Lauran is also a Certified Sensorimotor Psychotherapist, Certified EMDR Therapist and EMDRIA Approved Consultant. Lauran will help her clients feel peace in their bodies, calm in their minds, and connected in relationships. When she’s not working in Downtown Orlando, Lauran practices her daily mindfulness meditating, running, or journaling.