{SUBLIMINAL}
Shhh… Relax
One step at a time
One thing at a time
You are ok
You will be ok
Hold your fingers together
Feel your anxiety wash away

Poor baby~…. You’ve got a lot on your plate, don’t you?
Feeling a little more stressed than usual?
Or perhaps you have a chronic struggle with anxiety
That’s ok, it’s ok to not be ok all the time
There’s nothing wrong with you, having anxiety is no moral failure
You are ok
You will be ok
Listen to me
I know these turbulent feelings of yours
I’m going to show you that it is possible to relax
And these feelings will pass
Ok?
You have dedicated this time to relaxing, so do your best to just listen
Make sure you are sitting or laying down… And close your eyes if it helps you focus only on my words
Repeat them back to yourself in your head
As if you are giving yourself positive affirmations
It is ok to not be ok all the time
There’s nothing wrong with you
Having anxiety is no personal or moral failure of any kind
You are ok
You will be ok
As silly as it may seem, positive affirmations really can be beneficial for your state of mind
If you tell your brain something enough times, it will begin to believe it
It is possible to relax
To restructure your mind to make peace a little more accessible
And those turbulent feelings will pass

It is ok to feel anxious
But I know it can negatively impact your life, and how you feel about yourself
Is that right?
That’s ok, it’s ok to not be ok all the time
I’m not going to try to fix you or cure you
Because you don’t need fixing
You just need help relaxing… When your anxiety overwhelms your poor little head and body~
Tingles… Shakes… Nervous, detrimental habits… Shortness of breath… Racing, uncontrollable worries… Feeling overwhelmed… And not in a fun way~

Perhaps you are feeling stressed right now
Or perhaps you are here to equip yourself with helpful tools for future reference
Perhaps you hold both motivations for listening right now
And I will do my best to create a comforting environment so you can relax
Relax…
And…
Repeat my words back to yourself in your head
You have dedicated this time to relaxing, so do your best to just listen
Accept my words as your own thoughts right now
As if you are giving yourself positive affirmations
You have nothing else to do right now
Nowhere to be
You are allowed to relax
Relaxing is productive sometimes

Let’s focus on only relaxing right now, ok~?
First, your feet… Making sure your toes are loose and uncurled… Your ankles are limp and unprepared to carry the weight of your worries… Letting the worries slide off and away…
And that calm, sense of pleasant weakness spreads up into your calf muscles… And your knees… So calm and pleasant and weak… Unable to support the weight of your worries
It’s ok, you don’t need those right now
All you need to focus on right now, is relaxing with me
Focusing on only one thing at a time
Focusing on this relaxation, which is expanding into your thighs now
Taking over any soreness or tenseness
Even your buttcheeks~
Make sure they’re nice and loose, too~
Allow this relaxation to spread everywhere
It’s ok if it’s only a mild relaxation right now, there is no pressure or expectation to relax so completely and immediately if you’re experiencing a high level of stress
Just do your best
Listen to my words
Repeat them in your head
One sentence at a time
One instruction at a time

Now let this wave of relaxation, mild or strong, travel up your body even more
As if you are laying in a bathtub, and I am slowly filling it up with warm, pleasant water that soothes and relaxes your muscles
Filling the tub around you… The surface of the water, climbing higher, clinging to your skin, and the sides of the tub
Climbing up your lower back now… Making its way up to your belly button
Perhaps it is a deep, relaxing warmth, or perhaps it is merely a lukewarm trickle around your body
But as it consumes your body, the relaxation soaks into your skin, penetrates your flesh, and liquifies your bones… Becoming homogenous with the warm, relaxing fluid… Which has spread up to your elbows now
Your fingertips and forearms, coated and converted into an aqueous substance
Your atoms, becoming loose… Sinking and floating and swirling around with the water as it fills the tub
As the water level rises, it may feel more like you are sinking beneath the rising surface
Slowly
Submerging
Warm, relaxing water, traveling up your spine… It feels good and calming
Everything the water touches becomes warm, and comforted
So warm and relaxing
And as the gentle waves wash over you, they carry your anxiety away, atom by atom
Sinking, floating, swirling…
Calmly drifting around the tub with you, but just out of reach
If you were to try to reach through the water to grab the microscopic pieces of your anxiety, your stress, your worries, your fears, the motion of your body would push the water molecules away, pulling your anxiety molecules away with them
It’s best to just let them exist, and not interact with them
No need to bother reaching out to them… Let alone even think of them right now
No need to bother moving… Or doing anything but relaxing
As the water fills up over your chest… This sense of calm relaxation is spreading into your chest now
Causing your heart and your lungs to slow down… Slow… Steady… Beats… And heaving breaths…
In… And out…
They may just be beginning to slow down, subtly, but surely, or perhaps you are already so consumed by this relaxation that your heart and lungs have adopted a calm, sleep-like pattern
In… And out…
In… And out…
Breathing slow, deep breaths…
As the warm water comes up over your shoulders now… Removing any tenseness… Any weight you carry… Letting them slack and slump down…
As the warm water climbs up the sides of your neck now

Your entire body, from the neck, down, is one with the water
Fluid… Adaptive… Tranquil… Gently swirling… Up and down and around… And oh, so, warm~

Now… When I snap my fingers, your head is going to plunge down under the water as well
This is not as scary as it seems… Trust me… You will be ok… Everything will be ok
You will still be able to breathe these slow, deep breaths in… And out… In… And out…
All of the cells in your head, where most of the anxiety resides… Will loosen and dissolve into the water with the rest of your peaceful body… All of the molecules… The pieces of you, and your anxiety, will become one with the water… Sinking, floating, and swirling… Gently and carefree
When I snap my fingers, you will feel the rest of you sink under the surface of the water, and you will be completely at peace… You will be completely fluid, and adaptable… Ready for anything I might say next
Because when I dip my fingers into the water, it simply moves and flows with the motions… Smoothly, and effortlessly
I can do just about anything with the water… I can run my hands through it… I can make a little splash… I can cup it in my hands and let it pour back into the tub… And it will always, eventually, settle down and return to this calm, tranquil, fluid stillness
And as a part of this tub of water, you too, will be at the whims of my influence, you will feel my hands manipulating the dynamic molecules… But you will always know that you inherently hold the ability to move along with me, effortlessly, and your very being will naturally settle down like this peaceful tub of water
And likewise, when you feel the turbulent manipulation of anxiety’s grasp, it may move you, it is ok to let it in and experience it, but you inherently hold the ability to move along with it, rather than letting it push you while you try to resist it… And you also hold the ability to naturally settle back down, like this peaceful tub of water
Because no matter how your anxiety dips and runs through you, splashes and holds you… You WILL, always, eventually, settle down and return to this calm, tranquil state
Always fluid and adaptable, even with this stirring anxiety

When I snap my fingers, your head will finally fall under with the rest of your body, your anxiety will scatter and become irrelevant… And you will become one with the water
Warm… Relaxing… Fluid… And adaptable
When I snap my fingers, you will feel your head fall and sink… And your entire being will be at peace
Sinking… Floating… And gently swirling… Breathing deeply and effortlessly… And following my lead~

Take a nice, deep breath in
And…. DROP~
Down… Out… Sink… Float… Become one with the water… Like your solid human form is melting into a warm, liquid, carefree form, that is completely incapable of carrying the weight of human worries
You can still breathe… Keep breathing nice, and slow, and steady
But there is no more jaw to clench… No more teeth to grind… No more tongue to press into the roof of your mouth… No more brow to furrow… No more evidence of anxiety
Just completely, calm, and warm
So very loose
So very peaceful
No matter how much you might slosh around, gravity will always pull you back down to Earth, and you will inevitably, eventually, settle back down
A smooth, tranquil, surface of water
Grounded… But very dynamic and adaptable
Effortless moving with my motions now
Following along with my words
Relaxed and easy
Drop~

Now, imagine if you can, or even just the concept, a wall of switches and dials
Dark gray metal, rotating knobs, buttons that glow red and green and yellow, and switches – some of which that flip up and down, and others, side to side
This may be an overwhelming sight or thought, but we don’t need to worry about everything all at once
Just one thing at a time
This wall is vast and complex
This wall represents your mind, and each dial, button, and switch controls something
Off, on, or numerical levels of intensity or volume
You can immediately see a dial, with glowing blue letters above it that read, “Relaxation”
Everyone has this dial
This dial rotates, with numerical markers that count from zero to ten
It is currently set to six
You’re pretty relaxed… But you can be more relaxed~
See or imagine, now, this dial growing larger in your vision as you approach it
Now, one thing at a time, let’s split this up into steps
First, in your mind’s eye, I want you to reach your right hand up and out, to touch the dial
Just touch it
The metal is pleasantly, comfortably cool to the touch… It feels like pure relaxation
Merely touching it makes you feel a little more at ease
Your relaxation is right in front of you, within reach
And you know that everything is going to be ok
Next, while your right hand is still touching the dial in front of you, I want you to leave your left hand down by your side
And with your left hand, down by your side, I just want you to put your thumb and index finger together
Like you are gently pinching something with those two fingers
Just gently pressed together
And leave them like that, ok~?
Do it now, it should be easy to touch these fingers together without disrupting your peaceful trance
You don’t have to do anything right now but move your fingers
Your left index finger and thumb
Good~
Now, with your right hand, that is touching the dial, I want you to wrap those fingers around the side of the circular knob
There are grooves on the outer edge that provide some pleasant stimulation against your fingertips, and help with traction as your prepare to turn the knob now
Starting at six, I’m going to count up, one number at a time, one step at a time, and with each number, you’re going to turn the dial up one notch, turning it to the right one notch at a time
One by one, all the way up to ten
Starting at six
Your left hand should still be down and relaxed, with your thumb and index fingers together
Seven
Take a deep breath and turn the dial one notch to the right
As you release your breath, you can feel your body becoming a little more relaxed
Eight
Take another deep breath as you turn the dial to the right once more
Just one notch
That’s all you have to do right now
Nine
Breathe in… Turn the dial… Breathe out~
Letting a massive weight off of your chest… And your feelings of simultaneously sinking and floating and swirling intensify
You may have never felt this relaxed before… But it’s nice~… But you can still relax even more
One more time
Right… Now…
Ten~
Turn that dial to the right… And feel the resistance at the end of the movement
Your relaxation dial is completely maxed out
And you feel yourself Drop into a deep relaxation now
As deeply as you possibly can be
Pleasantly sinking… Floating… Drifting… Melting~
It feels so good, you might feel a little smile form on your face… Or nothing at all~
All you know is that you are completely and utterly relaxed right now
You can disengage both of your arms and hands now
So relaxed~

Now~…
In your mind’s eye, turn around
There is another wall of switches and dials, almost identical to the one you were just looking at
But as you walk closer to this one, looking at the dial that looks just like the “Relaxation” dial, you can see that the blue, glowing letters above it read “Anxiety”
Everyone has this dial
Looking even closer now, you can see that the numerical markings on this dial have faded away
You can’t even tell by looking at it, what level your anxiety is at, but as you extend your right hand out to it, you can feel a stressful aura emanating from it
It’s dark and chaotic, and unpleasant to be near, and the last thing you want to do is touch it, but that is exactly what I need you to do right now, ok?
This will only be temporary
You will get through this, and you will be ok
Ok?

Touch your fingertips, on your right hand, against the face of this dial
It feels like pure dread
Suddenly, your anxious feelings return to your body
Tingles… Shakes… Nervous, detrimental habits… Shortness of breath… Racing, uncontrollable worries, whatever they may be, they are overwhelming
But listen to me
Just like before, I want you to gently press your index finger and thumb on your left hand together
Remember that total relaxation
Keep those fingers together
And now, with your right hand, feel the grooves on the sides of this dial, and turn it to the left
No need to wait for my mark, just turn it
Turn that anxiety dial down… And down… While you touch your index finger and thumb together on your left hand
Turning…
To the left…
Down…
And down…
Feel those uneasy feelings and symptoms wash away, making way for warm relaxation, and the eventual inevitability that your body with naturally settle back down
The turbulent manipulation of anxiety’s grasp is becoming weaker, and your dynamic, adaptable molecules can begin to settle back down
Just like water in the tub after a splash
Becoming more and more tranquil as you turn this dial down… As you hold your index finger and thumb together with your left hand
Feel your anxiety melt away… Your thoughts and worries are still around you, but in this moment, they are irrelevant
Always out of reach, like little specks of dirt in water that escape your clutches when you reach for them through the liquid
Your responsibilities are not forgotten, but you are simply too relaxed and loose to worry about them right now… Too pleasantly weak to carry the weight of your worries
And when you’ve had the chance to calm down and de-stress, when your tub of water is still and tranquil, you can tackle them again with a clear, calm mind
But for now… Holding those fingers together… Your left index finger and thumb… And turning the “Anxiety” dial down
To the left
And down
All the way down to zero
You know this because you can feel the resistance as you finish turning the dial
Your anxiety cannot get any lower now
And looking at that dial now doesn’t seem so daunting anymore
You can see clearly now that your anxiety is nothing to fear
This dial is just like all of the other dials on the wall, programmed with a specific task
Your “Anxiety” dial turns up when your mind is trying to protect you, which is a good thing, but when it becomes too much, or too high at your detriment, you can now turn it down by gently pressing your left index finger and thumb together
Looking at this dial, you realize…
Anxiety does not control you, you control it
And you know that whenever you can sense it turning up inside of your mind, you will always be able to press your left index finger and thumb together, to turn it down when you need to
Feeling your little anxiety molecules wash away in a calm pool of water around you
Your responsibilities are still present, and you are aware of them, but they will not weigh you down
And you will be able to address them one by one, one step at a time
You will be ok
Everything will be ok
And you will know this when you hold your left index finger and thumb together
You will be able to control your relaxation and anxiety dials by touching your left index finger and thumb together
Just like you’re doing right now
And feeling so calm and stress-free
Turning your relaxation dial all the way up to ten, and your anxiety dial all the way down to zero
Washing away your anxiety, and allowing you to naturally settle back down into dynamic tranquility
Every time you hold your left index finger and thumb together

Yout got this~
You will be ok
I’m so proud of you for tackling your anxiety today~
You have a remarkable strength within you, and an inherent ability to adapt and relax, even when your anxiety feels insurmountable
You are so amazing~

I know it can be easier said than done, to internalize this kindness and patience for yourself, but know this is true
You are not your anxiety
And your anxiety does not control you
It is possible to relax
And everything will be ok
When you take it one step at a time~

Now that you’re feeling relaxed, and equipped with the tools to control that pesky anxiety dial, it is time to start waking up
It may be tempting to continue this pleasant relaxation, but I want you to get yourself a drink of water
No matter what time it is, or where you are
But first things first, open your eyes
One thing at a time
One step at a time
Take a deep breath…
Blink three times for me…
Make yourself aware of your body
Feel every muscle, everything that is touching your skin
Move the muscles in your face
And then your hands
And then your feet
All feeling a little stronger than before, prepared to carry the weight of your worries with no burden
Prepared to carry your body, to take one step at a time, and get a nice, refreshing drink of water
And when you ingest that cool liquid, you will feel refreshed and strong, and capable
It is time to get up now, and drink some water

That’s all I expect of you
That’s all you have to do right now
After that, it’s all up to you~
You got this~