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Anxious at Work and Telling Everyone You're Fine — Calm for Workplace Anxiety, Pressure & Deadlines | Physiological Sigh
Anxious at work and telling everyone you're fine? This 10 minute guided meditation is for workplace anxiety — the particular kind of tired that has nothing to do with sleep. The tired of holding yourself together from the moment you reach for your phone to the moment you close the laptop and realise your shoulders have been up around your ears for nine hours, and nobody at work saw a thing. Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett.
Today's breathwork is the physiological sigh, chosen deliberately because of all the breathing techniques taught on this show, this is the one you can use at work without a single person noticing. No counting to sixteen. No sitting cross-legged on the floor beside the printer. Two breaths in through the nose, one long slow breath out through the mouth — and your heart rate settles. That is not your imagination, that's your vagus nerve doing precisely the job it was built for.
Work stress, deadline pressure, the inbox that never empties, replaying the thing you said in the meeting, the anxiety of being perfect — for the next ten minutes you have nothing to achieve and nothing to fix. You don't need a cushion or a candle or a quiet room. If you're still sitting at your desk, that's perfectly all right. You just need your breath.
⏱️ Time Chapters
* 00:00 – The tired that has nothing to do with sleep
* 01:14 – Welcome — ten minutes with nothing to achieve
* 02:12 – Today's breath: the physiological sigh, and why it works at your desk
* 02:43 – Guided practice: double breath in, long breath out
* 04:39 – Your vagus nerve, doing the job it was built for
* 05:14 – When the day comes wandering back in
* 05:44 – Today's gentle affirmations
* 07:14 – Deeper relaxation and the pause between breaths
* 08:07 – Your three daily caring tips
* 08:58 – A gentle return and a stretch
* 09:37 – Anchored, sharing this episode, and be kind
🌿 Today's Gentle Affirmations
Visualise these words in your thoughts, and whisper them in your mind.
* I am calm at work, even when the work is not calm.
* My work anxiety is a feeling. It is not a fact.
* I can breathe through stress at work, and my nervous system knows how.
* I do not have to be perfect to be good at what I do.
* I am allowed to work at a human pace.
* My worth is not my output.
* I am safe. I am here. There is nothing to fear right now.
💡 3 Daily Caring Tips
1. One sigh before the first meeting — Before the first meeting today, take one single physiological sigh at your desk. Nobody will see it, and your nervous system will thank you for it.
2. Set one boundary you can keep — Set one boundary that you can actually keep, such as no email for the first twenty minutes after you wake up.
3. Leave the screen at lunch — Make a proper break away from your screen at lunchtime, even if it's only ten minutes standing outside in the air.
📱 Take Calming Anxiety With You Anywhere
If today helped, come and find all of these sessions — over 3,000 of them — inside Anchored. Download Anchored on iOS. Access over 3,000 searchable, offline-ready audio sessions, sleep stories with Books at Bedtime, and built-in nightlight features for the small hours. Do the check-in tonight; it takes thirty seconds, and in a fortnight you'll know your own pattern better than any app ever could. 👉 Download Anchored on the App Store Today: https://apps.apple.com
And if you know someone who is holding it all together at work and telling everybody they're fine, please send them this episode. That's how this show has reached over 10 million downloads — no advertising, no huge corporation or budget, just people like you quietly passing it on. If you have 30 seconds, a rating or review on Apple Podcasts helps someone else find us today.
You did that. Not me. Look after yourself today, and in everything, in every thought, word and deed — be kind.
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Music: All music by Chris Collins
Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.
