Bonus Meditation: Cloud Release For Food Allergy Anxiety

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Feel anxious about food allergies? This 10-minute guided meditation helps teens and adults gently observe anxious “what-if” thoughts without being overwhelmed by them.

Using a calming sky and drifting clouds visualization, you’ll learn to notice your worries, label them, and watch them float away, without pushing or holding onto them. This meditation teaches that you are not your thoughts and provides a science-based approach to anxiety management. 

Perfect for anyone living with food allergies or dealing with anxious thoughts, this practice helps you: Observe anxious thoughts with curiosity instead of fear. Practice non-resistance and gentle self-awareness. Calm the nervous system through guided breath and imagery. Build a sense of emotional clarity and inner space.

Return to this meditation whenever worries arise, and watch your thoughts drift by like clouds in the sky.

Special thanks to Kyle Dine for permission to use his song The Doghouse for the podcast theme!
www.kyledine.com

Find Dr. Whitehouse:
-thefoodallergypsychologist.com
-Instagram: @thefoodallergypsychologist
-Facebook: Dr. Amanda Whitehouse, Food Allergy Anxiety Psychologist
[e-mail]

Episode Transcript

squadcaster-fcf7_2_11-11- (00:01):
Thank you for joining me for this
guided meditation for foodallergy anxiety.
Start by finding a comfortableposition seated, lying down or
reclining back somewhere you canfully relax.
Rest your hands, wherever itfeels safe and supportive.
That might be on your belly, onyour chest, at your sides, or

(00:23):
maybe on the tops of yourthighs.
Move them around a little bitand experiment with what feels
the most comfortable for you.
Close your eyes if it feelscomfortable, and take a slow,
gentle breath in and out.

(00:44):
Don't force anything.
Just notice what you feel as youbreathe.
You might notice tension in yourshoulders or your neck,
clenching your jaw, a flutter ortightness in your stomach, a
rapid heartbeat, restlessness inyour hands and your feet.
These are all natural signs thatyour nervous system is on alert.

(01:08):
These sensations are signalsfrom your body that your brain
is on high alert trying to keepyou safe.
As we practice together, noticehow it feels to just observe
these sensations without pushingthem away.
Instead of ignoring them orwishing they would go away like
we usually do, we're going topay attention to them, with each

(01:30):
gentle breath in and slow breathout, you might feel some of that
tension or discomfort soften orshift.
You might not right away, andthat's okay too.
Your body is starting to learnthat even when what if or
worried thoughts appear, you canremain calm and steady.

(01:51):
If you manage food allergies, alot of those worry thoughts
probably have to do withallergies.
Memories of times that scarythings happened or worries that
scary things will happen in thefuture.
What we're practicing today isremembering that you are not
your thoughts and you are notyour worries.
Those are things that your brainthinks because that's its job

(02:12):
and it will continue to generatethoughts.
Some helpful, some unhelpful,some true, and some not true.
A lot of the time, your brain istrying to protect you.
Don't eat that.
Watch out.
Be careful.
I remember when this happened,and that's okay too.
These sensations are notdangerous.
You can allow them to be herewithout judgment.

(02:35):
So continue to take gentlebreaths in and slow breaths out,
and notice how your body mightstart to soften, settle, and
release a little bit of thattension.
We're not forcing our breath.
We're not counting, we're notpushing or pulling on our chest
or our shoulders or our belly toget deeper breaths in.

(02:57):
In fact, we're not even tryingfor deeper breaths.
We're just observing our breath.
The goal when we breathe thisway is just to have our exhale
be longer than the inhale.
This activates the vagus nerve,which is the communication line

(03:17):
between the body and the brainthat tells our nervous system
whether it's safe or whetherthere's something we should be
worried about.
The long exhale is a signal toyour vagus nerve to tell your
brain it's okay to rest.
Even if your mind feels busy,that's okay.

(03:39):
The breaths will help your bodyshift toward calm before your
brain catches up, you might evenfeel your heart rate slowing,
your breath deepening, or yourhands warming, all gentle signs
that your nervous system isdoing its job.

(04:04):
We're going to shift our focusfrom our bodies Now imagine
yourself lying on soft grass orif grass bothers you, maybe
you're lying on a soft blanketor a hammock looking up at a
beautiful, wide open sky.
on a beautiful day, not too hot.

(04:24):
Not too cold Notice what the skylooks like.
Is it calm, vast, and brightblue with the sun shining?
Or is it cloudy and dark?
Pay attention to the clouds inyour sky.

(04:46):
The clouds are the anxious,"whatif" thoughts that your brain
sometimes creates?
What if I accidentally eatsomething unsafe?
What if I have a reaction?
What if my friends forget aboutmy allergy?
What if I get left out?

(05:09):
Notice how each cloud has ashape, a size, a color.
Some are small and light.
Some are bigger or darker, someare moving quickly.
And some don't seem like they'removing at all.

(05:30):
Some look so close it seems likewe could touch them, and some
are far away.
They're all just clouds movingthrough the sky.
Focus on a particular cloud andgive it a name in your mind.

(05:50):
That's a what if about eatingout.
That's a what if about myepinephrine.
Notice the thought withoutjudgment.
Just give it a name.
Now watch as that cloudcontinues to float across the
sky, it might linger for amoment and eventually it will

(06:16):
drift farther and farther away.
It might look like you can touchit, but we can't reach up there
and push it.
We don't need to shove it awayacross the sky.
And make it leave faster and wedon't need to grab it and hold
onto it and make it stay.

(06:38):
We're just observing.
Some clouds might seem to returnor not move.
New ones might appear and that'sokay.
That's just your brain doing itsjob, trying to protect you.
Notice that you can watch theclouds come and go.
Without being swept away bythem.

(07:00):
Your attention, your calm andyour body are free to rest
underneath the sky, but you arethe one observing the clouds.
You are not the clouds.
Continue to take a slow breathin and let it out gently.

(07:22):
With each exhale, Welcome,growing feelings of groundedness
and calm.
If a cloud covers the sky we cansee the sun shining from behind

(07:43):
it sending its rays peeking outand sometimes even creating a
beautiful silver lining aroundthe cloud.
We don't have to see the sun inthis moment to know that it's
still there shining and evenwhen the whole sky seems dark,
we can't see the sun or the bluesky at all.
We know that the sun is stillthere.

(08:04):
And we can remind ourselves thatit won't be cloudy forever.
Continue to breathe.
With your exhale longer thanyour inhale, notice how your

(08:25):
body feels.
You might notice your shoulderssoften your jaw on clench your
chest.
Feel lighter.
You might notice that yourstomach lifts and lowers more
easily as you breathe or thatyou can feel the breaths going

(08:47):
deeper into your body.
Each breath strengthens thefeeling that you are not your
worries and you are not theclouds.
Your body can remain calm whileyour thoughts come and go.
Take one last slow breath in andlet it out.

(09:08):
Fully notice the sky above youand, and remind yourself that
the sky can look different frommoment to moment and from day to
day.
You can carry this practice withyou anytime when a"what if"
thought appears,, whether it'sabout allergies, relationships,

(09:31):
work daily life, remember thatthe thoughts are just clouds.
You don't have to push them awayor hold onto them.
You can simply observe them andwatch them drift away.
Wiggle your fingers and toeswhen you're ready come back to
the present moment.
Feel the surface beneath you andslowly open your eyes whether

(09:54):
you're looking at it or not.
The sky is still above you.
And the sun is still shining,