Calming Anxiety | Guided Meditation, Sleep Hypnosis & Panic Attack Relief

A Golden Wedding by L.M. Montgomery — A Heartwarming Bedtime Story for Sleep & Insomnia | Books at Bedtime

 

Settle in and drift off to sleep with A Golden Wedding by L.M. Montgomery, the much-loved author of Anne of Green Gables, read aloud by Martin Hewlett on Books at Bedtime, the sleep story series from Calming Anxiety.

 

After fifteen years out West, Lovell Stephens walks back through the old apple orchard, whistling, to see the couple who raised him. Aunt Sally and Uncle Tom took him in when he was an orphan of eleven, "just heading for destruction", and gave him a home, his schooling and all the love he ever had.

 

But the little grey house is boarded up. Uncle Tom is crippled with rheumatism, the mortgage has been called in, the furniture has been sold, and the old couple have gone to the poorhouse. In a fortnight it will be their golden wedding anniversary, fifty years married, and Aunt Sally can't bear the thought of spending it there.

 

So Lovell quietly buys back the house. With the help of kind Mrs Stetson, he tracks down every chair, clock and piece of pink china, while the women of Blair plan a celebration nobody is allowed to mention.

 

What follows is a tender, feel-good story about gratitude, kindness repaid and what really counts as riches, in a world that measures everything in money. A gentle, heartwarming bedtime story for adults, perfect for winding down, easing insomnia and settling into deep, peaceful sleep.

 

Calm narration and a soft, unhurried pace make this classic short story a soothing sleep audiobook for anyone who finds it hard to switch off at night. If you enjoyed Uncle Richard's New Year's Dinner, our last L.M. Montgomery story on Books at Bedtime, you'll love this one too.

 

L.M. Montgomery (1874–1942) and this story are in the public domain.

 

Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett.

 

📱 Listen to Books at Bedtime in the Anchored app, offline and with the screen off, so you can fall asleep without a bright phone in your hand:

 

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669

 

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored

 

🧡 For Martin's calming tips, visit: https://calminganxiety.org/calm

 

Sleep well, my friend. And in everything, be kind.

 

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/calming-anxiety-guided-meditation-sleep-hypnosis-panic-attack-relief--4110266/support.

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.

Sunday Scaries — "I Don't Want Tomorrow to Come" | Box Breathing for Evening Dread & Anticipatory Anxiety

 

The Sunday Scaries are that late-evening feeling of dread — the anticipatory anxiety that arrives when the light goes amber and a small voice says "I don't want tomorrow to come." Not because tomorrow is terrible, but because the last few days were a shelter, and you can feel the door of it beginning to close. It is one of the most common forms of anxiety there is, and it responds beautifully to what we do together in this session.

 

In this 10-minute guided meditation we use box breathing — also known as square breathing, used by paramedics, soldiers and surgeons who need a steady hand at the exact moment the body wants to run. Tonight we draw a long, slow box (5-5-5-5) because we are not preparing to act, we are preparing to rest. Then a warm golden light spreads through the body, followed by gentle hypnotherapy affirmations for anxiety relief, deep relaxation and sleep.

 

Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett. Ideal for Sunday night anxiety, work anxiety, evening overthinking, racing thoughts before bed and anyone who needs help falling asleep without tomorrow sitting on their chest.

 

⏱️ Time Chapters

 

* 00:00 – "I don't want tomorrow to come"

* 00:40 – Naming the Sunday Scaries

* 01:16 – Welcome and settling in

* 01:48 – Box breathing, the long 5-5-5-5 box

* 03:48 – Drawing the box in golden light

* 04:45 – Letting the breath find its own rhythm

* 05:04 – Golden light through the whole body

* 05:35 – Tonight's affirmations

* 07:11 – Sinking deeper into the trance state

* 07:47 – The affirmations, once more

* 08:14 – Your three daily caring tips

* 09:03 – Coming back gently

* 09:35 – Anchored, sharing, and goodnight

 

🌿 Today's Gentle Affirmations

 

Say these with me tonight, silently or out loud — but allow them to land.

 

* I am calm, and I am safe, and I am here.

* Tomorrow is not happening yet. Only this breath is happening.

* I release this late-night feeling. It is only a thought, and thoughts pass through me.

* I put tomorrow down, and I pick it up in the morning rested.

* My anxiety is not a warning. It is only a tired nervous system asking to be seen.

* I meet the week ahead one hour at a time.

* There is nothing to fear right now. In this room, in this moment, I am completely safe.

 

💡 3 Daily Caring Tips

 

1. **One line, then let it go.** Before you go to bed, write down the single first thing you will do tomorrow morning — one line only, so your mind can stop rehearsing it in the night.

2. **Put the work phone in another room.** Your work phone or work email goes out of reach until morning. Physically in another room, not just closed.

3. **Give the last hour to something with no outcome.** A bath, a record, a walk to the end of the road and back.

 

📱 Take Calming Anxiety With You Anywhere

 

If this helped, come and find it in Anchored — the box breathing is narrated all the way through, and you can build your own patterns, choose your own backing sounds and lighting modes. Download Anchored on iOS for over 3,000 searchable, offline-ready audio sessions, sleep stories with Books at Bedtime, and built-in nightlight features for the small hours. 👉 [Download Anchored on the App Store Today](https://apps.apple.com)

 

And if you know someone who goes quiet in the evenings — someone who gets that far-away look around six o'clock — please share this episode with them. It costs nothing, and it may be the thing that turns their evening around. A 30-second rating or review on Apple Podcasts helps another anxious listener find us tonight.

 

So in everything, always — in every word, every thought, every action — be kind.

 

 

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YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

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.

Uncle Richard's New Year's Dinner by L.M. Montgomery — A Heartwarming Bedtime Story for Sleep & Insomnia | Books at Bedtime

 

Curl up and drift off to sleep with Uncle Richard's New Year's Dinner by L.M. Montgomery, the beloved author of Anne of Green Gables, read aloud by Martin Hewlett on Books at Bedtime, the sleep story series from Calming Anxiety.

 

It's New Year's morning in the little village of Quincy, and Prissy Baker is buying matches at the store when her Uncle Richard walks in. He doesn't look at her. For eight long years, since a quarrel over a piece of property, he hasn't spoken a word to Prissy or to her father, his only brother.

 

Prissy overhears that Uncle Richard has to drive his pork to Navarre, and that with his housekeeper away he'll come home cold and hungry to an empty house and an uncooked New Year's dinner. So she sets aside her new book and her box of candy, slips into his kitchen through the woodshed door, and starts to cook. Roast pork, potatoes, cabbage, turnips and a raisin pudding. She means to be gone before he gets back.

 

She isn't.

 

What follows is a gentle, heartwarming story about pride, forgiveness and family, and about how one small kindness can mend a quarrel that has gone on far too long. A cosy, feel-good bedtime story for adults, ideal for winding down, easing insomnia and settling into deep, peaceful sleep.

 

Calm narration and a soft, unhurried pace make this classic short story a perfect sleep audiobook for anyone who finds it hard to switch off at night. If you enjoyed our recent E. Nesbit stories, you'll find this one just as warm.

 

Uncle Richard's New Year's Dinner was first published in Chronicles of Avonlea (1912). L.M. Montgomery (1874–1942) and this story are in the public domain.

 

Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett.

 

📱 Listen to Books at Bedtime in the Anchored app, offline and with the screen off, so you can fall asleep without a bright phone in your hand:

 

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669

 

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored

 

🧡 For Martin's calming tips, visit: https://calminganxiety.org/calm

 

Sleep well, my friend. And in everything, be kind.

 

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/calming-anxiety-guided-meditation-sleep-hypnosis-panic-attack-relief--4110266/support.

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.

World Mental Health Day — A 10-Minute Guided Meditation for When You Just Need Ten Minutes to Yourself

 

Today, 10 October, is World Mental Health Day. If you've spent the day holding yourself together, being fine, answering properly and getting on with it, this 10-minute guided meditation is the quiet ten minutes you've been needing. Nothing to prove, nothing to achieve. The time is yours.

 

Martin guides you through simple, gentle breathing for anxiety and stress: no counting and no breath holding, just noticing the breath you're already taking and letting the out-breath soften.

 Then come five calming affirmations for your mental health, including "I do not have to be fine to deserve looking after." Anchored, Martin's free-to-download app, is on iPhone

 (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669) and Android (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored).

 

Because your mental health deserves care every day, not just on World Mental Health Day. That includes the days you can't explain what's wrong, and the days you seem to be managing perfectly well while everything takes more effort than anyone can see. At the end, Martin shares openly why he made Calming Anxiety.

 

Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett.

 

⏱️ Time Chapters

 

* 00:00 – "I just needed ten minutes"

* 00:33 – Welcome: today is World Mental Health Day

* 01:05 – Getting comfortable

* 01:21 – Noticing the breath: no counting, no holding

* 02:08 – A gentle, longer out-breath

* 03:04 – A little quiet space that belongs to you

* 03:55 – A hand on your shoulder: we've got this

* 04:41 – Five gentle reminders

* 06:03 – Relaxing deeper, and the reminders once more

* 07:30 – Keep the one that fits

* 07:43 – Your mental health deserves care every day

* 08:12 – 3 daily caring tips

* 09:02 – Coming back into the room

* 09:28 – When you need more support

* 09:54 – Instant Calm in Anchored, free

* 10:51 – Why I do this

 

🌿 Today's Gentle Affirmations

 

Repeat them quietly, or simply listen. If one doesn't fit today, let it pass.

 

* I am here, and being here is enough for now.

* I do not have to be fine to deserve looking after.

* I can take this moment at my own pace.

* I am allowed to look after my mental health.

* I do not have to earn that care.

* I can give myself a little space before my next step.

 

💡 3 Daily Caring Tips

 

1. Notice one breath: Sometime today, pause and notice one comfortable breath. There is no need to change it.

 

2. Share as much as you choose: If someone asks you how you are, you can choose how much to share. A small, honest answer is enough if that is what feels right.

 

3. A hand on your chest: If it feels comforting, rest a hand on your chest for one easy breath, a small moment of kindness towards yourself.

 

If these quiet minutes help and you're finding the rest of your days difficult, please share it with a doctor or someone you trust. You deserve support beyond this session.

 

📱 Take Calming Anxiety With You Anywhere

 

If anxiety or panic sometimes catches you when you least expect it, download Anchored while you're feeling okay. The Instant Calm button on the main page is completely free, works offline and needs no signing up. World Mental Health Day, every day.

 

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669

 

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored

 

If today's meditation helped, please share it with someone who might need ten quiet minutes, and leave a 30-second rating on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

 

Take care of yourself, my friend. And in everything, be kind.

 

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/calming-anxiety-guided-meditation-sleep-hypnosis-panic-attack-relief--4110266/support.

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.

The Sums That Came Right by E. Nesbit — A Calming Bedtime Story for Sleep & Insomnia | Books at Bedtime

 

Drift off to sleep with The Sums That Came Right by E. Nesbit, a gentle and funny Edwardian fairy tale read aloud by Martin Hewlett on Books at Bedtime, the sleep story series from Calming Anxiety.

 

Edwin can't see the point of lessons. Seeds turn into flowers and dinner stops you being hungry, but sums never lead to anything. Then one afternoon, with his head inside his school desk, he finds the Arithmetic Fairy glowing at the back of it, in a dress woven of integral calculus and trimmed with logarithms.

 

From that day on, every sum Edwin gets right comes true at home. A sum about white rabbits leaves 7,563 of them in the front garden. Apples fill the cellar, oranges climb the stairs, and elephants arrive. Then a sum about a leaking cistern turns the staircase into Niagara, and Edwin has to find a way to call the fairy back and ask her to undo her gift.

 

What follows is a tender ending about growing up, about what learning gives us and what it can't, and about a rose garden and the Love Fairy.

 

This classic bedtime story for adults is perfect for winding down, easing insomnia and letting a busy mind settle into deep, restful sleep. Calm narration, gentle humour and a soft, unhurried pace make it an ideal sleep audiobook for anyone who finds it hard to switch off at night.

 

If you enjoy E. Nesbit, the author of The Railway Children and Five Children and It, you'll find more of her short stories on Books at Bedtime, including The White Cat, The Related Muff, The Aunt and Amabel, JustNowLand, The Magician's Heart and The Twopenny Spell.

 

The Sums That Came Right was first published in Oswald Bastable and Others (1905). E. Nesbit (1858–1924) and this story are in the public domain.

 

Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett.

 

📱 Listen to Books at Bedtime in the Anchored app, offline and with the screen off, so you can fall asleep without a bright phone in your hand:

 

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669

 

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored

 

🧡 For Martin's calming tips, visit: https://calminganxiety.org/calm

 

Sleep well, my friend. And in everything, be kind.

 

 

Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners!

 

YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1

 

Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/

 

Music: All music by Chris Collins

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/calming-anxiety-guided-meditation-sleep-hypnosis-panic-attack-relief--4110266/support.

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.