Visiting Your Safe Place

Find yourself in a comfortable position, either sitting or lying down and make sure you will not be disturbed.

Begin by relaxing your body and focusing on your breath.

Take a nice, full deep breath in...and exhale out.

Let your belly rise and fall with each breath, no need to do anything at all, just breathe.

Good.

Think now of a place where you feel safe.

It could be anywhere you like such as the beach, or in your own room.

Sometimes I imagine being in the womb, safe and warm.

Picture all the details of this place, like colors, smells and any sensations.

The more detail, the better.

Vividly see the all the colors being bright and shimmering….

Nice….

Take another deep breath in through your nose and imagine that you can sense the smells around you in this safe and wonderful place.

Feel the sensations of safety in your body…..how does it feel?

Notice how your chest and belly feel right now, and feel all the sensations throughout your body.

Do your legs feel relaxed?

They have absolutely no where to take you right now, so they are very relaxed.

Make some small movements with your head and feel the sensations in your neck.

Perhaps your body feels lighter or maybe heavier, just notice all of the sensations in your body right now and take note of how this state feels….good.

We will start an exercise where we notice all the different emotions that we have, and feel where and in which part of our body we have them.

At times, we might feel an uncomfortable emotion rise, and if it does, you can simply remember how it feels in your safe spot, and breathe some gentle breaths.

By practicing these techniques of noticing the sensations in your body that you just learned, you physically change your body’s chemistry, making you feel relaxed and secure…..great.

Let’s start of by imagining the feeling of pride….. visualize yourself being proud.

You can do this by remembering back to a time when you accomplished something marvelous.

Or you can think about when you were proud of somebody else.

Just feel this sensation…and pay attention to where in your body you notice it. Really sense it’s location.

Sit with this sensation for a moment…..

Now let’s experience the feeling of excitement.

Remember vividly being excited about something, or maybe you become enthusiastic right now without any particular reason.

Notice how this feels.

Again, sense where this sensation arises in your body, and feel any physical changes you notice.

Now sit with this feeling for moment.

Bring into your awareness the feeling of amusement.

Can you remember when something was really interesting to you?

Remember how it grabbed your attention?

Feel all of the sensations in your body….where do you sense this feeling?

What is the essence of what you notice?

Perhaps it doesn’t feel like much at all, and that is perfectly fine.

Sit with this sensation for a moment. 

Now let’s locate in our emotional bank, the feeling of gratitude.

Feel the feelings that arise when you are grateful.

Do you remember a time when you were grateful for something?

Also think about a time when you were grateful for someone.

Be grateful right now…. where do you feel this emotion? notice every sensation you can.

Just sit with this feeling for a bit.

Now bring into your awareness the feeling of kindness.

How does it feel to be kind to someone and to do a kind act?

Humans have always strive to be the kindest creatures on earth, and this feels good for a reason.

Without kindness we would not get along well at all.

So feel all the sensations you can that come from kindness.

Noticing in your body, where are you feeling any shifts…

Sit with this feeling for some time.

You have visualized many emotions and feelings.

Good job.

So right now, I want you to just relax and stop trying to do anything at all.

Don’t try to bring up anything in particular, just let any emotions flow through you.

Let them pass by as soon as they rise.

Take an observer’s view of what’s happening, and witness all the changes.

You may encounter a feeling beginning to swell in you that doesn’t feel very well, and that’s completely ok.

It’s ok to feel all emotions, both positive and negative.

So allow this wave to just roll on by, effortlessly.

Remember that you can always choose to come back to your safe place, feeling pleasant sensations, and breathing towards them.

By sensing the good feelings and allowing the not so good feelings to pass by, you change your entire body chemistry, for the better.

When you locate where these sensations arise, you get better understanding of your body…..good.

So let’s try this again.

More quickly this time.

Imagine the feeling of joy, remember as many joyful memories as you can, all the way back to when you were a child.

You could be experiencing your biggest joy right now, noticing where in your body this sensation arises.

Notice every change.

Allowing this sensation to grow, filling you.

Let it get stronger…..

Your body is physically changing and healing, right now.

Now with this feeling present in your body, visualize your safe place again….by doing this you are strengthening the positive emotions tied to your safe spot.

Visiting your safe place often can have a great effect on relaxing your mind and body.

A relaxed body heals itself easily, and naturally feels good.

When we are under tension, sometimes it’s very difficult to bring ourselves to a calm relaxed state, but practicing the safe space technique, every day, will help you to convert those hard times if they come.

Let’s strengthen our safe spot even more.

I want you to visualize the feeling of passion.

Everyone is passionate about something, so find your passion, and notice the sensations that arise.

How does it feel, do you feel pleasant changes?

Where do you feel these changes?

Let this passionate feeling grow, getting stronger and stronger.

Now go to your safe place, bringing passion with you.

Relax here for a while…..

You can always bring yourself back here, to your safe place, at any moment in your day.

Now return your awareness to the present moment, noticing the surroundings and becoming more alert.

When you’re fully present, you go about the rest of your day feeling very relaxed and refreshed.