Facing Anxiety From A Safe Place

Sometimes the safest place you can find is not somewhere you travel to, but somewhere you remember.

When anxiety becomes loud, it can feel as though every part of you is overwhelmed. Yet beneath the racing thoughts and restless sensations, there is often another place quietly waiting. A place that has not forgotten how to breathe, soften, and simply be.

In this gentle practice, you'll create space from your anxiety, visualise it leaving your body, and begin to experience it as something separate from who you are. With compassion, you'll acknowledge how it has tried to protect you while gently reminding yourself that you are safe, capable, and no longer need to live in constant fear.

Return whenever life feels overwhelming and reconnect with the inner sanctuary that has been within you all along.

Transcript

Welcome to this Facing Anxiety from a Safe Place Meditation by Gabriella Damori. We're going to settle into this half an hour meditation now. So you really have time to slow down and unwind and really allow your body to relax on the chair. Lengthening and extending the breath and allowing your belly to become full like a gentle balloon as you breathe in. Nice long smooth exhalations as you breathe out. Really emptying the lungs and allowing yourself the opportunity to refresh them with new oxygen as you breathe in deeply. And I'm going to take you on a short journey in this meditation. And this starts at a beautiful nature scene that immediately comes to your mind. Somewhere outdoors, You may have been there before, It may completely come to you in your imagination, It doesn't matter. Just bring to mind a beautiful outdoor nature scene where it's just you there. And as you continue to breathe deeply, Just take your time to look around. 360 degree view, Look up, Down, Behind you, And just start to notice this beautiful scene in great detail using your five senses, Taking time to use your eyes to look at everything in great detail and using your nose to imagine what that scenery would smell like. Maybe you're by the ocean, Maybe it's the forest, Thinking about the sounds that you can hear in this beautiful scene. If there's any animals or birds, Sounds of the trees or the plant, Waves or water, Thinking about your sense of taste and maybe there's something there you can snack on, Some berries or some fruit or some beautiful rainwater. And lastly, Just thinking about your whole body and how it's able to feel everywhere. Thinking about this nature scene and how you can feel the wind, Temperature on your skin, You can feel the time of day, Thinking about your clothes and how they touch your body, Thinking about your feet on the ground, Noticing what you're standing upon and what that may feel like. And as you take a few steps, Just noticing each step and how it feels, These sounds it makes as you walk, The texture between your toes. Just continue to breathe deeply here in this nature scene, With each exhalation allowing your muscles to relax, Your shoulders to drop, The muscles in your face to relax. And you know you have plenty of time to be here, So there's no rush. You can fully unwind and relax here. And now we're going to actually transport to a different place within our imagination, Somewhere you've never been before. And we're going to take 31 steps to get here. It doesn't matter if these steps take you underground or up high above the ground, Maybe above the clouds, But suddenly the first of the 31 steps appears to you. And we're going to a totally safe and comfortable and nourishing place. There's nothing you need to worry about. It's like a little adventure, Just following your gut and moving towards something that interests you. And so happily, We're just going to start these steps, However they come to your mind visually. We're going to start at the 31st step, Counting down 30, 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20. Just resting here, Take a deep breath and notice how the scenery is starting to change and it's starting to simplify as we head to a very calming and nourishing place, Really within ourselves that we feel comfortable moving towards. Very slowly, Continue to count down your steps at your own pace, Moving happily towards this calm and simple place. Coming to the last steps, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And you enter this place that is very calm, Almost empty, Peaceful. That's like you've entered a beautiful sacred cave or happy room or empty tree house. Just simple, Safe and nourishing. And there's not many sounds or things to look at here. It's just a simple place to be. Just look around and take some time to get to know this new place. Now find a comfortable place to sit as we're going to move into some contemplation. And as you find somewhere to sit, I'm going to ask you to scan your body for where you feel anxious when you're really, Really stressed. I want you to notice very particularly where that anxiety tends to prop up, Where you can feel those physical sensations the most. Scanning from the top of your head to the back of your body, All the way down to the tips of your toes. And if I ask you to draw an outline around all of the places you feel anxiety when you're stressed, Just draw an imaginary line around all of those parts of your body that feel anxious. And there may be one big space or lots of little spaces, It doesn't matter. And just start to focus on these places that feel really anxious and just notice how you're feeling about being aware of those parts of the body. As if you were living in or being in those anxious parts of the body just for a few moments. Just for a few moments, Not very long. What's it like to nose dive right into those anxious feelings, Those parts of the body that are freaking out when you're stressed, Those anxious, Fearful parts that don't quite know what to do when you're overwhelmed. And now I'd like you to become aware of all of the parts of your body where you don't feel anxiety. Explore those parts of your body, Everywhere that the anxiety is not. Be the back of your body, Tips of your hair, Spine, Your pelvis, Your knees, Your feet. Even if you can only find one little place that doesn't feel anxious, That's okay. Just becoming aware of and outlining all of the parts of you that don't feel anxious, Even when you're stressed. And be in those parts of the body. Be in those parts that don't get triggered or set off by the anxiety. Stay there for a little while. What would it be like to be those parts of the body that even when you're stressed and anxious and other parts of you are freaking out, Not much happens here. Take a few more deep breaths from these places of calm. Maybe it's the first time you notice that anxiety doesn't completely cover the whole body. Find refuge in these parts of the body that are anxiety free. And now I'm going to ask you to find a place in your body that feels good and wise to be in, Or as good or as wise as you can imagine. That's good enough. Find somewhere in the body that you're happy to be for a few more moments. A part of you that feels unencumbered or not swept up by the anxiety. Part of your body that still feels good to be in touch with. Be here for a few moments. Feel good in the body. Even though some parts of you are dealing with anxiety, Some parts are not. Be here in the part of you that feels good, That feels nourishing, Feels wise. Breathe in these feelings and remind yourself how it feels good to be in the body, How it feels safe and nourishing to be in this part of the body. And from this part of the body, This wise and happy part of the body, I want you to start using your exhalation to breathe out all of the anxiety in the body and visualize breathing this out and moving the anxiety into a shape outside of your body. Breathing it out into a box, A chest of drawers, Or a bubble, Any shape that comes to your mind. Feeling that sense of happiness and nourishment and breathing out all of the anxiety and moving it out into this physical shape outside of your body. Keep breathing. Take as long as you need until you've breathed out all of the anxiety and it's now sitting in a shape outside of you. Keep breathing. There's lots of parts of you that feel resistant and don't want to go. The anxiety wants to stay with you to make you worried and scared and look out for you. And as you keep building this shape outside of you and infusing it with all of your anxiety, Just noticing it in great detail, What it looks like and if it moves or the shape moves or develops or changes. Notice if it's spinning in air or sitting on the floor. Doesn't matter. Notice how big or small it is. Keep breathing out all of those little pesky, Anxious parts of you. And when all of the anxious parts of you feel like they have left your body, Take another good look at this shape of anxiety. And it may change and move, But I want you to see really clearly the face of your anxiety or the shape of it. Let it be what it is and let it morph into whatever it needs to. But I want you to get a really clear visual representation of your anxiety. Maybe it's a cloud or maybe it's a wolf. Maybe it's a little child. Maybe it's something that screams or shakes or rattles. Let it morph into a very clear visual representation of your anxiety. Maybe it's someone you know and their voice. Or maybe it's a scary animal. Maybe it's the shape you've never seen before. That's totally okay. And once you've got a very clear picture, I want you to say to this picture of your anxiety, Thank you for looking out for me. Thank you for looking out for me. Thank you for trying to keep me safe. Thank you for trying to keep me safe. Thank you for being on the lookout for me. Thank you for being on the lookout for me. Thank you for trying to see danger before it comes to me. Thank you for trying to see danger before it comes to me. But I want you to know that in this moment, I'm not in danger. I'm not in danger. In this moment, I am safe. I am safe. I am safe. I am capable of facing my challenges. I am capable of facing my challenges. I am capable of facing my challenges. I am stronger than my stress. Looking at your anxiety picture and saying very clearly and very directly, Very confidently, I am stronger than my stress. I am stronger than my stress. And you may like to say something else now to your anxiety that feels particularly helpful or important for you to say. For you to finally stand up and confront your anxiety and tell it something that it needs to know about you. Tell it something bold and brave that it has forgotten about you. And say it a couple of times in your mind over and over, Confidently and clearly. And when you finish saying everything you need to, I want you to see that picture of your anxiety slowly shrink inch by inch into a much smaller shape. And I want you to see it moving closer to the ground and further away from you. And if you need to keep saying one of the truths or one of your affirmations, Keep saying it and move the anxiety away from you. Seeing it get smaller and lower, Further and further away. In fact, It gets so small and so far away, It leaves your sacred room that you're sitting in. It's gone. You're just with your calm, Nourishing self now. Look around your sacred room once again. Re-familiarize yourself as you've never been here before. Breathe into your body as it's now a body free from anxiety. Breathe in this sense of spaciousness in your body now that your anxiety has left. Breathing in some loving kindness or some confidence or whatever you feel you need now. So much space in the body that you can fill with something new and helpful now that the anxiety is gone. Allow yourself to feel that, To feel your body abundant with good and nourishing feelings. It may be hard to believe that your body can feel good and nourishing. It may be unfamiliar. Just do your best. We're going to leave this sacred and simple place very soon. Just take a few more deep breaths here. Look around once again. Remind yourself one last time what inner safety feels like. What this inner sanctuary feels like. Remember you can come back here at any time you like, Every day if you need. But for now we're going to leave this safe place and very slowly take our stares back to our beautiful nature scene that's also a lovely place to be. So when you're ready, Looking around, Saying goodbye and finding the stairs again. Taking the stairs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Rest here. Take a deep breath. Look towards your nature scene. You're walking 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Take a rest here. Noticing how you feel as you come closer to your nature scene and further away from your safe place. 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31. And arrive once again at your beautiful nature scene. It may be a little later in the day or it may look exactly the same. Just take some time to reacquaint yourself with your surroundings. Take a few final deep breaths. Beautiful place. Before we come back to our lives on this day, Maybe there's something you want to remind yourself of. A message you want to take away with you back to your life.