Hello,
Welcome into the space.
I go by Vee and today I'm going to be guiding you through a container skill.
The container skill is a form of containment skill created to help you compartmentalize everything from daily stressors to traumas.
In our time together,
I'm going to guide you through how to build a safe space,
How to create your container,
Practicing placing things inside of your container,
And leaving your safe space and re-entering the world around you.
For this practice,
I invite you to find yourself in a safe space,
Looking around you to ensure that you are safe.
Be as comfortable as possible here.
And as we enter the space,
I invite you to take three long,
Slow breaths.
Inhaling up through the nose and exhaling out through the mouth.
Simply arriving into our space together.
If it feels comfortable and safe to do so,
I encourage you to close your eyes or to take a nice heavy lift.
Arriving in our space,
We're going to go ahead and begin building our safe space.
Now,
This safe space can be real or imaginary.
However,
I encourage you not to place any people in your space.
This space is going to be for you to visit whenever you'd like.
And in this space,
No harm can come to you.
I invite you to inhale and exhale.
As you begin to visualize your space,
I invite you to consider what it would feel like to walk barefoot in your space.
What temperature or textures may greet you?
Looking up and around at the world you're building,
What colors do you see?
If you were to reach out your hands,
What sensations would come through your fingertips?
There is no way to do this wrong.
You are in complete control here.
I invite you to look up in your space.
What do you see?
Remember,
There are no limitations here.
Your world can be built out of reality or fantasy.
The primary goal here is to create a space where you feel safe.
Where you know you are in control.
What energy does your space have?
What is being offered to you here in the space?
Perhaps the feeling of calmness or love.
Perhaps the color engulfs you in your space that brings you comfort.
Remember,
There is no way to do this wrong.
I invite you now to go wander amongst your space,
Building it as you go.
If you find that your mind is wandering,
That's okay.
Come back to your breath and then back to your safe space.
As you build the world around you,
I invite you to start thinking about where you may want to place your container.
Now,
This container is going to be a limitless space for you to hold anything that may feel too heavy for you to process in the moment.
At any time during your day or night,
You're able to come into your safe space,
Find your container,
Open it in a way that only you know how,
Place anything into your container,
Close it,
And rejoin your safe space before entering the world around you.
Your space can be any shape that you'd like,
Any color or texture.
The only requirement is that it must close and lock,
And we do not place people in our containers.
People can take up a lot of space in our day and in our mind.
When using our container,
We'd like to separate the emotion or experience from the person themselves,
And that you can place into our container.
As you wander around your safe space,
Taking in the smells and sensations,
The temperature and the colors,
Begin to start looking for that perfect place for this container.
Keeping in mind that your container can be as big or small as you'd like,
But it will always fit everything you need.
Once you've found the right space for your container,
I encourage you to take a nice,
Deep,
Long inhale through your nose,
And a long exhale out through your mouth.
As we begin to shape our container,
I remind you that there is no way to do this wrong.
Begin to imagine the texture of your container.
What does it feel like under your fingertip?
If you were to touch your container,
What sensation would go through your fingers?
Your container can be any color that you'd like.
Your container can change colors if you'd like.
If you were to walk around your container,
How long would it take you to get all the way around?
You have complete control.
Upon creating the outside of your container,
Bring your attention to how you'd like to open and close your container.
This can be any method that feels genuine to you.
Perhaps it's a pass phrase you use or a magic wand that you wave,
A key or a pin.
You are the only one who has the knowledge to open this container.
Now that you know how you'd like to open and close your container,
Go ahead and open your container,
Feeling the sense of safety radiate from your space,
Perhaps making note of any color on the inside of your container,
Remembering your container will always be here for you when you need it.
And now that you have your container open,
We're going to practice placing things inside of our container.
This is going to look different for everybody.
The principle here is to visualize whatever is keeping you from being present and mindful in your everyday life.
Coming from yourself and into your container where it will stay until you are ready to take it out.
And as you visualize the emotion or experience that you've selected,
Imagine a sense of lightness as it leaves you and finds its way into the container.
Offer this to yourself as many times as you'd like.
Each time,
Feeling a sense of calmness,
Knowing your container will hold everything they eat.
Once you've placed everything you'd like within your container,
It's time to close it.
You can do this with the same method you used to open it or perhaps a different method.
You cannot do this wrong.
Follow whatever your heart calls for.
Once you've closed and locked your container,
I invite you to visualize yourself wandering back amongst your safe space.
Notice if the ground underneath your feet feels different than it did when you first arrived.
Make note of the temperature,
Seeing any changes,
And checking in with yourself.
How are you arriving in your space?
What physical sensations are you experiencing now that you've offered yourself the space of your container?
Breathing in through our nose and exhaling out through our mouth,
Allowing yourself to wander through your space.
You can stay here for as long as you'd like,
Remembering this is your space.
And when you're ready,
I invite you to start slowly wiggling your fingers,
Wiggling your toes.
Whenever you slowly start becoming mindful of your breath without changing it,
Just noticing it,
Becoming aware of your body as it exists in the physical realm.
Offering yourself slowness here as you come back into your practice space.
There's no rush.
If you were laying down and offering your roll to your favorite side or slowly making your way up,
If you'd like,
You can choose to stay in whatever position you're in for as long as you'd like.
Okay,
Slowly moving your toes,
Your ankles,
Your wrist,
Bringing yourself back into the present moment.
And here we will take three more breaths together,
Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth,
Making each exhale slightly longer than the last.
Offering yourself a moment of gratitude here for showing up for yourself,
For practicing and learning a new skill.
Remembering that this is a practice and like any skill,
Your ability to perform it will improve with time.
Each time you practice the containment skill,
It will become easier.
Each time you visit your safe space,
You will feel more at ease there,
Remembering you are in control.
As our time comes to the end,
An offering to remember to keep showing yourself gratitude and practicing your containment skill.
