This is an EMDR resourcing technique.
Called the Four Elements,
And this resourcing technique is used to help you regulate your system,
Whether this is between EMDR sessions with a licensed therapist or just in your daily living.
These skills are all useful to us as we move through the mundane,
Acting as tools in our tool belt.
That you can reach for in times of dysregulation,
Centering,
Even reflection.
So for this four elements resourcing,
Go ahead and find yourself in a comfortable seat.
Just taking a few slow breaths to start to let the day fall away and settle into this meditation just a little bit more.
Really noticing both feet firmly planted on the floor.
This noticing ushers in the earth,
This first of the four stages,
Grounding.
Really letting yourself feel the physical connection to the ground and the chair,
The seat,
The support system beneath you.
Planting through those four corners of each foot.
Really letting your spine stack over your hips to release your body,
Release the muscles.
Letting your sits bones support the weight above it more fully.
Grounding your energy down.
And bringing your awareness down.
I'm taking a moment here to notice three new sites.
Or three sounds around you,
Right here,
Right now.
Allowing yourself to just get a little bit more here.
Good.
And you're welcome to let the eyes gently close here now,
Or just keep them gently open,
Letting them relax even more.
Whatever you're most comfortable with here.
As we usher in this second stage,
This second element.
Helping us center.
So bring your awareness to your breath.
We usher in this element of air.
And inhale slowly through your nose here.
And then hold at the top of the breath for just a moment.
And then exhale even more slowly than the inhale.
And repeat that for several slow cycles here.
Signaling safety to your brain.
This nice,
Slow,
Regulated breath.
With a longer exhale.
Signals to your nervous system that you are okay.
Bringing air into your body and letting yourself turn it into breath,
Into life.
This alchemy with air here.
Two more breaths just like that,
Right here.
Grounded.
Centering.
And with that next exhale,
Gently letting that go.
And we usher in this third stage,
This third element of water.
So just starting to imagine in that mind's eye that there is a lemon in front of you.
And in your mind's eye,
You cut that lemon in half and you see the juice,
The pith within.
And you gently bring that cut lemon wedge up to your lips.
This imagery often helps produce saliva in the mouth.
This activates our parasympathetic nervous system,
Again helping the body to relax.
Ushering in calm,
Control.
So can you just let the body react to that imagery here,
Taking a few more breaths,
Imagining that lemon to the lips.
Noticing your physiological response.
And just letting it be as it is.
Noticing how your body can shift states just through imagery.
Noticing how accessible relaxation is to you.
Just by asking your mind.
To bring a shift online.
Good.
Now finally we bring in this fourth element of fire.
Circling back to the imagination,
This place where change becomes more readily accessible,
Fire being this shapeshifter.
This allowance of deep change,
Constant change,
The power that exists in that when we harness it.
So go ahead and allow yourself to picture a place where you feel calm.
Perhaps even feeling neutral.
And just allowing yourself to be in that imaginal space,
Whether it's a place you've been before or a place that you just conjured up in your imagination.
Anchoring this imagery of this place to this feeling of calm or neutrality.
That you associate with it already.
Just through me asking you to find this place in your mind.
Can you notice where the calm or the neutral sensation is in the body?
Wherever it is.
Putting your attention there.
And then tapping your left foot,
Right foot,
Left foot,
Right foot.
Four more,
Just at that slow pace.
Tap,
Tap,
Tap.
Take a deep breath in and a long breath out.
Knowing that that place is always accessible to you,
To your imagination,
To your nervous system,
To your calm,
To your neutrality.
Knowing that you can reach for it.
It is now in your tool belt,
This fire,
This alchemy here.
So just allowing yourself to take a few more breaths here,
Grounded through the feet.
Centered through the breath.
Relaxed through the mouth,
This water,
This saliva that flows through you,
This life.
And safe with this fire of change within you,
Within the mind.
And whenever you're ready to come back into your place,
Back into this present moment,
Blinking the eyes open gently if they found their way closed.
And letting the eyes search the room,
Mapping your space out once more,
Reminding yourself where you are.
Welcome back.
And be well.
