Slide Into Your Vacation Time - LIVE Talk & Practice - 07/22/22

This is a recording of Femke's weekly Friday LIVE. In today's recording Femke guides you in a visualisation that can help you to let go of the stress of daily life and to slide into a well deserved (short or longer) break. Femke briefly explains how you can visualize in a way that fits you and then guides you on a relaxing tour within your own mind. Enjoy and release whatever you are ready to release! For more LIVES, audio tracks, workshops, and courses, follow Femke's Insight Timer profile!

Transcript

Hello everyone,

Welcome to my Friday life.

I'm so happy to be here,

Because this is going to be the last life for the coming month.

Oh yeah,

I'm so going to miss you guys.

But I'm also really looking forward to have my summer break,

To be with my loved ones,

To relax and to basically do as little as possible.

Although it's pretty hard for me to do as little as possible,

Because I like to do stuff,

But it's good for me.

So we're going to visualize.

I will guide you.

So basically today you don't have to do anything.

You can just relax and listen to my voice and let my voice guide you into that relaxation.

So to make sure that you can relax,

I want to explain something about visualization first.

When we say visualization,

We think of images.

When we use the word imagination,

We think of images.

And yes,

I will speak to you in a language of images,

More or less.

But you might be someone who doesn't fantasize in images.

And that's really normal,

Because some people fantasize in seeing images,

But others fantasize in seeing words or hearing words or thinking words.

You know,

It's a little bit blurred if you see it or hear it or feel it.

Some people just know something to be,

Some people have a sense or feeling.

So whatever your way is to fantasize,

That's also the way that you want to visualize.

So don't worry if you don't see those images,

Really make it something from you,

In your way,

In your way that you are fantasizing.

Make sure that you are as comfortable as possible.

So that means you can either lie down or just sit comfortable leaning against something.

But maybe comfortable for you is just sitting straight up with your legs crossed and you really like that.

That's also great,

You know,

Really make it yours.

Sit in a way that is good for you.

Yeah,

Like that.

Now take a moment to feel if there's any tension.

Because it might be that there is tension in your body and see then if you can relax,

If you shift,

If that helps.

And if there's a lot of tension you can even make a little bit more tension.

So for instance a good example are your shoulders.

A lot of people,

Myself included,

Tend to put a lot of tension in your shoulders.

So if you feel it's hard to relax that,

Then just pull your shoulders up all the way to your ears and then drop them and sigh it out.

Ah,

There's such a relaxing quality in just,

You know,

Pulling up your shoulders and drop it with sighing it out.

And really,

You know,

Let that air blow out of your lungs until there's nothing left.

The same goes for your face,

You know,

We're frowning or we're clenching our jaws.

So make a lemon face,

Bring everything together.

Relax.

Or maybe you want to laugh like me because it feels so funny to make such a lemon face.

Laughing is always good.

Crying can also be good sometimes.

It's relaxing,

It's releasing,

Just like laughing.

Let's make a lemon face again.

And relax.

Yeah.

Now gently close your eyes.

And feel for a moment how you're sitting or lying down.

How your feet are touching the ground.

Your buttocks,

Your thighs touching the seat below you.

Maybe also your back against the chair or the mattress.

By just being aware of how our body starts to relax and how we can help it.

There is a relaxing quality in just,

You know,

Pacing down.

Becoming aware of our body touching the ground.

Touching the support that we have below us.

Alright,

Now let's visualize.

I would like you to imagine that there is a stairs in front of you and the stairs is leading down.

So we're going to descend the stairs in a really comfortable,

Slow pace.

And I'm going to count with you your steps.

And with every count it feels like you are diving deeper within.

Diving deeper into yourself.

So one.

Your body is relaxing even more.

Two.

Your body feels soft and gentle.

Three.

There is a sense of calmness that starts to be in your body and your mind.

Four.

Really becomes comfortable to just sit here in quiet,

Peacefulness.

Five.

Six.

You sink deeper inside of yourself.

Feeling relaxed.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

Nine.

And ten.

You're really relaxed by now.

And when you take a look around you,

You see that you are standing on a beautiful beach.

Just take a moment to see how this beach looks because it's your favorite beach.

It might be that you've been there.

It might be that you have not yet been there but you know it from films or photos.

You now start to walk onto this beach towards the sea.

And the atmosphere feels exactly right.

It's not too warm,

It's not too cold.

If you prefer it to be night then make it night.

If you prefer it to be in the middle of the day with the sun really high then that is that.

Maybe there are dunes.

Maybe there are woods.

Your feet are either on sand or maybe this is a rocky beach.

That's also fine.

Whatever your beach looks like.

This is your beach.

This is your fantasy.

Create it as you like it to be.

Now when you come closer to the sea or the ocean,

You take a look at the water.

And the water is also behaving in a way that you enjoy.

So if you like big waves then there are like surfing waves crashing onto the beach.

If you like the more stillness of the water then these are more quiet waters.

Like the tide is going down and there are almost no waves.

The color of the sea is the color that you like it to be.

It doesn't even have to be blue or green like in real life.

Maybe you just want to color it purple or yellow or just your favorite color.

That's fine.

This is your fantasy.

Take a moment to listen to the sound of the ocean.

The sound of the water.

It's a repetitive sound,

Really kind,

Really relaxing.

When you hear this sound it feels like you are part of this ocean.

Part of this beautiful beach.

Part of this beautiful nature.

So let's walk a little bit into the water.

And if you don't like to walk into the water,

That might be,

Then that's okay.

Then you just stay on the beach,

Right?

Then you just do everything there on the dry rock or the dry sand.

That's perfectly fine.

But if you love the water then you can walk with me into the water.

And feel how the temperature of the water is exactly right.

Exactly how you like it.

If you like it warm,

It's warm.

If you like it a bit chilly,

It's a bit chilly and you get used to it.

If you like it really cold,

Then it's cold.

Whatever you like it to be.

Just be aware of how your feet are now sinking a little bit in the sand that is there.

How the water is getting over your feet.

It's almost as if the water is caressing you.

Loving you.

Showing you that this is a safe place.

Because whatever we are going to do,

This is a safe place.

This is your fantasy.

And the ocean is here for you.

To carry you.

To love you.

To move you.

Now let's walk a little bit further into the sea.

And when you feel that there is enough depth below you,

You just go to lie down in the water and you let yourself float.

And if you have never floated in the sea or the ocean,

That's ok.

You can just imagine that you are lying on the water.

And the water is just carrying you.

Slowly moving.

There are no big waves crushing over your face.

If there are big waves,

You are just lifted and they are just running below you.

You are carried.

This ocean is here to support you,

To carry you even more than they would in real life.

And if you are not in the ocean with me,

Then find a comfy bed,

Find a comfy chair.

Just lie in the sand and feel how the earth is supporting you.

Because I can understand that some people prefer to be carried by the earth rather than by the water.

But if you can surrender to this water,

This moving water,

Which is just carrying you,

Then you can surrender to just trusting that water to carry you,

Then just feel how you are floating.

You might want to open your arms and legs like a sea star,

Starfish,

Being supported.

Can you feel that sense of letting go?

Trusting that you will be carried.

Trusting that something bigger than you is there for you.

Uplifting you.

Dancing with you.

Lovingly caressing you.

In a perfect atmosphere,

Not too warm and not too cold.

Let's just be aware of our body being lifted by the ocean for a moment.

So bring your attention to your toes.

Just floating there and your whole feet.

The water is running over it but also carrying it.

Now your calves and the under thighs are resting in the water,

Gently being carried while the sun or the moon is shining on the upper part of your body,

Your shins,

Your knees,

Your thighs,

Your belly.

Feel how your buttocks are supported by the water.

The water now feels almost like a really,

Really comfy lying chair.

How it feels under your back,

Under your shoulders.

Your arms relaxed next to you or maybe even wider like that starfish.

And if you feel the need to sigh it out then go ahead because your body now starts to relax from itself and it starts to naturally make your outbreath longer than your inbreath.

And that's good news because with prolonging your outbreath your nerve system starts to relax.

Your nerve system,

The nerve system that is functioning when you are in a relaxing state,

That what is necessary to digest your food,

To calm your nerves,

To relax all your muscles and to help you to get to sleep,

This is now functioning.

And you breathing out longer than your inbreath,

Especially when it comes naturally,

It's really helping you to relax into this floating sensation,

Floating in the ocean,

Floating in water.

Maybe feeling the taste of the water on your lips,

Feeling the sun or wind on your skin.

And especially this beautiful,

Relaxing,

Floating quality.

A sense of not having to do anything besides being here with yourself,

Floating.

This is a good feeling.

And when you tune into your body,

You feel how your breath is calming down from itself and if it doesn't then that's okay.

You don't have to force it,

Just observe what is going on.

But it's really very well possible that you notice that your breath is calming down,

Relaxing into your body.

And that's a good feeling.

Alright,

Now when you are ready then just take your feet down,

Put them on the ground again and you can get up out of the water.

It's such a good feeling to just have floated and your body is just cooled down a little bit.

Everything is just feeling great and relaxed.

You're comfortable in your own body,

Feeling that connection.

And you walk back towards the beach.

And when you walk back you see that there is a spot there where you can sit and when you look you see there a person sitting.

And when you approach,

The body becomes more visible,

The face becomes more visible and when you come closer you suddenly see who this is.

This is someone that loves you so much.

This is someone that you love,

Someone that loves you.

It might not even be a human being,

It might be an animal,

It might be a fantasy figure,

It might be someone from your childhood,

It might be someone that you don't see anymore but you still know their love.

You still know your love for them.

So don't overthink it,

You will just see who this is.

And if it's someone that you feel neutral about and you don't have so much feelings and you think that they don't have so much feelings for you but it's just okay,

Then that can be also really good.

This is your subconscious speaking.

So when you approach you see that they are smiling,

Welcoming you,

Inviting you to sit with them.

And this place where you're going to sit takes some time to see actually how it is shaped because your fantasy is shaping this perfect place to sit with this being,

This being that loves you so much,

This being that you love so much.

Maybe it's really comfy chairs,

Maybe it's a table with two chairs where you can dine,

Maybe it's just a cloth laying on the sand so you can just hang out there,

Maybe it's a place filled with pillows so you can hang in the pillows or a bean bag,

Whatever it is.

Make sure it's comfortable and a great place to be with them.

Now you're there,

They're greeting you,

You're greeting them and do it in a way that feels good to you.

You can just say hi,

You can give them a hug,

You can give them a kiss,

You can give them a hand,

Whatever way you are greeting them that's okay.

And now just join them,

Sit or lie down in this beautiful spot where you have a beautiful view over the ocean.

And still the great sense of your environment,

How the plants,

The wood,

The dunes look around you.

And while you're sitting with them,

You cannot help but smile because when you look at them they have such a big,

Big smile and you can see in their eyes how happy they are to see you.

Wait,

They're actually telling you this.

I'm so happy to see you.

And even when it's an animal,

You know,

This is your fantasy.

They can speak,

They can convey how happy they are to see you.

I'm so happy to see you.

I so love you.

Be aware for a moment how they are looking at you.

How they are sending all their love to you.

You can even help yourself by focusing for a moment on their chest,

On their heart space.

And now it's like a big laser beam of light which is coming from their chest and it's going straight into yours.

And it's going straight into yours,

Reaching your heart,

Filling your heart and this beautiful light,

Give it a color,

Give it a color of your liking.

I don't care which color it is,

Just a color that you love.

Just notice how this light coming from them is filling your heart and you might feel that you start to smile when you realize this and that's okay.

And if you don't,

That's also okay.

And now be aware of how this light starts to fill your whole chest area.

And not just your chest area,

It's getting into your belly,

Into your shoulders,

Your arms,

Your pelvis,

Your buttocks,

Your head,

Your legs,

All the way down to your feet.

You're completely filled with this beautiful light of this beautiful color or maybe even colors if you see multiple colors.

With this love of this person,

There comes so much more than just their love.

By feeling this,

You feel not just love,

You also feel support.

You realize that you are truly seen and heard.

This is someone who takes you seriously.

This is someone who so genuinely cares for you.

All they want for you is that you feel good.

All they want for you is that you are gentle to yourself.

They don't ask anything in return.

They just send you their love.

Their love and their support.

And it fills you.

It fills you and it gives you such a good feeling.

Now bring your attention to your own heart.

Beautiful heart in the middle of your heart chest.

Now while their light is still flowing towards you,

Let's shine your own light upon them.

Take your own laser beam with the color of your liking.

It might be the same color.

That's okay.

It might be a different color.

That's also okay.

Just beam that love.

Beam your light from your heart towards them.

And see how they're receiving it.

Can you see on their faces how happy they are?

Can you see how that light floods into their body,

Into their heart,

Heart chest,

Their arms,

Their belly,

Their legs,

Their head.

Just filling them.

You see how they are relaxed,

Loving,

Enjoying you sending love towards them.

And now these two light beams.

This color starts to mingle.

Joining into one big light.

One big expanding light that is now within you,

Within them.

And we're now going to let it expand until it's encompassing the both of you.

Like you are in this big bubble of beautiful light.

And when I say that these colors,

These light beams are mixing and mingling,

Then the new color that might exist doesn't even have to make logical sense.

It can be any color of your liking.

So now you are here in this bubble of light,

Feeling all this love.

This is such a good and safe feeling,

You know.

Remembering the support that you just had from the earth,

The support you had from the ocean.

And now this person that you once knew or maybe you still know in your life.

Giving you so much love.

Igniting the love in your heart that you can give back so much love.

So much love that it almost is too big to be contained within your chest.

This is a good feeling.

And again,

If you feel you need to sigh out longer,

Then do so.

It's your body that starts to relax.

It's your mind that starts to give in to allowing yourself these feelings of love.

And that's massive.

Because allowing yourself to feel loved,

Whether or not there actually is someone to give it to you,

To say it to you.

If you are able to ignite this fire of love within your own heart,

Then you are set.

That's all you need to do.

That's all you need to do to lead a really happy,

Healthy and fulfilled life.

Because you are feeling love,

Because you are love.

You're never feeling love because someone is giving it to you.

This person is just allowing you,

Giving you the feeling that you can allow to feel what is already deep within you.

You are love.

And this is all that there is to it.

And of course it's great to love someone.

It's great to have a being that you can focus upon,

To feel that love,

To experience that love.

But in the core,

In the essence of everything,

This love is already with you.

Even though you don't have someone or something to focus it upon,

It's there.

And by just fantasizing the being,

Whether you know them or not,

And fill yourself with this love,

You show yourself that you have the ability to feel this.

And basically to get a higher sense of well-being.

All right.

Now,

While you're sitting here,

Feeling this love and support from the ocean just before,

I would like you to think of something about yourself that you really like.

Don't overthink it.

The first thing that pops up,

That's it.

It might be something as small as the way you make coffee.

It can be something big as the purpose you feel in your life and the ability to actually follow that purpose.

And anything in between,

And even bigger and even smaller.

It doesn't matter how big or small it is,

Just something that you just love about yourself.

Don't overthink it.

The first thing that pops up,

Yes,

That one,

That is it.

Now,

I would like you to imagine that you are seeing yourself now from an external perspective.

That you see yourself sitting there with that person,

Being filled with love.

And I really would love for you now to focus on that one element,

Or maybe there are more,

But at least that one element that you so love about yourself.

So if this is something that is visible on you,

On your body and your behaviour,

Then see that of yourself.

If it's something that you are doing for others that you so much love about yourself,

Then actually see yourself doing this to someone else.

So for instance,

If you so love your own beautiful smile and that you so love that you always smile when you meet people in the streets,

So then actually see yourself meeting people in the street while smiling.

Whatever it is,

Just take a moment to really realise that this is going on,

That what you love about yourself.

And you know what?

If you feel that glaring,

Warming sense in your heart,

Or in your stomach,

Or in your belly,

Then that's okay.

Because that's your own pride.

That's your own recognition of everything that is going on within you.

Because I will tell you something,

You thought of one thing,

But there are millions of other things in you,

Within you,

Around you,

Being you,

That are so beautiful.

There is so much of you to love.

Even more.

Every little piece of you,

And then I mean the physical pieces,

Like every cell,

Every atom of a cell that you exist of,

Is worth being here,

Is to love.

But also all those intangible elements of you,

All those parts of your character,

Your personality traits,

Your behaviour,

All of that is to be loved.

All of that is loveable.

And I know that you will get a yes but,

Yes but,

Let them fly away,

There are butterflies around us,

And all those butterflies are just picking up the yes buts,

Yes buts,

And they are flying them away.

Can you see them?

Yes,

They are just picking it up.

Oh,

There are some bees also.

And if the yes buts are falling on the ground,

Then there are animals,

Squirrels,

Picking them up,

Taking them away.

All nature is helping you.

All nature is here to support you.

All nature wants you to know that there are no yes buts when nature tells you that you are love.

When nature tells you that you are loveable,

There are no yes buts.

There are no buts.

Just you being loveable.

You being worthy.

And nature just wants to remind you,

The ocean reminds you because it's carrying you,

Your own heart wants to remind you that all that love is already within you.

And now we are helping your mind to let go of those yes buts.

And maybe if there is one dropped and the squirrels didn't pick it up,

Then you pick it up and just throw it in the ocean,

Where you see that it will sink like a big stone to never return to you.

It doesn't float like you,

It isn't supported like you.

Wait,

That's a great test.

If you ever have a thought about yourself that is unkind,

Then just put it in your hand like a rock,

Throw it in the ocean and you will see it will not be lifted,

It will not be supported,

It will sink into its depth to disappear.

Because the ocean will tell you that you are valuable,

You are worthy,

You are loveable and all those bad things you can think about yourself are not.

So they sink deep and are absorbed by the beautiful ocean which is here to support you.

All right,

Now say goodbye to this loving person next to you in your own way,

In a way that feels comfortable.

And then we get up.

Now you walk a little bit to the back and when you do so,

You suddenly notice that you are on the top of a mountain,

You know,

This is your fantasy that's possible,

You are on the top of a mountain.

And this is actually a pretty good place because when you look down you see a valley and you get a sense of having a helicopter view.

And I really would love for you to realise that you are standing here safely on the top of this mountain,

Your feet firmly on the ground as if you are a tree.

You can even imagine that your feet are growing some roots,

Some energetic roots into the earth,

Connecting with that supporting sense of the earth.

And like a big tree on a mountain,

You are now overlooking the rest of the world.

And there is a sense of safety in knowing that you can take this helicopter's perspective.

Because when you are so high like this,

Everything is okay.

There's calmness,

There's quietness,

Only when you come closer you zoom into whatever is going on,

You can see the actual problems,

You can see the things that might pull you down.

But there is a sense of peacefulness in having this perspective.

I'm not saying that you should never be specific,

That you should never see things for what they are,

If they are unpleasant.

That's not what I'm saying.

But what I am saying is that you get a sense that you can always go to this place.

Because when you have a helicopter view,

You can also see what else is going on.

You can also see that there might be solutions further away,

Which you cannot see when you are down on the ground in the middle of whatever is going on.

So I would like now to do an exercise where we are going to let go of a lot of things that have been bugging you lately,

Things that have been troubling you,

Things that have been unpleasant to feel.

So when you take a look here on your right,

You see that there is a slide,

A beautiful slide and it's going,

Circling,

It's not going straight,

Down straight,

But it's going,

It's going with some curves to the left and the right,

You know.

You have this sometimes in the swimming pools where you have this beautiful long slides with water in it that will take you on a whole adventure before you finally end up in the pool.

Well,

This looks a bit like that,

But bigger.

And it's leading all the way back to your favourite place here on earth.

We know that.

This is where it's going to take you,

To your favourite place.

But before we going,

I really want you to have this sense of letting go.

So go sit in the slide and you know,

Imagine how this slide might be really effortless for you.

So maybe there's water that runs with you to carry you.

Maybe you're sitting on some cloth that will take you or maybe you're just sliding down.

That's also really great.

And let's just start because it's really long slide.

So when you start,

First of all,

It's going not so fast yet.

You're just sliding down quietness,

Quietly,

Quietly.

And when we start to speed up a little bit more,

You feel the wind in your hair,

The wind on your face.

And there's also wind on your chest.

And suddenly you realise that a lot of the worries,

A lot of the thoughts,

A lot of the things you were dissatisfied with,

Things that were bugging you,

Are blown away.

Like there were little leaves resting on your body and now the wind just picks them up and takes them off you while you slide down and it's going faster and faster.

And you feel a sense of relief.

You feel a sense of this wind blowing over your body.

And it's feeling so good because everything that was bugging you is taking away.

Now let's speed up the slide even more.

It feels so good to just slide down and knowing that you are carried,

You don't have to hold yourself.

You don't have to guide yourself because there are,

There are,

The slide has some protective areas around you.

You can just relax and let yourself slide.

And if you like you can see how this slide changes colours into beautiful colours.

Maybe you even see the rainbow.

It is as if you are sliding off the rainbow.

You know or maybe there are a lot of sparkles around you.

This is now your fantasy slide.

This is the slide like you would like to have when you were a kid and you were playing fantasy.

A fantasy area.

Stars are around you.

It's a rainbow.

But especially feel the sense of relief.

Of letting things behind you.

Knowing that you have come from far.

That you have been relaxed on the top and now you are just letting go and you are easing into this flow.

This flow of life.

This is the flow of life when you just let go of the control.

When you let go of trying to hold on to the sides of the slide.

When you try to hold on to your beliefs,

Your knowings,

Your worries,

Your thoughts.

But you just give it up and you surrender and just sliding down and you feel how this flow of life is carrying you.

And it's taking you through some beautiful circles which exist of stars and every time you go through it you hear this bling bling bling bling bling bling.

Which gives you this extra sense of doing it right.

It's showing you how much you are surrendering.

How much you are relaxing.

How much you are allowing yourself to go with this flow of life.

Flowing down.

Feeling the air on your skin.

And when you take a look around you see the most beautiful things around you.

Flowers and nature.

Actually you see people you love.

Animals you love.

It's like you are in this excellent dream where you are like the queen or the king of your own dream,

Your own environment.

Sliding down and now we are arriving at the end place.

Naturally you are slowing down.

This flow is carrying you.

It's not smashing you there.

No it's just lifting you up.

And helping you to land on your feet.

It almost feels as if you are kind of a super hero who was lifted up through the air and is now coming back on their feet.

When you take a look around you see where you are.

This is your most favourite place in the world.

Maybe it's your own home,

Your own room,

Your own garden.

Maybe it's the place where you used to live.

Maybe it's the place where you wish you would live.

Whatever it is,

This is your place.

And this beautiful adventure has brought you here and I would love for you to recognise the sense of relief in your chest,

In your belly.

This sense of calmness and peacefulness and relaxation.

The sense of ease.

You felt how easy it is to go with the flow of life.

To let go of your worries and feel how then you can speed up,

Get to the places where you want to be.

And if you still have some yes but this is only a fantasy then I want to tell you something.

Your fantasy is worth gold.

Your fantasy is so powerful.

Without fantasy we would not live in a world where we are now.

Without people having imagination,

Without people having fantasy we would not have invented all those things that we are relying upon right now.

Every scientific insight,

Every emotional insight,

Every humanistic insight was achieved by allowing inspiration in.

By allowing that flow of life in.

And you can do this.

You just did it.

And you can do it whenever you want,

Every time again.

In this favourite place of yours.

It might exist or it might not exist but you can always go here.

You just have to close your eyes and imagine it.

Use your fantasy.

Your fantasy is worth gold.

Your fantasy is so valuable.

Because through your fantasy you can connect with yourself.

Through your fantasy you can connect with your inner core,

With your intuition,

With your knowing.

Your fantasy isn't just a flaky thing.

Your fantasy is part of you.

And because of that it is just as real and just as valuable.

So be playful.

Enjoy your fantasy.

Whenever you feel you need a break,

Lie down,

Sit down,

Close your eyes and fantasize.

Fantasize about good places.

Fantasize about you in a good place.

Fantasize about the people you love.

Fantasize about the situations you love.

Fantasize about the animals you love.

Fantasize and let it cheer up your heart.

That is what it is for.

And from going there and allowing that in,

Beautiful new perspectives can grow and new situations in your life will be there.

Alright.

Just keep your eyes closed for a moment.

But you can let go of the attention on the place where you are.

And everything that we just were.

You sit for a moment and feel your body again.

Your feet on the ground.

Your buttock in the seat.

Your back against the chair.

And now you can help yourself by getting back to your body by wiggling your fingers and toes,

Stretching your spine.

And then you can start to slowly open your eyes.

But really take your time.

You can take a few minutes even if you like.

And if you feel really sleepy and you can go to sleep.

You have the time to go to sleep.

And really take a nap or go to sleep.

Reviews

Thank you femke. Used this evening to have a little relax to (and a little cry!). Xxx