A Safe Space - Meditation & Coffee

At its heart, meditation is about training our mind to block out distraction and “noise”, and tune back in to who we really are underneath what everyone else thinks we “should” be. Cultivating the ability to find a safe space within ourselves, whatever we need it to be, is key to this.

We can come back to that place again and again, and be who we need to support ourselves when dealing with challenges and anxiety! This practice will talk you through it

Transcript

Hello! You are listening to Meditation and Coffee, The weekday meditation podcast that helps you start your day off calm, Aware, Intentional, Focused and most importantly, Awake. Because did you know that the word Buddha actually means awakened one? I'm Hannah, Your host and founder of the online meditation community Breathe Like a Badass, And I am obsessed with starting the day with good coffee and seriously simple meditation. As a trained meditation teacher and a female entrepreneur, My mission is to help anxious yet ambitious women cut through overwhelmed negative self-talk, Constant comparison and fear, So they can get the calm, Clarity and focus that they need to build happy, Fulfilling, Freedom-filled businesses and lives. Meditation is not magic, But it's a pretty good place to start. So whether your coffee is a shot of espresso, A latte decaf or even a tea or a chai, I invite you to join me every weekday to start your day off right. FYI, These sessions are recorded live on my Instagram page, At Breathe Like a Badass, So if you'd prefer to join in and watch them live, You can do so there. The videos are also available after the lives on my IGTV page. Now, On to the meditation and coffee. Good morning, Good morning, We are live. It's Friday, Yay, Weekend. Or whenever you're listening to this, I know that a lot of people that listen and watch the replay often are not watching live or are not watching on the same day, But whenever you're listening to this or watching this, Hello, Welcome to another session of meditation and coffee. Obviously I have my coffee cup with me this morning. I hope that you have got what you need as well today, Tea, Coffee, Chai, Matcha, Whatever's going on, Welcome. There is somebody using some kind of power tool or grass cutting thing outside my window today, But hopefully it won't come on to the recording, At least not immediately. So good morning, Good morning. Today's meditation is, As the title suggests, About finding a safe space. Now, The way that I like to define meditation that is really helpful for me and for my clients is it's about getting rid of all the excess distractions, Noise, Other people's opinions, Our own ingrained beliefs about who we should be or what we think we should do or how we should be, And just getting rid of all of that and getting into the heart of who we are and what we truly need. And so if you want to think of meditation like that as a way of getting rid of excess distraction and tuning into who you truly are, Yourself, Underneath everything else that everyone else says that you should be, That would be a pretty good working definition. Of course, The actual practice of meditation is not about that. It's about awareness and paying attention on purpose, Self-compassion. But the end result for me is that you find who you are underneath, What's important to you, And you learn to cultivate a safe space within your own body and mind so that no matter what's going on outside, No matter who's telling you what they think you should do with your life or how stressful external situations are, You know that you can always come back into a safe space within your own body and within your mind. And the more that we practice it, The easier that it gets. And some days, You know, We're more distracted than others. And some days we're like, I don't even know what does that even mean? But other days, The more that we practice, We can start to know what it feels like in ourselves to be like, Oh, Okay, Uh huh, I'm coming home, I'm coming home to myself. And that's when we can start looking forward to our meditation practices, Because it's about getting in touch with who we really are. And that actually being a good thing that we know what that means. And then from that place of knowing who we are, We can move forward with so much more confidence and so much more clarity and direction. Because you're like, Well, I know who I am. I know where I've set my compass. I know what my goals are. I know what's important to me, What my values are. So everything I do in my life is just going to be aligned with that. That's who I am. And that's why I think it's such a powerful tool, Not only for relaxation and feeling good, But also for clarity, And for showing up in the world the way we want to show up. Like I say, Part of that, Though, Is first of all, Building what feels like a safe space within ourselves. And that's what we're going to work on today. We're going to do a visualization, Which is going to help you notice what it feels like to feel safe within your body and your mind. So without further ado, If we can, Without power tools and planes flying over my house, I invite you to come into position and allow your spine to be straight and your body to be balanced and grounded, Sitting in a comfortable, Balanced posture. And allowing your shoulders to drop. And if you like, Closing your eyes if it feels safe. And maintaining a posture of alertness, But also relaxation. So maybe lifting your head, But dropping your shoulders. And as we breathe, Breathing in through the nose, Allowing the spine to straighten and the shoulders to open out and to be open. And as we exhale that downward motion of allowing the muscles to relax to drop to melt. The skin of your face to relax, Skin around your eyes, Your jaw, Your neck, Your shoulders, Your chest, Allowing yourself to melt into this position today, Giving yourself this time to be with yourself. Now I invite you to bring your attention to yourself breathing within your body, Whatever that means to you. Noticing your breath, Noticing the sensations of what it feels like to be sitting here today. And if you get distracted, You can always as soon as you notice bring it back to this feeling of sitting still and just giving ourselves space to be in our body today. I now invite you to close your eyes if you would like to, If you haven't already, And bring to mind a physical location that feels safe to you, That feels comfortable, Positive, That brings to you a sense of warmth or goodness or peace. There's no right or wrong here. It could be a living room, Cozy sofa in front of a fire, With a big steaming cup of tea next to you and a dog at your feet. Or it could be a beautiful garden, Birds singing, Green grass, Blue sky. It could be in a mountain range, Totally free, Feeling on top of the world, Nowhere to be, No one to bother you. It could just be sitting at your kitchen table with a cup of coffee, Feeling good, Feeling happy about your life and grateful for what you have. There's really no right or wrong. Whatever image comes to mind when I say, Picture yourself somewhere safe, Somewhere warm that makes you feel good. It doesn't have to be a real place either, It can be imagined. And once you've found an image or place in your mind that makes you feel good, I invite you to draw your attention to your senses and notice what you can feel as you allow yourself to breathe and relax into being in this safe space. What sensations do you notice? Do parts of your body relax? Do you feel warm, Safe, Calm? Who else is with you? Is there anyone else with you? Maybe your partner, Your dog, Your child? Maybe no one at all? What physical sensations can you notice? I invite you in your mind's eye now to notice what you can see around you. Where are you? Are you outside? Are there trees and grass? Or are you indoors? What textures can you see around you? What colours? What can you hear around you in your safe space? Can you hear birds singing in your garden or the breeze blowing in the wind? It's okay if nothing comes up, But tuning your attention to what this safe space feels like and allowing your senses to see it and feel it and make it real. In my safe space I can feel, I can hear the crackling of the fire and I can feel my dog snuffling away as it dreams at my feet. What can you smell in your safe space? For some people smell is really, Really important sense. What can you smell? Can you smell like in my safe space the smoke of a really good fire or the creaminess of my hot chocolate that I've got sitting next to me? Maybe if you're in a garden you can smell the freshly cut grass. And of course noticing what you can taste. Can you taste a really good cup of coffee? Or again the hot chocolate maybe that you've got next to you. So again checking in with your senses where you are. And it's okay if one of these is stronger than the others or you didn't really come up with anything for some of those senses. This is about what works for you, What feels good to you. Bringing your attention now to your whole body. And again allowing yourself to be and sit. Continuing to breathe gently and noticing what it feels like to be sitting here in your body in this safe space where you are now. Coming back to feeling those physical sensations. Is your breath slower? Have you started to breathe more deeply? Where can you relax? How does it feel to be in your safe space right now? You don't have to think about it, You don't have to make a sentence in your head, Just notice in your body the physical reactions to that question. And a great thing about this is that your safe space is completely within you. And the more that we practice this and the more that we try and make it real, The more real it is and the more we can go back to it when we need. And sometimes even knowing that we can build a safe space within our minds like this and notice how it feels to be safe in our body like this is a really reassuring thought in a scary world. So allowing yourself to take a couple more breaths, Deep or shallow, Whatever feels good for you. And when you're ready you can open your eyes and slowly transition back into the real room, Into the real world wherever you are now. Dropping your shoulders and stretching your neck if it helps. So allowing yourself to go into a safe space can be a challenging exercise for some people so if you've found that difficult don't judge yourself, It's all good. The more that we do these things the easier that it gets. And if you have any questions for me or anything that came up that you want to get my opinion on please do drop me a comment or send me a DM on Instagram. Thank you for allowing me to be with you on that journey today. I just want to acknowledge that and remind you that this is what meditation can help us do. It's not purely a relaxation tool or even a productivity hack. Meditation can help us to get more in tune with our body and our mind and allow ourselves to remember that no matter what's going on, No matter what challenges we may face in the world or external stresses, Actually with practice and kindness and compassion we can build a safe space within ourselves that we can respond to, That we can retreat to, Where we can feel good about who we are and know that we can go back to that place again and again. It's not easy but with practice it gets better. So I would love to know if you'd be up for sharing in the comments, If you're watching the replay or even right now, What your safe space was, What it felt like, Where did you go in your safe space? Were you in a garden, A room? Let me know, I'd love to know. Mine like I said a little bit earlier is often a really cozy room, Maybe somewhere in Scotland, Maybe the weather's terrible outside but I'm cozy, I've got my blanket around me, I've got a dog at my feet, A roaring fire, I'm warm and safe. That for me is a safe space that I can go back to and be like okay I'm good, I've got this. The other great thing about safe spaces though is that you can tune them to whatever you need. So maybe when I'm feeling kind of sleepy and I need some reassurance, That room is my safe space. But then maybe when I want to feel great and I want to get stuff done, I want to be productive, My safe space is sometimes the top of a beautiful mountain with sunshine on my face and I have done a mountain visualisation before on meditation and coffee. And that feels safe because I know that I'm powerful, I'm on the top of my mountain, I've got the sun on my face, I can do anything. So your safe space can change depending on what you need it to be. But as long as you know that you can bring those visualisations and those thoughts into your mind to help support you and help you figure out who you are and what you need, That's the key, That's where the magic happens. So thank you so much for being here today, I really appreciate every single one of you. Today's Friday so I'll be back on Monday with another session of meditation and coffee from me and my sunshine yellow mug. I wish you a wonderful weekend, I hope you have a great day no matter when you're listening or watching this. Thank you so so much and remember my meditations are also uploaded on the Insight Timer app as well so if you prefer to listen on that app which is free you can do so. And if you enjoy the meditations and you'd like to support me in keeping them free you can always buy me a cup of coffee at paypal. Me forward slash breathe like a bad ass or drop me a donation on Insight Timer. Always appreciated but never expected. Thank you so much for being here and I will see you another day, Hopefully on Monday. Have a great weekend, Bye. That's it for today, Thanks so much for listening and spending your morning with me. If you like this podcast and you are as obsessed with coffee and maybe meditation as I am, Please go ahead and leave a rating and a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you normally listen as it helps spread the word and get the message out to more brilliant women just like us who need it. You can also share with your friends on Instagram tagging me at breathe like a badass, I always love to see you there. If you like this and you'd like to hear more from me and breathe like a badass on how to use meditation to get the calm clarity and focus you need to build a happy, Fulfilling, Freedom filled business and life head on over to my other full length interview style podcast just search breathe like a badass anywhere that you normally listen to podcasts. Thank you so much for listening and I will see you for the next one.