Creating An Inner Refuge From Anxiety & Stress

In this guided practice, you will create a safe, soothing space that you can return to in times of anxiety and stress. Once you have created your inner refuge - you have an inner resource that nobody can take away from you. It is all yours!

Transcript

So again get in a comfortable position. Make sure that you're warm enough. If you like, If you're comfortable you can close your eyes now. If not, Again just kind of close them half way, Kind of blurry. We don't want our eyes to be kind of active. Once you're at that point I want you to return to our scale that we've been using with zero being relaxed, At ease, Forward, Being tense or stressed. Where are you on that scale right now? And now just begin to notice the feeling of the breath. Where does the breath show up in your body? Is it a rise and fall of the belly again? Where do you feel the breath? Is it long and short? Is the heart racing? Is it fast? So we want to be breathing in and out through the nose if that's okay. And what will happen naturally by doing that is the exhales will become longer and it will help the parasympathetic nervous system to kick in. Just noticing the breath in and out, Maybe even noticing that on the in breath you can feel the coolness. On the out breath as the body warms the air and leaves our nose. Breathing in a way that is a complete breath, So not just from the chest but you can imagine we're filling up that kind of balloon and we're taking nice full breaths. Just to get some of that tension out we'll do a few breaths together. So we'll do three balloon breaths, Let an exhale out. And then inhale filling up the belly, The ribs and the chest and letting it go. Two more inhale. Go and last one inhale. Let it go. Now I want you to notice the back body, Everyone's lying down and feel give in to gravity. Just feel yourself being supported by the floor, By the earth. So when we feel supported there's a sense of safety, Security. So we're noticing the whole body making a secure and comfortable contact with the floor. Feel yourself comfortably grounded and held by this. Now focus your attention inward again and this time imagine a palette of color in any medium you like, Pastel, Oil, Watercolor. Now out of these many colors allow yourself to choose a few only, Maybe three or four colors that have an especially calming and soothing effect on you. Now that you have identified those colors allow yourself to get an inner sense of if there were to be a place that could feel safe to you. What colors would this place need to have? So again anytime we're doing this practice it might change too from the colors you originally choose and it could change as you're going through and that's fine. Now that you've got a sense of color allow yourself to notice if there would need to be any sound in this special sanctuary of yours in order to feel comforted or soothing for you. Are there any sounds? You can also of course choose that there's no sound. Now that you know about the sound allow yourself to notice whether there would be a need to have special scents or fragrances in your inner sanctuary to help you feel comforted and secure. Now that you have an idea about the scents or fragrances allow yourself to get an inner feeling of what the temperature would need to be like in order for it to feel comfortable for you. Now that you know about the colors, The sound, The scents or fragrances and the temperature allow yourself to notice if there would be any elements of nature such aspects as weather, Plants, Trees or landscape in your inner sanctuary to help you feel really safe, Secure and soothed. Now that you've created your own inner sanctuary, Your own place of refuge allow yourself to look around it and get a sense as to whether there are any special objects or animals or guides you wish to add to make your place feel even more unique for you. So no other humans. There's only one human in here and that's yourself. It just feels what you choose is most natural and comfortable for you. Now allow yourself to explore if there's anything else that you would still like to change or need to be different to make your sanctuary even safer and more containing for you. When you feel that your sanctuary is just how you like it, Focus on what it feels like in your body when you are in that space. Allow yourself to really enjoy those feelings and notice how it feels when your body is in a place that has these safe qualities. Notice now if there are any thoughts in your mind that would go with this sanctuary and say them inside yourself now. Again you can use the words, I am home or something of your own. From now on you can use this inner sanctuary as an inner anchor point for whenever you want to access those calming feelings and thoughts inside you. You can visit this place anytime as often as you like. It is unique to you and only you have control and ownership of it. You can now build yourself an imaginary inner pathway that carries you from your inner sanctuary to the here and now and from the here and now back to your sanctuary. This could be anything. An actual path, Mode of transport or anything of your liking that is unique to you that enables you to travel back and forth to your sanctuary. When you have found your inner pathway, Allow yourself to practice going back and forth to find if it works. If it doesn't yet, Then explore what changes you might need to make until you can use it comfortably. Again, The idea is to be able to use this in your real life and to be able to go there quickly. When your pathway is nicely established, You can stay in your special place a little while longer until you are ready to gently bring yourself back to the here and now. Backing back with our scale with zero being at ease, Four being tense. If you feel at a later time you need to make changes to your sanctuary, You can go through these instructions again. People sometimes find a need to change or update their safe place after a while. If you can't connect with all the elements that were introduced, Colors, Sounds, Sense, Temperature, Elements of nature, Objects, Just focus on those that work for you. Sometimes people just have a very special color that they surround themselves with and that makes them feel safe. For just a particular sound, Choose whatever feels right to you. So just spending a few more minutes here in your place of refuge you've created for yourself.