Extreme Distress SOS

For those needing immediate relief from severe anxiety and distress, especially in the form of a PTSD flashback or episode. This mediation does not require much effort and will help bring you back to a sense of safety and resilience.

Transcript

Hello,

This meditation is for anyone who is experiencing extreme distress and feels like there is no way out of what they're feeling right now.

Let's start by acknowledging what it is you're experiencing and put a label to it.

You can use words like triggered,

An episode,

You're experiencing past trauma,

The word I choose to use is episode.

Labeling it lets us know that we're in an altered state of mind,

A stress response has been initiated,

But you can take the next step.

Now that you know what this is,

Briefly acknowledge the emotions that are coming up.

Fear or feeling unsafe is going to be the most common,

But others like feeling alone or hopeless can also be experienced.

Take a moment to label what emotions are coming up for you.

Now we're going to feel into the body and we're going to see exactly where that distress and tension is being held in the body and what does it feel like.

Take some time to feel around in your body and figure out where this pain and discomfort is being held.

Even though it hurts,

We're going to allow our mind and body 30 seconds to feel it all.

Don't resist the pain or emotions,

Cry,

Let it out,

Whatever you have to do,

But only allow your brain and body 30 seconds to do its worst.

Let it know after 30 seconds that we're moving on.

Let's begin.

15.

Okay you're done.

Now let's just take a couple deep breaths.

Breathe deep into your belly and then if it feels right when you exhale,

Make an audible sound like a sigh.

So breathe deep into the belly and on the exhale.

Take three to five breaths just like that.

Now it's time to bring ourselves back to the present moment.

Ask yourself and give yourself the answers to these questions.

Who am I and what is my name?

How old am I?

What's today's date?

What year is it?

What time is it approximately?

Where am I?

What room?

What building?

What city?

What township?

What county?

What state?

What country?

On planet earth?

We're in the Milky Way galaxy.

Now we're going to do a small scavenger hunt to try to ground us a little further.

Don't worry about completing all of these.

Just use whatever you have available to you.

This is only to help you make you feel better.

So we're going to start by finding five things that you can see.

Now feel around for four things that you can feel.

Just use what's available to you.

It can be your own body parts if needed.

Now find three things that you can hear.

This can include your own breath.

Now find three things that you can smell.

If you don't have anything available,

You can always smell your hair,

Your t-shirt,

Pillow.

Now find one thing that you can taste.

If you don't have anything readily available,

You can always lick your lips.

Now we're going to focus back on the breath for a little bit.

First just breathe without changing it.

Breathe however your body is naturally breathing right now.

Just notice it.

And we're going to do just some brief square breathing.

If you're not familiar with square breathing,

What happens is you breathe in on a count of four,

You hold it for a count of four,

Exhale for a count of four,

And hold it for a count of four and start that cycle back over again.

So we're going to begin here.

Breathe in one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Hold one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Exhale one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Hold one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

In two,

Three,

Four,

Hold two,

Three,

Four,

Out two,

Three,

Four,

Hold two,

Three,

Four,

One more,

In two,

Three,

Four,

Hold two,

Three,

Four,

Out two,

Three,

Four,

Hold two,

Three,

Four.

Begin breathing naturally again.

Now all you have to do now is just breathe.

I'm going to give you some affirmations and while you're breathing,

Feel into your body and feel how these affirmations make you feel and how they resonate with you.

I just want you to relax while I say these to you and notice how they make you feel.

I am safe.

I am safe in my body.

I am here now.

I am no longer in danger.

Continue to breathe.

If possible,

Begin to slow your breathing if it's not too much effort.

I am safe.

I am secure.

I am present.

I am grounded.

I am free.

I am in control.

I am respected.

I am loved.

I am protected.

I am present in my body.

I am alive.

I trust my body.

I know that my body has protected me.

I know that my mind has protected me.

I know that my body and mind have protected me the best that they could.

Continue to take deep,

Slow breaths.

Today I acknowledge the trauma that I have went through.

I acknowledge my body is letting the pain out in small bits now that I am in a safer place.

Today I'm ready to accept distress and process through it to rewire my mind and body to be more connected with my present circumstances.

Tomorrow I will be more comfortable.

Tomorrow I won't be tied to this image or feeling like I was today.

Today I am patient with my mind and my body.

Today I am taking the next step towards peace as I offer myself the space,

Patience,

And love that I have always deserved.

This is the end of this meditation.

I hope that you're feeling a little more calm and safe and present.

As always,

Feel free to repeat this as many times as you need.

Thank you.

Reviews

Thank you. Really helped🥰

I have been in extreme distress grieving the loss of my husband. This brought me a measure of peace. I will come back to it again.

This was so helpful. I have BPD and CPTSD. I care for my 83 year old mother and autistic son. Life can get very overwhelming and I struggle to reign in my emotions… this helped me today. Thank you.

Thank you so much. This was helpful!

Tha nks

Helpful

This saved my life tonight. I’ve struggled with suicidality my entire adult life. 24 years now since I was 18 and first felt those feelings. It is a lifelong struggle for some of us and one never knows where they will find safety on a rough night. I found it here tonight and I will return to listen to this many more times I’m sure. Thank you

Wonderful guided meditation- this helped me center myself in the midst of repeated severe panic attacks. I will have this in my favorites to return to as needed.

Helpful to my other half. Meditation had several different elements to go through - checking in with the episode/flashback in the body for 30 seconds before letting it pass, grounding in present setting, grounding in current time and age. Lots of helpful techniques here. Thank you

Hardly able to write yet. Still in an episode as she called it. But helped a lot and starting to feel more present. Very soft comforting voice when your this distressed. 🫶🏻

Thank you so much. 💓

Is just what I needed when I was feelings so distressed. Helped me feel in my body again and the affirmations were so helpful

Excellent- so very helpful. Thank you 🙏

Helped me during a very intense emotional episode. I still had to face the rest of the day but I managed to cope a little better.