If a difficult interaction with a client has left you tense,
Unsettled or replaying the conversation in your mind,
This is a moment to pause and come back to yourself.
Sit comfortably in a chair.
Close your eyes.
Feel your feet on the floor.
Let your hands rest.
Notice your jaw.
Notice your shoulders.
Notice the place in your body where the tension is sitting most strongly right now.
You don't need to fix the stressful interaction in this moment.
You don't need to work out what to say next.
Right now we are only helping your mind settle so that you can calmly choose the next right action to take.
Take a slow breath in through the nose and a long breath out through the mouth.
Again,
Breathing in and breathing out.
One more time,
Breathing in and letting the breath go.
Notice the contact between your body and the chair.
Notice your feet against the floor.
Notice that in this moment the stressful interaction is over.
It's happened in the past.
It's not happening right now.
If your mind keeps wanting to replay what was said,
Notice that gently.
Notice replaying,
Explaining,
Defending,
Reacting.
That's normal.
After a conflict the mind often keeps circling and replaying in a loop.
You don't need to stop the thoughts by force.
You only need to notice that you are caught in the loop and come back.
Back to the breath.
Back to the body.
Back to this room.
Take a slow breath in and sigh it out.
Let the out breath be slightly longer than the in breath.
Breathing in and breathing out.
See if you can soften one part of your body that is sitting in tension right now.
Maybe it's your jaw,
Your throat,
Your chest,
Your belly.
You may still feel activated.
Your heart rate may still be elevated.
You might feel angry,
Hurt,
Shaky or full of adrenaline.
This means your body is still reacting to the stress.
Let yourself feel that now with self-compassion.
It was difficult and has had an impact on your body and mind.
You are still recovering from it.
Now say quietly to yourself,
The conversation is over.
I am here now.
I do not need to carry any of this.
Take a slow breath in and a longer breath out.
See if you can let go of what is not yours.
What is not yours is the client's mood,
Their frustration,
Their urgency and their reaction.
Yes,
You may still need to respond later.
Yes,
You will need to think clearly about what happened but later.
You do not need to carry the whole emotional charge in your body right now.
Let yourself come back to your own center.
Feel your feet on the floor.
Feel the support underneath you.
Feel the air moving in and out of your lungs.
Be here now in the calm after the storm.
And before we end,
Say quietly to yourself,
I can allow myself to become calm before I decide what comes next.
Take one final breath in and a slow breath out.
And when you are ready,
Slowly open your eyes.
