Hi,
Thank you for joining me for this guided visualization for stress release.
My name is Susan Guttridge.
I'm a Master Level Counselor and Certified EMDR Practitioner.
Today's practice incorporates the bilateral stimulation component of EMDR therapy.
I'll be using soft music that alternates from the right speaker to the left and back and forth.
In this practice,
We're using bilateral stimulation to generate your body's innate relaxation response.
So you'll need to listen with earbuds to pick up on that alternating rhythm.
No worries though if you don't have a set on hand.
You can also just tap alternating back and forth.
Try that with me now.
Cross your arms,
Then place each hand so that it's touching the opposite shoulder.
One hand on your right shoulder and the other on your left.
Just keep tapping back and forth just like that.
All right,
You can let your hands relax down now.
During this audio track,
When the music becomes louder,
That will be your cue to gently tap back and forth on your shoulders.
When the music quiets down,
That's the cue to stop tapping.
And let's begin.
Find a quiet place where you can sit or lie down where you won't have any disturbances.
If it's okay to do so,
Let your eyes drift closed.
Notice any sensations present in your body.
Notice any places of contact.
If you're sitting,
That would be your sit bones on the chair seat and perhaps the bottoms of your feet on the floor.
Or if you're laying down,
Notice the connection between your body and the surface you are on.
Breathe together with me now.
As you inhale in,
Say to yourself,
I am breathing in.
And as you breathe out,
Say to yourself,
I am breathing out.
Inhaling in,
I am breathing in.
Exhaling out,
I am breathing out.
Inhaling in,
I am breathing in.
Exhaling out,
I am breathing out.
Continuing that slow deep breathing,
Let's tap into your best imagination.
Picture yourself in a peaceful,
Relaxing place.
It could be a real place,
Maybe somewhere you've been before or hope to go one day.
Or it can be imaginary,
Maybe a place you've heard about in a book or a game or a movie.
Take a moment now and let an image of that peaceful place form in your mind's eye.
Whatever image you connect with,
Notice that it is peaceful,
Calming,
Serene.
It's a place where when you connect with it,
You feel at ease,
Secure.
When you picture your peaceful place,
You can imagine it being somewhere where you can be still or quiet.
With this peaceful place in your mind's eye,
Let yourself explore it and experience it as though you're there right now.
We can strengthen it by drawing in as much sensory detail as possible.
Picturing yourself in your peaceful place,
What would you see around you?
What would you hear around you?
And as you picture yourself there,
What might you find yourself smelling?
Just noticing what it feels like to be right there in your peaceful place.
Would you be sitting or standing?
Or perhaps exploring by walking around?
As you picture yourself there now,
Allow yourself to absorb the feelings of peacefulness,
Being secure,
Feeling at ease.
And as you hold that image and that sense of peacefulness in your mind's eye,
Allow the feeling of relaxation within you to increase.
Drawing your breath in and letting it all go.
When you picture yourself in your peaceful place,
Allow the feeling of peacefulness to increase.
Breathing in and letting it all go.
When you connect with the image of your peaceful place around you,
Notice how secure and at ease you feel there.
Breathing in and letting it all go.
I'd like you to give your peaceful place image a keyword.
A word that when you think it,
It helps you remember this place and how calm you feel in it.
Take a moment and think of a word that fits it now.
Saying that word to yourself,
Picture yourself in your peaceful place.
Taking a nice,
Deep,
Slow breath in and letting it go.
Now that you have this beautiful peaceful place image created in your mind's eye,
You can return to it whenever you need to connect with calm and peacefulness and serenity and draw upon it to help quiet your thoughts at night to fall asleep or perhaps on a tough day to remind yourself that by imagining a peaceful place,
Your body and your thoughts relax.
Take a deep breath in,
Releasing it out.
Thank you for listening and giving yourself a moment to connect with calm and relaxation.
