Welcome to this therapist refresh meditation for containment.
As therapists,
We become witness not only to the joys and strengths of our clients,
But we also may become receivers of their pain and projections.
While we're grateful to facilitate and observe healing,
We sometimes also need ways to protect from and contain the pain,
Theirs or our own.
One of the best known strategies for developing resilience from secondary trauma or stress is to limit our exposure by leaving work behind when we are done with our day or a session.
So I welcome you now to settle into a comfortable seated posture.
Land right here,
Right now.
Thank yourself for taking this time for you,
Grateful for the wisdom or resource that has brought you to this moment.
As you get more comfortable,
Scan your surroundings visually.
Take in any details that please your eye,
Becoming aware of color,
Shapes,
Or patterns.
Sense any aroma in the air or taste in your mouth.
Feel any textures that come in contact with your skin.
And open your ears to take in the sounds,
Both near and more distant.
Bring awareness to your breath as it nourishes you with fresh air and releases stale air.
Taking in oxygen,
Releasing carbon dioxide.
And let's begin today with cupped,
Open hands resting on your lap.
This gesture represents acceptance and allowing.
Notice what your hands are holding from the stress of today.
And allow any images,
Emotions,
Thoughts,
Or memories come to rest in your hands.
And hold them with tenderness,
With affection,
With as much compassion as you can call forth for yourself,
For your clients,
For the suffering of those around you.
In your heart or in our world.
And now experiment with closing your hands to form a circle,
To symbolically experience the theme of this meditation,
Containment.
Bring your awareness to what happens inside of you now.
As you manifest this boundary of containment with your hands.
Is there a sensation of tension or release in your body?
Or perhaps nothing happens at all.
That's okay too.
Do thoughts arise?
If so,
Observe them with kind and curious detachment.
Not following them,
Just taking note.
What emotions are in the four for you now?
Or in the background?
Maybe there is relief.
Or perhaps sadness or guilt.
Accept whatever is here now.
And anything that now or still causes discomfort or distress,
Magically send that into the circle of your hands to contain.
Offer a blessing to whatever is held within your hands.
And now let it go as you open your hands in a gesture of release.
Perhaps allowing them to fall open again on your lap.
Or in a gesture of inviting that distress to move away.
Rumi teaches us.
Your hand opens and closes,
Opens and closes.
If it were always a fist or always stretched open,
You would be paralyzed.
Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding.
The two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds wings.
So scan again.
Even having begun to release what remains of the suffering or stress of your day.
Observe what's been hard.
With care,
Observe how it impacts you still now.
And for whatever is here,
Whatever remains,
We can create an imaginary container to hold these uncomfortable thoughts,
Feelings,
Sensations or memories,
Whatever you need.
This exercise of containment will allow you to access what you need to when you need to.
While allowing you to seek distance and attachment for now.
So I invite you to sink into your breath as we begin this journey together.
Transporting with you.
Any stress or suffering that remains of your day.
Take a few deep,
Slow breaths.
To land in a place.
Real or imagined.
That is nourishing for you.
Perhaps a place in nature.
Or a beautiful home.
Maybe a place you visited on vacation.
Or in a dream.
Of course,
At any time in this practice,
You can feel free to let go of my words or images that don't serve you.
To focus on what is right for you.
There's no right or wrong way to arrive at this nourishing place or to find a different resource you need.
As this healing and nourishing place or resource comes into view.
We'll take five deep inhales and exhales together.
Counting backwards from five to one.
Five.
Breathing in.
And letting go.
Four.
Inhaling.
And as we exhale,
Becoming more deeply relaxed.
Breathing in three.
Leaving tension further behind us.
Inhaling two.
Nearly there.
And breathing in one.
Sinking more deeply into a sense of support,
Comfort,
Or ease.
And as you settle more and more comfortably into this place or resource that's right for you.
Continue to breathe as you take in your surroundings.
With any and all of your senses.
Seeing.
Hearing.
Tasting.
Smelling.
Or touching.
Anything that pleases you.
Perhaps you'll begin to notice a shift in your body.
Or quieting in your mind.
And now that you have more fully arrived.
Put on your imagination to suggest for you the perfect container for any remaining stress or suffering you have brought with you.
It might be a vase or a box.
A trunk.
A storage locker.
Something just right for what you bring today.
And something that somehow you can securely seal.
Don't search too hard.
Your mind will know just what's right for you now.
As you sense it with more clarity.
See the dimensions of your container.
If it's large or small.
Observe its shape.
Square,
Rectangular,
Round,
Oval,
Or misshapen.
The color of your container just right for you.
Perhaps you can feel its texture.
If there's smoothness or roughness.
Sensing its edges.
Its exterior or interior.
And when you are ready,
Prepare to release what you have brought with you into this container.
By whatever realistic or magical mechanism seems right for you now.
Take your time.
Release into the container whatever is needed.
It will hold whatever you need.
See it.
Sense it.
Moving into your container.
Knowing any time that it returns or arises.
There is most certainly a mechanism for it to flow into the container then.
See what else needs to move or flow into your container.
Releasing what you no longer need today.
And now see,
Hear,
And feel as your container closes securely.
See,
Hear,
And feel as your container closes securely.
And now decide where you'd like to store it.
Knowing that just the right place is available to you.
And just where you are now.
Might be in a closet.
Or a storage locker.
Underground.
Outer space.
Under the ocean.
You'll know just where.
No need to think or plan.
Your storage place will simply reveal itself to you.
Your intuition or imagination knows just what is right for you now.
And as this place comes to awareness,
Envision yourself placing the container there.
And if appropriate,
Seal that place.
As you store your container safely,
Bring your awareness back to what happens inside you now.
In your body.
In your breath.
In your mind.
And in your heart or soul.
And as I count now from one back up to five,
You'll return to awareness of the present moment,
Feeling lighter and refreshed.
One,
Breathing easily.
Two,
Welcoming energy.
Three,
Breathing in hope.
Four,
Coming home to yourself.
And five,
Ready for what comes next.
We wish you good healing.
