Creating Your Safe Place

This is a guided relaxation to help you reduce feelings of fight or flight or being on high alert by helping you to establish a safe internal place for yourself where you believe yourself to be safe and therefore able to relax and take a break from being vigilant, afraid, and alert.

Transcript

Let's begin by taking a deep breath.

Breathe all the way down to the belly.

Hold for a moment,

Then slowly release the breath.

Very good.

Again,

Take a nice,

Slow,

Deep breath through the nose.

Hold for a moment,

And then slowly exhale through the mouth.

Wonderful.

Continue breathing nice and slow.

And as you do,

Begin to feel yourself relax and be more present in your body.

It can be difficult to allow ourselves to relax at times.

So many things we may feel need our attention.

Most important may be to keep ourselves safe.

We may feel that we have to stay aware,

Stay alert,

Our minds always searching to ensure that no danger is approaching.

But here in this moment,

You are safe.

Say that to yourself now,

I am safe.

Very good.

We are going to help you feel safe right here in this moment so that your body and your brain can give itself permission to relax,

Let go,

And take a short break from keeping you safe and protected.

We are going to create a safe place in your mind,

A place where no one can hurt you.

This is a place of your creation.

And using your wonderful imagination,

You can design it however you like.

It could be a fortress or a castle.

It could be a garden surrounded by an impenetrable wall.

It could be an island that no one can reach.

Whatever feels right to you is just fine.

Take a moment now to allow just the right place to materialize in your mind.

Very good.

Now continue to add additional safety measures to this place.

Is it invisible to others?

Is it protected by dogs or dragons or any kind of animal you like?

Does it have an army guarding it?

Whatever you need to feel safe and protected is there for you in your safe place.

And now that you are protected within your safe place,

You are ready to relax.

So find a comfortable spot there in that safe place,

A hammock,

A bed,

A nest of pillows.

Find a place where you can relax.

Sit or lie down and allow your eyes to close.

And then beginning at the top of your head,

You feel the relaxation spread slowly down your body.

Down your head,

Over your face,

Feel the muscles release and relax.

Down through your neck and shoulders,

The muscles unwind,

The weight is lifted,

And you are feeling so relaxed.

Down both arms,

They release,

Relax.

They don't need to hold anything right now.

The relaxation can spread through your chest.

Feel the chest lighten,

No longer tight,

And you can breathe so easy.

Here in your safe place,

And the relaxation spreads down into your stomach.

Feeling the stomach relax and release.

Feel any emotions being stored there drift away,

The stomach unknots,

And is at peace.

And the relaxation spreads into your hips.

So much stress can be held in the hips,

So much fear,

But here in this safe place,

All of that can release,

Relax,

And let go.

And then feel that calmness spread down your legs,

Both legs,

All the way down through your feet.

Every muscle relaxes,

Releases,

And lets go.

Take a moment to enjoy this feeling of relaxation.

Now that your body is relaxed,

Your mind can relax as well.

Nothing for your mind to do right now,

Nothing that needs to be thought of or planned.

Allow your mind to let everything drift away.

Allow it to be free of all thought,

Just for this little while.

Feel at peace,

Feel relaxed.

Enjoy this feeling here in your safe place.

You can enjoy these feelings of relaxation,

Peace,

And calm for as long as you like.

Here in this place that you created where no harm can come to you,

That's right.

You may not have even known that you could relax so fully,

But here in this time and place,

The relaxation grows and grows.

Enjoy this time that is all yours,

Knowing that you can take a well-deserved break from whatever may be going on in your life.

Time to just breathe and enjoy the stillness,

Knowing that in this moment,

You are safe.

You are safe and protected.

Nothing will harm you right now.

There are times in all of our lives when we may fear that our life is in danger.

For some of us,

This is a fleeting,

Though powerful,

Traumatic moment,

A snapshot of our life,

Though it can have profound effects and sometimes stick with us for some time afterward.

For others,

This may be a state of existence that seems to have no end.

We may have been born into this state or entered it shortly after birth or in childhood.

Still others may find themselves fearing for their lives on a regular basis,

This can happen for a variety of reasons,

Being bullied,

A toxic or unhealthy relationship,

A change in the state of the world,

So many reasons that we may fear for our safety.

We know that when we believe our life is in danger,

We may be able to be safe.

We know that when we believe our life is in danger,

Our body and brain does everything it can to protect us.

That is its primary job after all,

To keep us safe and alive.

We can take the time right now to thank our body and brain for doing such a wonderful job protecting us,

Knowing that they have always done their very best.

However,

There are times when we are faced with situations we perceive to be life-threatening,

That the methods used by our body brain system to protect us and keep us safe can have unintended negative effects.

There are times that this system can go a little haywire and begin to sense or perceive danger even in situations where there is no danger present,

Or it can get stuck in the on position and we can feel like we are in danger all the time.

This can be very hard on the body and the mind.

It keeps our muscles tense,

Our mind searching for the source of danger,

It's hard to sleep and it's difficult to enjoy life,

To concentrate,

To remember and to make decisions.

Even though it can cause many problems,

It was all necessary at the time and there was no way of knowing what the long-term effects would be.

They were an unintentional byproduct of getting through a really difficult time.

But now that the danger has passed,

It is possible to reset this system and we can start by telling ourselves that it is okay now.

We are safe.

We are no longer in that situation from the past.

Things are different now.

We do not need to remain on high alert.

We are safe.

We survived.

I would like for you to imagine,

To picture what your brain-body system looks like.

Maybe it has a control panel with lots of dials and switches,

Or maybe it's a giant computer with different programs and apps that can be used to control the brain.

Whatever it is that comes to mind for you is perfectly okay.

Take a look at what this system looks like for you right now and look at what everything is set to.

Now that the danger has passed,

Now that you are safe,

You are able to take back control of this system,

You can adjust the settings.

Start by adjusting the setting of being in a state of crisis or on high alert.

You can adjust the settings to make sure that you are safe.

You can adjust the settings to make sure that you are safe.

You can adjust the settings to make sure that you are safe.

Now,

As you are ready to turn your dial back on,

You can turn it back on.

You can turn it back on if you are on a high alert or on high alert.

Maybe there's a dial that has been turned up to 10,

Or it's all the way in the red light.

Turn it down as much as you are comfortable turning it down right now.

As the dial moves away from 10 down to 9,

Then 8,

Then 7,

And even lower,

The red light fades to a soft pink,

Then purple,

Then blue.

The alarm begins to quiet down until it becomes the sound of a bell,

Then birds,

Then the wind blowing through the trees or waves crashing softly on the beach.

What does it feel like?

Notice how your body and brain responds as the dial is turned down,

As the systems calm down,

As you're no longer on high alert.

You may even feel a little warmer,

Like the sun is shining down on you.

You realize that your muscles have finally let go and fully relaxed.

You feel calmer,

More peaceful.

You can breathe easier.

There are also settings having to do with sleep,

With your level of vigilance to your surroundings,

Settings on tension and irritability,

And every other experience of the body and the mind.

Take a few moments now to make some more adjustments,

Knowing that the changes that you are making will take immediate effect,

And that you can return to make more changes whenever you wish,

Whenever you would like.

Very good.

It feels good,

Doesn't it,

To be making so many positive changes to your system,

And you enjoy the feeling of taking back control of your brain-body system.

You enjoy the feeling of safety and security that you are feeling right now.

In a moment,

I will count the numbers from one to five,

And at the count of five,

You will be wide awake,

Bringing with you these feelings of safety,

Security,

And peace.

And comfort,

Confidence,

And pride with the wonderful work you have done here today.

One,

Two,

Three,

Coming back solely,

Four,

Eyelids beginning to flutter,

And five,

Eyes open,

Wide awake,

Mind and body fully returned.