This week, brainstorming teachers and recovery coach Emily Jean guide a grounding practice to find safety in our bodies when trauma, fear or anxiety are pulling us to avoid or insult them.
When we are living in a lot of stress or recovering from trauma or addiction, we find ourselves in a free state of fighting, where we feel either disconnected or insecure in our bodies. It’s hard to remember, In this moment, I am safe. This exercise is designed to slowly promote the feeling of safety and then create a concentrate anchor (in the movement of our body to the movement of our body) to create a feeling to remember your body.
A meditation to find safety in the body
After each paragraph, stop and follow the guided meditation script below. Or listen to audio practice.
- Start by finding a comfortable position. You can sit, lie down, your body can become your leader, and see what helps you feel at this moment.
- When you settled in your selected position, close your eyes or reduce your eyes. See how your body connects to the surface of you, and it takes a few moments to feel this feeling of support and base. Take your awareness into your breath and easily look at the natural respiratory rhythm.
- Without a decision, let the breath remain exactly as it is. Soften the muscles in your forehead, relax the jaw and let your shoulders fall slowly. Now we take a couple of deep breaths. Take a deep breath through the nose while breathing from the stomach. Then increase this breath with a long breath. Just bring a feeling of ease and gentleness to the body. When we breathe in such a deep consciousness, it is as if we are giving us a signal of protecting our nervous system. Take another breath like this, breathe from the stomach and breathe with the feeling of going.
When we breathe in such a deep consciousness, it is as if we are giving us a signal of protecting our nervous system.
- Now start scanning slowly through your body. As you do, look at any area or parts of stress that can feel a bit heavy, anxious, activated, or even in physical pain. Note how you feel a curious and compassionate awareness. Then take a deep breath and send the breath to the area. You may find that it gives a sense of ease or openness around this section. Or maybe you don’t. What you are feeling is fine. There is no right or wrong experience.
- Continue your scanning awareness. Discover whether your body has any part that feels safe, more ease or calm. And if those words do not resonate for you, make a free choice that does it. You may only know that you have a part of your body that feels more neutral and less active. Gently discover where it is in the body. It can be in your chest, your hands, stomach, your feet. Feel how this feeling feels like.
- Bring all your attention to this place. See its features. Does it have color, shape or texture? Allow yourself to really view this part of the body. Bend in this feeling of safety, ease, calm, or neutrality.
- Next, increase your consciousness to the rest of the body. You may find that other areas still have some difficulty or stress. And if there is there, look at the contrary, holding both stress and safety in your awareness. Then bring all your attention to this feeling of safety. Looking at the features. Take a deep breath in this feeling. As soon as you breathe, let it spread. And with your breath, let it flow into the rest of your body. Invite to enhance this feeling, increase your entire body. Consider what it feels like to rest with or in.
- Now place one hand on your heart and the other on your stomach. Apply only the right amount of pressure that feels helpful to you. It is an anchor, an anchor that your body can remember. The more you return to this meditation, the more your body will connect this contact with safety. Let’s take the last deep breath, breathe a feeling of safety, calm and ease. After breathing, breathing it around you. Breathing in safety, calm, ease; Safety, calm, easily breathing.
It is an anchor, an anchor that your body can remember. The more you return to this meditation, the more your body will connect this contact with safety.
- If you are now feeling more regularly in your body than ease and safe, acknowledge it. Also acknowledge that you have the power to consciously manage your nervous system. If there is no change, that’s fine. You didn’t do anything wrong, and sometimes it only takes practice and time to establish safety. We are the best attitude of acceptance and non -resistance when working with our nervous system.
- When you feel ready, you can slowly open your eyes. Thank you very much for taking time to do this meditation with me. The rest of your day is the only feeling of safety, easily and calm.
