Calm The Storm Of Stress: Visualization For Resilience

This is Benjamin and we're going to do a session now in order to face and work through any type of stress that you're experiencing.

We're going to start with the most direct way to overcome stress,

That is mindful,

Purposeful breathing.

Then we'll leverage our own imagination to reframe and experience it in a different,

More manageable way.

When we're presented with situations in our life that are high stress,

Sometimes it seems impossible to get past those anxious feelings and see the situation clearly.

The best way to tackle high stress situations is using our full and conscious breath.

This brings us back into our body.

When we're not present in our bodies,

Our thoughts can carry us away.

This can make stressful situations be almost completely debilitating.

Fortunately,

We have the power of our own awareness that can focus on our breath and our body and we can bring ourselves back into the present moment,

Regaining a sense of clarity.

So let's honor the power of our breath right now and how it brings us back into the present moment by taking five deep,

Purposeful breaths together.

To help keep us focused,

I'm going to guide us breath by breath.

Breath one,

Fully inhale through the nose,

Expanding your belly and chest as much as you can.

Hold it for just a moment at the top and exhale,

Feeling a wave of relaxation sweep over you as you extend that exhale.

Breath two,

Inhale again,

Filling your entire breathing system with that fresh oxygen.

Hold it very briefly at the top and then exhale,

Release that wave of relaxation is sweeping over you.

Third breath,

Inhale all the way until you're brimming with air.

Feel that vitality just coming through into your system.

Hold it at the top,

Soaking in oxygen,

Release that exhale.

Your body's relaxing in different areas without any efforts.

Breath four,

Inhale it in,

Feeling these breaths purifying your entire body,

Reaching every cell,

Holding briefly and exhale.

This time just noticing how you're feeling.

Our final conscious breath together,

A big,

Beautiful inhale,

Breath coming in,

Pull it into the top,

Hold it briefly,

Feeling invigorated from oxygen and exhale,

Just allowing relaxation to sweep over you without any effort.

Take note of how you feel in this very moment.

Notice your body,

Any sensations.

If you notice any thoughts,

Just acknowledge them and come back to the sensations of your body,

Feeling anchored right here,

Right now.

Now that we've created a powerful baseline by grounding into our breath and our body,

We're going to add another tool for facing and managing stress.

We're going to use the power of our imagination to visualize stress as a storm.

Breathing deeply throughout this visualization allows us to have a full expression of self-compassion.

So let the flow of your breath become natural,

Noticing the abundance of the oxygen as it comes in and out through your nose.

Very good.

Now I invite you to visualize yourself standing in a large,

Open field with no one else around.

Everything is calm.

Everything is peaceful.

You're surrounded by nature.

Just trust your intuition and imagination to add the nature that's most appropriate and calming for you.

Now sit down in this natural space and look around,

Noticing all the beauty around you.

You're fully relaxed.

In the distance,

You see dark clouds closing in.

The sky is growing a little bit darker.

You see,

In fact,

That a small storm is forming and you even begin to feel some raindrops fall.

Imagine that this storm you perceive is your stress.

It might be a mild stress with just a little rain and a little wind or it could be a high stress with extremely strong winds and very heavy rain pouring down already.

In this visual,

We're going to face a very strong and powerful storm to make ourselves stronger from within.

So as you feel the storm getting even stronger and the wind blowing harder and harder,

You stay seated there in the open meadow,

Completely unfazed by it,

Knowing that you're completely safe.

The storm can't hurt you here.

You have a choice to react to this storm with fear or with love and compassion,

Knowing that the storm is harmless in this visualization you're creating.

Stress is our reaction to fear,

Worry,

The demands placed on ourselves.

Whether the fear is real or not,

We have to learn the proper reaction to all of these things.

Sometimes you just can't help it and stress will take us over in a matter of seconds.

In those moments,

We need to learn how to respond properly or it will handle us.

Just like sitting through the storm in the field,

Stress can't harm you if you know that it simply passes you by.

What matters most here is your own reaction to the events and triggers around you.

Now in this visualization,

Really embrace this stress and let it fully exist without fighting it.

The storm cannot hurt you.

You see this storm of stress in front of you.

It's very dark.

The storm clouds are getting thicker.

It's raining down with fury and yet you decide to get up from where you're sitting and slowly start walking towards it without fear,

Without worry,

Just pure confidence that you're safe and in control.

You get closer and closer as the storm draws near and the wind blows with tremendous speed.

The winds and the rains have no effect on you.

It's really easy for you to step forward and only your clothes are flopping around.

As you look forward,

You see the eye of the storm and around that eye,

The winds and the rain are extremely powerful and strong,

Yet you have zero worry as you step inside of this eye.

You're standing now inside this center and everything is calm and peaceful here.

You look around from within the eye of the storm and you can see all the chaos around you,

But inside here it's calm and it's cozy.

This is your space,

Your safe spot and so when the stress has fully taken over you,

You have a choice to let it blow over without a fight,

Just resting in awareness right in the middle of it,

Realizing that it cannot hurt you here.

When you're faced with a stressful situation you can take action and you can be confident,

But you'll not react to the situation with undue fear,

Worry or anxiety.

Witness your body as the center and any stress is just a storm surrounding you that comes and goes.

You are in control and you can always come back to your safe space.

And now you notice that the storm is losing its power,

It's dying down slowly,

The rain is easing up and now it's only drizzling.

You see the clouds drifting away as the sky gets brighter,

The sunlight even peeks through the clouds as they pass by and then eventually burst out with great intensity,

Shining a beautiful light all around you.

You see birds coming out,

You hear them singing,

You see butterflies and bees buzzing around the flowers that are blooming now after the heavy rains.

Everything is beautiful now.

This moment represents you being in a beautiful state of mind where stress had no control of you,

It simply passed by.

Very good.

We're going to close now with three nice deep breaths,

Slowly bringing ourselves back to the present moment.

One,

A nice full breath of fresh energy,

Inhaling it in and releasing.

Two,

Inhaling,

Breathing in,

Taking it all in,

Everything you learned here today in this visualization,

Releasing with the exhale.

And finally,

Three,

Taking another deep supportive breath,

Allowing the memory of your strength through the storm to be present in your mind right now.

Good.

You can use this session or this method whenever you find yourself in a high stress situation.

You'll be amazed at how you can ride out the storm of stress by simply leveraging the power of your own breath and your own imagination.