This guided meditation is brought to you by Julie Peters and Spirituality and Health.
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Welcome to this guided meditation for creating a safe or comfortable place inside your own mind.
Whether this place that we're going to think about is real or imaginary,
It can help you to activate the neural networks of safety and calm,
Which benefits your body.
And once you have it,
You can take it with you anywhere.
You can use this meditation repeatedly to habituate your nervous system for ease and calm.
Or whenever you're in a particularly stressful period,
You are also welcome to use this meditation to help you sleep at night.
Keep in mind that this is not a space to do any specific work.
It's not a place for processing or analyzing or fixing anything.
It's a place to rest where you can pause and just be with feeling a little bit safer.
This isn't absolute,
And no one expects you to go from 100 to 0 if you're feeling really,
Really anxious.
Just do your best to move toward the feelings of safety and calm,
Knowing that if you don't get all the way there,
That's completely OK.
This exercise is supposed to feel good.
If it doesn't,
You can turn it off anytime.
Let's start by finding a comfortable position for this meditation if you haven't already.
Seated is fine.
Laying down is fine.
Any other shape that works for you where you don't have to really think too much about the sensations in your body.
So just as comfortable as you can be.
You can close or soften your eyes and begin to turn your awareness inward.
Check in with your breath.
That might mean simply noticing your breath,
Or it might mean taking a few conscious deep breaths in through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
Nice and slow on that exhale.
Acknowledge this space that you're in,
The earth beneath you,
And the land that you're on,
Your relationship with this land.
Notice your body in this moment,
The feel of the clothes on your skin or the temperature of the air.
Notice how it feels to hear the sound of my voice.
Now,
I'm going to invite you to imagine that you are in the most comfortable place that you can think of.
Somewhere where you feel protected and at ease,
Where you can be completely yourself.
This could be a real place that you've been,
Or it could be completely imaginary.
It could be somewhere in the natural world.
It could be inside.
It could be on another planet in the clouds.
There's no wrong way to imagine this place.
And if you're having any trouble finding a place,
I'll give you a couple of examples.
One is a clearing in the woods with beautiful old growth trees all around.
One is on the beach,
Perfect temperature,
Beautiful sunset maybe.
Another is an ideal bedroom for you,
Decorated just the way you like it,
As big as you want it to be.
The perfect kind of bed or chairs or whatever else you want in that place.
The perfect kind of lock on the door or not.
Could be in the pillowy soft of the clouds,
In some magical place filled with unicorns.
Feel free to take any of those if you need a little assistance imagining a comfortable place.
Once you've found something to work with,
Think about what makes it such a good place for you.
What do you like about it?
What are the signals of safety that help you to feel a little bit calmer?
As you notice these details that help you to feel that sense of comfort or safety or calm,
Notice how those signals make you feel in your body,
What's happening to your body as you imagine this comfortable place.
Now don't forget that you are in control of this imaginary space.
You're the boss here.
If something starts happening that you don't like,
You can change it.
Change the season,
Change the color of the walls,
Change who's here with you.
You can even change the entire space and choose a new location anytime you want to.
That's completely okay.
This is your inner world.
You're in control here.
And now notice some more sensory details about this place.
What does the air feel like?
The temperature?
Is there a breeze?
Who's with you?
Are you walking,
Sitting down,
Laying?
Are you dancing,
Swimming?
What does the ground feel like underneath your feet?
Can you smell anything in the air?
Now notice again what you feel in your body.
Is there a feeling of softness or expansion?
Warmth somewhere?
Where is that?
What do you notice around your face,
Shoulders,
Your stomach?
Does it feel most right for you to be on your own or with some others?
Either way is completely fine.
If you're not alone,
Who's with you?
You can invite anyone.
Real or imaginary beings,
Humans,
Angels,
Pets,
Anybody.
Again,
You're the boss here.
You can bring in anyone you like.
Ensure that you're only inviting beings that help to make this space feel safe or comfortable.
And if that changes,
You can gently allow them to go back out of the space again.
It's up to you.
What details do you notice about the beings that are here with you or perhaps it's the joy of solitude?
If there is someone here with you,
How do you know them?
What are their names?
What does it feel like in your body to be in their presence or,
Again,
In that joy of being alone?
What are some words or phrases that you might use to describe what it's like to be in this space?
This could be something like calm,
Easeful,
Joyful,
Safe,
Neutral even.
And if you can find some words that feel right to describe this space and what it feels like to be here,
Repeat those words or phrases in your mind as you take a couple of deep breaths and just really receive those feelings,
Those sensations,
Those thoughts.
And you're welcome to stay here just as long as you want.
If you're falling asleep at night,
Just hang out in this place until you drift off.
There's no need to come out until you're ready.
And if you are in the middle of your day and you need to get back to some things,
Just take your time.
Gather your attention back into the room,
Into your body.
If you'd like,
You could shake your hands or wiggle your toes just to help bring your body back into the moment.
Blink your eyes softly open at your own pace.
And remember this space.
You can return to it anytime you want to.
It's yours now.
Enjoy it and have a wonderful rest of your day.
