Hi there,
It's Mandy here.
Welcome to this safety rehearsal practice.
Before we begin,
I just want to share a brief experience of something that happened to me recently when I was on silent retreat.
I'd been sitting still in meditation for quite a long period.
And I began noticing some increasingly intense sensations in my back.
And rather than change my posture,
I just became curious.
And as a bit of an experiment,
I imagined myself gently moving my spine in these slow circular motions.
And imagining doing that,
I noticed there was a bit of relief,
Ease,
And some flexibility that those movements would normally bring.
So I was pretty surprised my body hadn't actually moved,
But the sensations had softened.
And there was an increased sense of ease and spaciousness.
What this is,
Is an example of the extraordinary predictive capacity of the brain.
Our brains are constantly using imagination,
Memory,
And expectation to prepare the body for what they believe is about to happen.
And we've all experienced this in everyday life.
Perhaps you've been thinking about an important presentation at work.
And just imagining standing up in front of the others,
It can often bring some fluttering sensations to the stomach.
You know,
Those familiar nervous butterflies.
Or maybe you're walking down a dark street and you catch sight of some dark shadows.
And for a brief moment,
You interpret that that's someone there ready to jump out at you.
Before you've even had time to think,
Your heart rate increases,
Your muscles tense,
Your whole body prepares to protect you.
The body responds not only to what's happening,
But to what the brain predicts might happen.
This ability is really powerful.
It can play a role in developing conditioned responses to certain activities,
Places,
People,
Movements.
But also we can use this same capacity intentionally to imagine not danger,
But safety,
Choice,
Flexibility,
And the possibility of a different way.
And that can be where this practice can be really helpful.
It's a guided rehearsal of safety.
We know from the research that imagining an activity can activate the same brain networks involved as physically performing it.
Just imagine that,
Even just by imagining.
It's like our brains registering that we're doing it.
So we could mentally rehearse experiences of calm in a supported way to provide the brain and body with this opportunity to experience safety,
To explore it,
To offer choice and to make us feel more confident.
And over time,
This can help reduce fear and build confidence and support a greater sense of safety around a particular activity that perhaps we have associated with pain or symptoms and been avoiding.
And also it can just make you feel ready to try performing that activity calmly and safely in real life.
So before we launch in,
Just a reminder.
You're always in control throughout this practice.
You can slow down,
Pause,
Adjust your posture,
Maybe just take a break at any point.
You don't need to force anything.
You can just stay in control the whole time.
So just taking your time to settle in to a posture that feels comfortable for you today in your body.
Might be seated,
Might be supported on the bed or the floor,
Just resting.
Allowing the body to feel held by the support beneath you.
Really giving in and allowing yourself to be supported,
Allowing gravity to do its quiet work.
You might like to bring your attention to your breathing.
Just noticing the natural rhythm and flow of each breath.
Inhaling and exiling.
Perhaps as you rest here breathing you might notice some areas that were holding tension soften just a little.
Just settling into this moment where you don't have to do anything.
Just breathing and being.
And when you're ready,
If it feels okay,
Perhaps you could bring to mind a place that feels steady and comfortable.
Doesn't need to be perfect,
Maybe just the first thing that pops to mind,
Somewhere where you can hold a sense of ease.
Might be a real place,
Might be imagined,
Could be indoors or outdoors.
As best you can bringing it to your mind's eye and just noticing what you see there the colors the light.
Any sounds,
Noticing textures,
Whether you're in this place sitting or standing.
Maybe getting a sense of the temperature or the air around you.
And just letting this place become a kind of anchor.
A reference point.
Somewhere where you feel safe and steady.
And just breathing here.
Not to try and escape anything,
You're just remembering what this ease and safety feels like in the body.
And when you're ready,
Gently and only as much as feels workable to you today.
Perhaps bringing to mind now a situation that's felt a bit difficult lately.
It might be a movement that the body has started to fear,
Like bending,
Lifting,
Walking a certain distance.
It might be a place that started to feel overwhelming or draining.
It might be the idea of returning to work after a long period away from work or taking up some other routine day-to-day activities.
Could be an interaction or a setting that brings about some feelings of uncertainty.
And you don't need to go into detail.
You might like to think of it like you're standing on the edge of the scene.
You're just observing from a safe distance.
And as you observe and notice,
Check out what the body's doing in response.
Without judging it,
Just observing.
Maybe as you stand on the edge of this scene you notice some tightness,
A bit of hesitation,
Feelings of fatigue or bracing somewhere in the body.
This is the nervous system learning to protect,
To anticipate.
Nothing's actually wrong here,
It's just information.
So you might like to bring your attention back to that sense of your safe place.
Seeing if you can allow that safe place to accompany you here.
And maybe you feel ready to imagine stepping into this situation and bringing that safe place quality alongside you,
As if it's an anchor that you could carry to make you feel a bit more steady,
Grounded,
Present.
And of course,
Letting your imagination do what it likes here,
You might imagine it showing up with you as a colour,
A feeling in your chest,
An image or a symbol.
Maybe it's just a sense of warmth and steadiness.
And just noticing as best you can how that feels.
You might even begin imagining a small version of the activity.
If it's a movement,
You might imagine doing the first part slowly at your own pace.
If it's a place you might imagine arriving and standing at the edge for a moment.
If it's returning to work or a routine,
Imagine just the very beginning,
Like maybe getting ready at home,
Stepping into the office,
Sitting down at your desk.
If it's an interaction with someone,
You might just imagine the opening sentence.
Only taking the first step here.
And as you imagine this,
Just keep checking in with the body.
Noticing sensations,
Intensity of them.
Noticing your capacity.
You're not trying to force comfort here.
We're just allowing the nervous system an opportunity to learn something new.
That this activity can be approached with steadiness,
With a sense of choice and support.
You might like to even bring into your imagination a little adjustment.
Maybe something that helps represent more control or safety.
Maybe you can slow down the pace.
You might change your posture.
You might add a pause.
Or you can imagine a supportive presence nearby.
Maybe something that helps you with representing steadiness and reassurance.
And how does it feel when that supports presence?
And if you're noticing any tension,
Just see if you can observe it with a little more space,
A little more allowing,
Not trying to push anything away.
Just seeing if it's possible to hold that within a wider field of awareness that also includes your safe place,
Your anchor.
If it feels okay you might imagine just completing the first small step of that activity not the whole thing just taking one more step forward and just acknowledging that that step has been taken.
Even if it's just in your imagination.
Noticing what happens in the body now.
Perhaps there's a feeling of relief.
There might still be a feeling of uncertainty.
Sometimes there's a mix of both and that's okay.
Because this is where the learning happens.
In the experience of I can be with this and still continue.
And maybe now just gently taking a look at that scene for one last time if it feels right.
What do you notice?
Maybe it's become more manageable.
Perhaps the body feels a bit more supported.
Maybe the environment's starting to feel a bit more familiar.
Maybe there's a greater sense of choice here,
Knowing that you're able to pause,
Adjust or continue.
Maybe noticing if there's been any shift in your emotional tone,
Even slightly.
And this is basically what is the essence of this safety rehearsal.
We're not pretending that everything's smooth sailing.
We're just building a new pathway.
Where this activity is no longer automatically equal to danger or overwhelm.
So just letting go of this image for a moment now.
Returning your attention to your breath.
Feeling the support beneath you.
Getting a sense of being here right now in this moment.
Allowing that scene to soften around the edges.
Perhaps even returning to your safe place,
Letting it reemerge in the mind fully,
The color.
The atmosphere,
That sense of steadiness.
Noticing how the body feels here in this safe reference point knowing you have access to it at any time.
In that powerful place of the imagination.
So as we start to bring this practice to a close,
Just keep checking in,
Noticing what's here.
Remembering that you've just done a small but very powerful experiment.
And you've been able to gather some information.
So perhaps just asking how you feel now.
Noticing the impact of this rehearsal of safety.
Knowing that you've already sent some really important messages to your nervous system.
It's been a message not of danger or overwhelm or uncertainty.
But one that can be approached gradually,
Safely,
And with your own sense of internal support and resources.
So when you feel ready.
You might even consider what it could be like taking these steps in the real world.
With the knowledge that you can bring these same qualities that you've been practicing.
Curiosity,
Flexibility,
Choice,
Pacing,
And safety.
So just discovering and knowing that you've got these options,
This flexibility.
And when you bring in this practice again and again,
You're updating the nervous system's predictions.
But for now,
Just simply notice the support beneath you.
The breath moving in and out of the body.
And just resting with this knowledge that you've just felt this experience of safety through your imagining.
And when you're ready.
Maybe preparing to gently carry this sense of steadiness,
Confidence and choice into whatever comes next in your day.
Thanks for practicing with me.
I'll see you next time.
