Your Emotional Safe Haven

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Hello and welcome to the Emotional Safe Haven Meditation. This meditation is about giving you a place where you

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can go whenever you need. A little bit of safe place where you just feel comfortable, you feel safe. It's

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like having a little bubble around you, but it means you can trigger it with an object in the real

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world or an action. For example, putting your hand in your pocket or perhaps grabbing hold of a necklace

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or It doesn't matter what the action is. It's just it'll bring to mind and bring to heart this safe

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place for you so you know you can be safe here and now. And that's what this meditation is about

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is I'll give you the experience of it. You'll create the space. And what I would recommend is that you

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do this meditation several times.

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And then you get used to doing it and then you can do it by yourself. And then give it

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two or three weeks and you'll be able to invoke this safe place whenever you need it. Whether you're in

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a busy place or sat in the car or at work or just in the morning when you wake up

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feeling a bit anxious. It really doesn't matter when. But this quiet, safe space is all yours and it's for

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you to nurture and use whenever you need to retreat there.

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So the first thing we'll do is we'll settle into a comfortable position. Whatever that means for you is up

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to you. And just allow your arms to relax and allow your body to relax. And when I say allow

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the body to relax, I really do mean just allow it to relax. There's nothing we're going to force here.

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There's nothing we're going to do. We're just going to allow it to happen.

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And you can gently allow your eyes to gently close or soften your gaze just a few feet in front

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of you.

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Over time, it's better to do the meditation with your eyes open slightly because you might want to invoke this

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safe place when you're driving or when you're doing something and it would be a bit odd if you have

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to close your eyes and perhaps people will notice. So

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if you can, just gently soften your gaze a few feet in front of you. And

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just allow your eyes to relax.

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Allow your breath to settle into a comfortable routine.

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I'm breathing in. I'm

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breathing out.

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Breathing in calm. Breathing out relax

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And as your breath settles into a nice routine, you don't have to do anything with your breath the same

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as you don't have to do anything with your body. Your

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body knows how to breathe. Your body knows how to relax. Your mind knows how to go quiet. We just

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allow these things to happen.

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We allow the world just to go a little quieter

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And we almost notice the awareness go from our mind to our hearts

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as it just softens.

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And this awareness just becomes more gentle within the body.

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And we can do just a body scan for any tension that's left behind. And we do this just by

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starting from the top of the head, working down through the body and... Just bring into mind any pockets of

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tension or any parts of the body that may not be totally relaxed into this moment and just

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recognise the tension and give it permission to relax.

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And notice when you say you can relax now, it just does automatically.

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There's no forcing.

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You're just releasing the muscle. You're

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releasing that tension.

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And with each breath in, calm. And with each breath out, relax.

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And now we're going to move to the visualization part of this meditation.

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So imagine walking through a doorway or a gateway into

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an empty open space.

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It's a space that feels comfortable and it feels okay.

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And you feel like there's a different atmosphere.

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There's a calmness to this place.

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Now consider some elements that would make you feel comfortable.

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Perhaps a waterfall or a warm fire.

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Perhaps some cushions or... Maybe even bring to mind some loved ones.

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This is your safe haven.

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And start placing elements around this safe haven that you like.

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Visualize them taking form.

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It could be pictures, they could be

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things from your past. Anything that you like to be around. Anything that gives you comfort.

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And anyone that perhaps you deem as wise and calm. Just

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bring them with you to this moment

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And Now you can start adding any elements you want.

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Anything that gives you comfort. It

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could be a smell of a certain flower.

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It could be some birds chirping.

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And imagine it in as much detail as possible.

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How it feels to be here.

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Maybe you can walk around in this space look at the objects and enjoy them.

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Maybe you notice how calm it is. How

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warm it feels.

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How you feel safe in this place.

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And now bring to mind any emotions or feelings that you're feeling right now in this place.

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There could be more than one. Just bring it up and feel it and

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really embody it with your whole body and then see if there's another emotion.

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Almost like this is your perfect safe haven. You've

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got everything you need to feel safe and secure.

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And if your mind wanders, just keep bringing it back to this wonderful place.

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And now you have this place and a place your favourite place in it. Perhaps you want to sit down

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or on a cushion or on the sofa or whatever where you want to go in this place. Find your

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most perfect comfortable area

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And just feel at ease.

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Just imagine breathing in calm and breathing out relaxed in this safe haven.

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Now I want you to just bring part of your awareness to the real world and where you're sat. And

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maybe you're wearing a necklace or an earring or

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maybe you just want to symbolize it by putting your hand on your heart. But

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is there a physical gesture that you can do now that whenever you need to invoke this place in your

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heart and your head and your whole body, that you can just do this gesture. And you can breathe in

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calm and breathe out relaxed to feel safe in this place.

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It could be as simple as putting your left hand in your pocket.

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Or just touching your body in a certain way somewhere.

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Maybe just touching the necklace.

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It's totally your trigger. It's your anchor point.

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And now step away from this safe haven. And you're just there breathing in calm, breathing out relax in the

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room.

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And now do the anchor point again. Whatever your anchor point was, just do it now and step into the

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room. Step over the gate or into the door.

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And feel what it's like to be there. To be surrounded by this safe haven.

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And you feel it with your whole body, with the people in there that you want

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then move your hand away from your anchor point and step out of it again. And you're just here you're

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breathing in calm, breathing out relax

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Now do it again, put your hand on the anchor point and

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you step in and you're in this room again.

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Just take a moment. To really appreciate your mind and your body and your heart for being able to step

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in and out of this room. For you to have the power to go from maybe feeling a little anxious

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or feeling like you need a safe place to creating a safe place all within you.

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Just really take a couple of breaths and really appreciate that.

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And just notice the difference between being here in the room With my voice and this meditation. And

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being able to step into that room just by putting your hand in the right place.

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And as you practice this, you'll be able to do this more and more. And you'll be able to do

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it in a busy room or you'll be able to do it when you're feeling anxious. And you'll just be

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able to think about it and just, ah, I'm okay. I've got my safe place.

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In a moment I'm going to come back from five.

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And I want you to bring back this skill with you. This ultimate skill of creating this place

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and having a trigger to be able to go there whenever you like.

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So breathing in calm, breathing out relax

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So five, four, gently open your eyes if you had them closed. Three, shake out your

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arms. Two, just move around in the chair, just wiggle a little bit and with a really big smile on

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your face, really appreciate the wonderful skill of imagination and visualization and what you're capable of doing

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when you just take a deep breath and just go, ah, my safe place, my safe haven. What

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a joy it is knowing it's there whenever you want it with your trigger. And

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the more you do this meditation for a few days or maybe a couple of weeks, you'll be able to

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go there whenever you want very, very quickly. And it'll really reduce your feeling of getting anxious

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or getting worried or stressed out because you know you'll have this place available to you. You're in control.

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You have all the skills. You have all the wisdom. You have all the tools to be in complete control

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of whatever arises in any given moment.

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How awesome is that?

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I'm Steven Webb and I hope this meditation helped you. And if it does, feel free to click the link

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below to support the Inner Peace Meditations podcast. It really does make a difference and thank you. And above all,

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I just hope I make a difference in your life and help you to have a little more safe haven

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on the earth, in this realm, whatever it is, whatever it means to you. Take care.