Safe Place Meditation

Following a scary life event like a motor vehicle accident or a break-in-enter many people experience a sense of feeling unsafe.

In order to help your mind, body, and emotions feel safe it is important to practice 1 or more strategies from each of the categories discussed on this website, including: Managing Physical Symptoms; Managing Emotional Symptoms, and Managing your Thinking.

In order to regain a sense of safety it is not enough just to think about it- the benefit comes when you actually feel the sensation of safety in your body, noticing it with your whole self- body, mind, and emotions.

This safe place meditation will help you feel the sensation of safety:

Begin by sitting in a comfortable chair or lying down. Just begin by focusing on your breathing, just notice the natural rhythm of your breath. 

Breath in through the nose, down into your center, and pause before letting it out slowly through your mouth. Just continue this pattern of slow and conscious breathing for a few moments. 

Now I want you to think of a favorite place or a place that you would want to be, a place where you feel safe, secure, happy, and relaxed. This place can be real or imagined but the feelings of being safe, secure, happy, and relaxed are real. What happens in your body when you imagine going there- noticing without judgement?

Now in your mind, really see this favorite place as in much detail as you can, using all 5 of your senses. Using your mind's eye, look around what do you see there? Are there other people or animals there, or are you alone? See the layout of the place- are you inside or outside? Do you see water, trees, or flowers? What colours do you see in this place?

What do you hear there? Do you hear the sound of birds singing, or the sound of the oceans waves washing-up onto the beach, or perhaps the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves?

Adding more detail- are there things you can touch or feel? What is the temperature, is it brisk or cool, warm or humid? Can you feel a gentle breeze? Perhaps you feel sand beneath your toes or softness of grass under your feet?

Are there smells or tastes associated with this time and place? Perhaps the sweet smell of flowers, or the salty air from an ocean breeze, or the smell after it rains? 

What do you like about this place? What do you notice in  your body as you remember this favorite time and place where you feel safe, secure, happy, and relaxed? How do you notice the feeling of safety in your body- without judgment, see if you can notice how a sense of safety feels? Where in your body does this sense of safety register- where do you feel it?

Enjoy this favorite place for a few more moments. Know that you can return to this special place in your mind whenever you need a break, mental vacation, need some relaxation or a sense of safety. And you can keep this sense of safety, relaxation, and happiness with you where ever you go, throughout the day.

Gently bring your attention back to the now and your current environment, and when you feel ready open your eyes