Finding The Safe Space Within
The past few years have been a challenging journey for myself to navigate forward through grief, pain, trauma and heartache. The immediate world around me seemed so uncertain, unstable and unsafe for such a long time - that was until I learnt how to cultivate the safe space within.
As I look around right now I see the reflection of my experience in the wider community - through the challenges of Covid, outbreaks of war, natural disasters, increased statistics in mental illness, suicides, domestic violence and the list is seemingly endless……we cannot just shove our head into the sand and hide away from all of these confronting images & issues. But how do we manage all of the unbridled feelings that come with being human in a world that is beyond painful at times?
We find the safe space we are seeking within ourselves in the moments we need to take refuge from the chaos.
This will by no means create world peace; but rather allow peace within ourselves so that we can build resilience to manage the multitude of emotions we as humans experience. For visual context (as I am a very visual person) - to help keep our ducks in a row.
This is a tool that I love to weave through my Yoga Nidra practices with my students when I feel the energy is heavy & stagnant.
I instruct my students to firstly, if comfortable to choose a part of their body they wish to house their safe space. This could be their heart, chest, solar plexus, third eye, womb - whatever comes intuitively to them. Then noticing if any sensations, feelings or colours are associated with this part of the body. I then take them on a journey to visualise a blank room or an open field where they are guided to adorn this space with their favourite people, animals, activities or maybe its as simple as them seeing themselves lying in a hammock swinging effortlessly with the summer breeze. The possibilities are endless. They can be as imaginative as they like - its their to create.
For example, my safe space is a visualisation of my family sitting around a big table in my childhood home, laughing and making jokes over heartwarming, traditional food. This was a happy childhood memory for me which makes me feel safe & certain within my body. I find that reminding my students that they have a space within them that they can come home to allows greater control over their own agency even if their outer world feels chaotic.
Our mind is a truly wonderful tool that can be used to get us through not only the most trying of times, but through our day to day life. We would not be human if we were not affected by other’s humanity and a world that is always changing - but there are ways of managing the overwhelm that can come with that.
For me this has been one of my game changers in my journey and I hope it can be for yours as well.
Just always know in any given moment you have the power to come home to yourself x