The Calm, Safe Space meditation practice is most popularly associated with EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Therapy, though it can also be used with other forms of therapy as a way to shift the intensity of your emotional state to a calmer, more secure experience.
You can use this calm, safe space exercise whenever you are feeling anxious, unsafe, afraid, or overwhelmed. Practicing this meditation can help you focus more and find clearer solutions to your problems.
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Calm Safe Space Guided Meditation Script
Take a deep breath in through your nose and slowly out your mouth. Breathe naturally as you imagine you are in your calm, safe space.
Now this place can be either real or imaginary. It can be a place that you have never been to before, or it can be a place that you've visited once or maybe often.
Wherever this place is that you've chosen, I want you to choose a place where nothing bad ever could happen, nothing bad ever will happen, nothing bad ever has happened there. We want only calm, pleasant, happy associations with this place.
Now as you imagine yourself here in this place, I want you to look around and notice what you see here.
What images or colors do you notice? Are there other people there? Is it just yourself? Are there animals or other creatures? Is there any sort of weather patterns or changes that you see? If you are indoors or outdoors, or maybe in some other universe or reality. Just take in everything that you can see as you imagine yourself in your place.
Next, I want you to notice everything that you could feel.
Is there a certain temperature where you're at? Do you feel cool or warm? Is there anything that's touching your skin that feels comfortable? Are you noticing any clothing that you're wearing? Are there any textures that you experience? Anything that you're holding or that's resting on you or near you? Are there any sensations that you notice in your body? Anything that you could physically touch or feel as you imagine yourself here in this place, I want you to notice it and just observe how it is to experience that.
Next, I want you to notice any sounds that you might hear.
Are there any vibrations or music? Perhaps it's silence, or are there nature sounds or other creatures around? Are there people talking? Are they talking to you or to others? What are they saying? Just notice any of the sounds around you that you might observe or experience in this place.
And when you're ready, I want you to notice any smells that you experience here.
Are they strong or subtle? Do they have any sort of odor that you could describe? Are these smells associated with food, a flower, or candle, or any other sort of experience here? Or perhaps it's indescribable because it's a new smell that you've never experienced before, especially if you're imagining this place.
And now I want you to call your attention to any taste that you notice.
In this place, perhaps you are experiencing a drink that you enjoy or a type of food that feels good. Perhaps it is none of these things. Perhaps you notice no taste, and that's okay too. As you imagine yourself in this place, taking in all the things you can see, feel and touch, hear, smell, and taste, I want you to notice how pleasant and good you feel in your body right now. Take it in and notice with all of your sensations how it is to be here in this calm, safe space. When you're ready, I want you to take a deep breath in through your nose and slowly out through your mouth.
You can go ahead and wiggle, and wake your body up as you flutter your eyes open, and we get ready for part two of this exercise where we test this out.
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Wow, I hope you are feeling equally relaxed and calm as I am after visiting your calm, safe space.
Now let's move into part two of this exercise by just seeing how this works in action.
The benefit of using a calm, safe space to imagine or visualize yourself in is that you can actually shift your emotional experience to something that is more calm and relaxed, and that way, you can move into problem-solving.
Okay, so here is how this part works.
Choose an event that you experienced recently, a real-life event that was just mildly irritating, like a little annoying, not crazy aggravating. So on a zero to 10 scale, where 10 is you are so angry that you're like ready to flip a lid, and zero is you are calm, relaxed, and neutral - choose something that's like a one or a two. So just like a little inconvenient, a little irritating, but it's not going to totally derail your whole mood or your day.
For myself, I'm going to choose when I couldn't find my glasses the other day. So it was definitely a little irritating and very inconvenient, because I'm sure you've noticed I wear glasses, and my eyesight without them is pretty poor. So without my glasses, it's not like I can make it throughout the day without them. I really need them to be able to see clearly and safely. And so I was stressed out, I was trying to find them. I knew I would find them, but I was, you know, getting a little nervous there.
So for me, when I think about that experience, and I check in, I would say right now at this time when I think about it, it's probably like a two. You know, it does still bother me a little bit that that happened, but it's not like overwhelming. So you want to choose a one or a two when you think about it right now. So not at the time, but right now when you think about it.
Now,for this next part you can keep your eyes open or closed for this.
I want you to imagine that you are back in that calm, safe space.
→ Notice what you see.
→ Notice what you hear.
→ What do you physically feel?
→ What do you smell?
→ What do you taste?
You may notice some more of the same things or you may notice new or different things this time around. Either way is perfectly fine. Just take it all in using all five of your senses.
And when you're ready, I want you to take a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.
Go back and remember that thing that was a little irritating that you were thinking about before.
So now when I think about me losing my glasses, it really doesn't bother me that much anymore. It's probably like a one. I hope that you found this exercise useful, beneficial, and helpful, and please feel free to come back to the meditation portion of this whenever you need it.
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