Guided, you build the place, then build a way back in. Music underneath
You build a safe place, then you build a way back into it. A touch, a necklace, a hand in a pocket. Something you can do in a crowded room.
About 15 minutes with Steven Webb's calm voice.
You walk through a doorway into an empty space and furnish it yourself. Pictures, smells, birds, people you trust. Then you pick a physical gesture as the anchor, step out, and use the gesture to step back in. We practise that a few times, because the point is not the visit. It is being able to go back whenever you need to.
Treat me to a coffee, keep the podcast free, and get my Weekly Calm every Sunday. It is all on stevenwebb.uk
Thank you for sitting with me.
Steven
Who this is for
You need somewhere safe you can reach without leaving the room you are in.
You build a place, then you build a door into it. A touch, a necklace, a hand in a pocket. Something you can do in a crowded room without anybody noticing.
What happens in this meditation
The body settles, then a scan from the top down for anything still holding on.
Then you walk through a doorway into an empty space that already feels calm, and you furnish it yourself. A waterfall or a fire. Cushions. Pictures. Things from your past. A smell you like. Birds. And people you trust and think of as wise.
You walk round it. You find the spot in it that is yours and you sit down.
Then the anchor. A physical gesture in the real world. A hand on your heart, a hand in your pocket, a finger on a necklace. Yours to choose.
Then you step out, use the gesture, and step back in. And we do that a few times, because the point is not the visit. It is being able to come back.
How to get the most from it
Fifteen minutes, and soften your gaze rather than closing your eyes, because you will want to do this in places where closing them would look odd.
Do it several times over a couple of weeks. After that you can reach the place in a second or two, which is the whole purpose.
Furnish it properly the first time. A vague room does not hold. A detailed one does.
Questions people ask
What should the anchor be?
Whatever you can do anywhere without drawing attention. A hand in your pocket is a good one. It only has to be consistent, not meaningful.
Is this avoidance?
No. You are not leaving the situation, you are changing what you meet it from. Ten seconds in the room and you come back to the same meeting, steadier.
Can I change what is in it?
Yes, and you probably will. It is yours to nurture. Add things, take things out, and let the people in it change as your life does.
Read along
The transcript
It follows the audio. Press any line to jump there.
anxiety · visualisation · resilience
Read the transcript
Hello and welcome to the Emotional Safe Haven Meditation. This meditation is about giving you a place where you
can go whenever you need. A little bit of safe place where you just feel comfortable, you feel safe. It's
like having a little bubble around you, but it means you can trigger it with an object in the real
world or an action. For example, putting your hand in your pocket or perhaps grabbing hold of a necklace
or It doesn't matter what the action is. It's just it'll bring to mind and bring to heart this safe
place for you so you know you can be safe here and now. And that's what this meditation is about
is I'll give you the experience of it. You'll create the space. And what I would recommend is that you
do this meditation several times.
And then you get used to doing it and then you can do it by yourself. And then give it
two or three weeks and you'll be able to invoke this safe place whenever you need it. Whether you're in
a busy place or sat in the car or at work or just in the morning when you wake up
feeling a bit anxious. It really doesn't matter when. But this quiet, safe space is all yours and it's for
you to nurture and use whenever you need to retreat there.
So the first thing we'll do is we'll settle into a comfortable position. Whatever that means for you is up
to you. And just allow your arms to relax and allow your body to relax. And when I say allow
the body to relax, I really do mean just allow it to relax. There's nothing we're going to force here.
There's nothing we're going to do. We're just going to allow it to happen.
And you can gently allow your eyes to gently close or soften your gaze just a few feet in front
of you.
Over time, it's better to do the meditation with your eyes open slightly because you might want to invoke this
safe place when you're driving or when you're doing something and it would be a bit odd if you have
to close your eyes and perhaps people will notice. So
if you can, just gently soften your gaze a few feet in front of you. And
just allow your eyes to relax.
Allow your breath to settle into a comfortable routine.
I'm breathing in. I'm
breathing out.
Breathing in calm. Breathing out relax
And as your breath settles into a nice routine, you don't have to do anything with your breath the same
as you don't have to do anything with your body. Your
body knows how to breathe. Your body knows how to relax. Your mind knows how to go quiet. We just
allow these things to happen.
We allow the world just to go a little quieter
And we almost notice the awareness go from our mind to our hearts
as it just softens.
And this awareness just becomes more gentle within the body.
And we can do just a body scan for any tension that's left behind. And we do this just by
starting from the top of the head, working down through the body and... Just bring into mind any pockets of
tension or any parts of the body that may not be totally relaxed into this moment and just
recognise the tension and give it permission to relax.
And notice when you say you can relax now, it just does automatically.
There's no forcing.
You're just releasing the muscle. You're
releasing that tension.
And with each breath in, calm. And with each breath out, relax.
And now we're going to move to the visualization part of this meditation.
So imagine walking through a doorway or a gateway into
an empty open space.
It's a space that feels comfortable and it feels okay.
And you feel like there's a different atmosphere.
There's a calmness to this place.
Now consider some elements that would make you feel comfortable.
Perhaps a waterfall or a warm fire.
Perhaps some cushions or... Maybe even bring to mind some loved ones.
This is your safe haven.
And start placing elements around this safe haven that you like.
Visualize them taking form.
It could be pictures, they could be
things from your past. Anything that you like to be around. Anything that gives you comfort.
And anyone that perhaps you deem as wise and calm. Just
bring them with you to this moment
And Now you can start adding any elements you want.
Anything that gives you comfort. It
could be a smell of a certain flower.
It could be some birds chirping.
And imagine it in as much detail as possible.
How it feels to be here.
Maybe you can walk around in this space look at the objects and enjoy them.
Maybe you notice how calm it is. How
warm it feels.
How you feel safe in this place.
And now bring to mind any emotions or feelings that you're feeling right now in this place.
There could be more than one. Just bring it up and feel it and
really embody it with your whole body and then see if there's another emotion.
Almost like this is your perfect safe haven. You've
got everything you need to feel safe and secure.
And if your mind wanders, just keep bringing it back to this wonderful place.
And now you have this place and a place your favourite place in it. Perhaps you want to sit down
or on a cushion or on the sofa or whatever where you want to go in this place. Find your
most perfect comfortable area
And just feel at ease.
Just imagine breathing in calm and breathing out relaxed in this safe haven.
Now I want you to just bring part of your awareness to the real world and where you're sat. And
maybe you're wearing a necklace or an earring or
maybe you just want to symbolize it by putting your hand on your heart. But
is there a physical gesture that you can do now that whenever you need to invoke this place in your
heart and your head and your whole body, that you can just do this gesture. And you can breathe in
calm and breathe out relaxed to feel safe in this place.
It could be as simple as putting your left hand in your pocket.
Or just touching your body in a certain way somewhere.
Maybe just touching the necklace.
It's totally your trigger. It's your anchor point.
And now step away from this safe haven. And you're just there breathing in calm, breathing out relax in the
room.
And now do the anchor point again. Whatever your anchor point was, just do it now and step into the
room. Step over the gate or into the door.
And feel what it's like to be there. To be surrounded by this safe haven.
And you feel it with your whole body, with the people in there that you want
then move your hand away from your anchor point and step out of it again. And you're just here you're
breathing in calm, breathing out relax
Now do it again, put your hand on the anchor point and
you step in and you're in this room again.
Just take a moment. To really appreciate your mind and your body and your heart for being able to step
in and out of this room. For you to have the power to go from maybe feeling a little anxious
or feeling like you need a safe place to creating a safe place all within you.
Just really take a couple of breaths and really appreciate that.
And just notice the difference between being here in the room With my voice and this meditation. And
being able to step into that room just by putting your hand in the right place.
And as you practice this, you'll be able to do this more and more. And you'll be able to do
it in a busy room or you'll be able to do it when you're feeling anxious. And you'll just be
able to think about it and just, ah, I'm okay. I've got my safe place.
In a moment I'm going to come back from five.
And I want you to bring back this skill with you. This ultimate skill of creating this place
and having a trigger to be able to go there whenever you like.
So breathing in calm, breathing out relax
So five, four, gently open your eyes if you had them closed. Three, shake out your
arms. Two, just move around in the chair, just wiggle a little bit and with a really big smile on
your face, really appreciate the wonderful skill of imagination and visualization and what you're capable of doing
when you just take a deep breath and just go, ah, my safe place, my safe haven. What
a joy it is knowing it's there whenever you want it with your trigger. And
the more you do this meditation for a few days or maybe a couple of weeks, you'll be able to
go there whenever you want very, very quickly. And it'll really reduce your feeling of getting anxious
or getting worried or stressed out because you know you'll have this place available to you. You're in control.
You have all the skills. You have all the wisdom. You have all the tools to be in complete control
of whatever arises in any given moment.
How awesome is that?
I'm Steven Webb and I hope this meditation helped you. And if it does, feel free to click the link
below to support the Inner Peace Meditations podcast. It really does make a difference and thank you. And above all,
I just hope I make a difference in your life and help you to have a little more safe haven
on the earth, in this realm, whatever it is, whatever it means to you. Take care.
