Imagine a place of complete safety

When we don’t feel safe, there’s a small part of our brain that works really hard to look after us. Unfortunately, it’s only really good at doing that in really dangerous situations and it can’t tell the difference between real danger and something else.

This can mean that when you feel embarrassed, hurt, sad, excited, cross, disappointed or some other emotion, this part of your brain senses danger and prepares to defend you by making you flare up in anger, get away as quickly as you can, become frozen or find some other way to make you safe again.

All of these defences make it hard for you to be connected with yourself and others and also makes it impossible to feel compassion, again for yourself or others.

So imagine you are somewhere that feels perfectly safe. It could be somewhere you know or somewhere that you’ve made up in your mind. Close your eyes and allow yourself to be there for a while, feeling completely safe and allowing your connection and compassion to unfold.