In this previous post, I discussed how the imagination can help us feel empowered, calm, and confident or can bring anxiety, depressed mood, and insecurities. When you feel stuck with negative thoughts and images scrolling through your mind like an unending film reel, here are some things that may be helpful.
Developing a Container
A mental container is something you create to hold all the distress, tension, and negative images that overwhelm and feel unhelpful to you. The mental container is not simply another way to dismiss, avoid, or ignore thoughts and emotions. It is a thoughtful and intentional step in caring for yourself when you experience distressing images and emotions from the past or future that is outside your control and keeps you from living effectively today.
For example, if you have someone you love in the hospital and the worry of this is keeping you from taking care of your family and getting your work done, putting the worry of your loved one in the container to feel some separation from those big feelings will help you be more present and effective. Then, at another time of the day when you have the mental space and energy to process the feelings and thoughts in the container, you can do so. Jessie Doughty from Resilient Life Therapy has written about this in length and provides a guide in creating a container. Check it out here: “The Container Exercise”
Creating a Safe Place
Whether you are lying in your bed, preparing for an event, dealing with daily life, or in a large gathering, taking the time to create a safe place will give something to connect with to feel more grounded, confident, and calm. Some have a single room or location in their safe place whereas others create an entire world. Taking the time to create a safe place can be fun and the limits are endless on what you can do! The best part is since it is from your imagination you can access it any time, any where. Therapy in a Nutshell has created a video to guide you in creating your safe place. Check it out here: “Creating a Safe Place”.
Deep Breathing with Imagination
Many often forget one of the most important and simplest skills shown to calm our body is deep breathing. There are many different ways to use deep breathing to increase relaxation. One of my favorites is imagining a color for the distressing emotion and a different color to represent calm, relaxation, or peace.
Here’s how it works–Practice filling all of your lungs with air and slowly releasing the air (go real slow on the exhale and work to slow all your breathing down)–do this for about 5-10 breaths. Now, when you slowly breathe in, imagine the color of calm coming into your body and when you breathe out imagine the color of distress being blown out of your body. Each time you breathe out, release the tension in your body more and more. Continue to do this until your whole body is full of the calming color from head to toe and your body feels relaxed. Notice how this feels. Allow yourself to be in this moment, to enjoy it, before moving on to the next thing in your day.