Mindful Mondays|Week 19: Support

Author Note: If you prefer to listen or watch instead of or along with -
 Check out the YouTube video and/or the Podcast audio.

Mindfulness is a great support to trauma recovery. The art of learning to support yourself, allowing the universe to support your healing, and bringing in safe people to add to your team of winning support — these are all highly important in sustaining wellness as you walk your recovery journey. Today, we’ll focus on some of these internal and external supports. Let’s get started.

Choose a meditation spot today that brings your body a good amount of support. A favorite chair, laying on the floor or ground with your knees bent or a bolster under them, or maybe sitting on a meditation pillow but with a support wall behind your back. We want today to be a couple minutes where your body can wholeheartedly feel braced so it can really hunker down and also hold up but without much effort needed. Take a cleansing breath to allow your nervous system to relax. Close your eyes if that feels safe.

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As you start to move away from outside noise and distractions and become absent from internal thoughts and worries — can you get a solid sense for the ground supporting you from below? At the same time, think for a moment about how the gravity of the atmosphere and the weight of your body is holding you down.

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Now take a moment to concentrate on the immune system inside you that is supporting your overall health, the heart that is beating to keep you alive, and the breath that works effortlessly on your behalf.

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Imagine a few things or people in your day-to-day life that support your life, health, or well-being. This maybe is a pet, a nice co-worker, a neighbor who is friendly, a community you belong to, your favorite walking trail by your house, a steady income, healthy meals, your morning shower, or anything that brings you a feeling of content and connection to the good parts of life.

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Now dig a bit deeper by expanding out to the universal goodness that supports your well-being. Perhaps imagine a morning commute with very little traffic, the crisp autumn air in the mountains, the sunshine beaming down on you for warmth, or anything that Mother Nature provides serendipitously to make your life have moments of pleasure and calm.

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Finally, look deeply inward to yourself for all the ways you are a support to you. All the ways you assist in thriving especially in the dark times of your trauma recovery. Self-compassion, self-care, self-love, journaling, mindfulness, a good night sleep, healthy choices, utilizing boundaries, following your gut instincts, learning to trust in a new relationship, and all the ways that you commit to your healing, devote yourself to this trauma work, and accomplish inner peace.

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Before you come back fully to the room and your surroundings, take a snapshot of all these people, places, and things that come together to support your recovery. Breathe in the goodness of these concepts and trust you are well supported. Maybe you realize there are some areas that were harder to contemplate support than others. Maybe you think you are ready for professional support. Maybe you can rest in having thought about massive support and take a moment of gratitude. Wherever you are today, release your mind back to the space you’re in and allow your eyes to flutter open. With a sense of thankfulness, move carefully back into your well-supported day.

Mindful Mondays|Week 7: Gratitude

*Author Note* If you prefer to listen or watch instead of or along with -
Check out the YouTube video and/or the Podcast audio.

Take a moment to let your mind know that today you are going to be focusing on gratitude. Allow your mind some space to take that in — even if it’s grumpy, feeling opposed to this, or thinking of it as a chore.

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Let be whatever is there, whatever comes up. If any resistance did come up for you, ask that resistance if it can step aside just for ten minutes so you can be present in gratitude.

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Before we begin, settle down into your seat or cushion and feel the earth below supporting you. Trust yourself to listen to your heart today. Close your eyes if that feels safe. See if a small smile can find its way in the corner of your lips. Let’s take a deep breath and let our bottom nuzzle down into our seat. Sit upright with a tall spine without rigidity — alert by relaxed. Now just observe your body for a moment and see if anything comes up for you.

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If nothing did, that’s okay. If something in your body was giving you a sensation, focus on that for just a few breaths and see if it wants some attention.

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It’s okay to trust yourself here. This is a safe space — inside your mind, only you know what’s going on. Allow your breath to be calm and flowing freely. See once again if anything is coming up for you.

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Today isn’t just a gratitude practice. Today I want to practice self-focused gratitude. In your trauma healing journey, learning to trust yourself is a milestone. Listening to your body and staying present in difficult emotions is a big deal. In a moment, I am going to give you a while to find things to be grateful for. However, I want you to try to focus on yourself when you think about these gratitudes. What can you see in yourself, your body, your wisdom, your life, your accomplishments, your choices, your healing, your path for which you can thank yourself. Maybe it’s for doing this meditation or for hearing and paying attention to the sensations in your body a moment ago. Maybe you’ve hit a sobriety milestone that deserves some praise. Maybe you can recognize a boundary you adhered to with a difficult person recently. Maybe you finished a self-help book you had been putting off for a while. Maybe just that your body is here, allowing you to talk to it and celebrate it. If this is too difficult, that’s okay. If self-gratitude is too challenging, just focus on your breath for a few moments. If you are able to allow yourself to focus on your worthiness, think on those things. Allow gratitude to wash over you in a soul-cleansing way.

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Take a moment to feel how your body feels in this space of focused self-gratefulness. How does it feel to shift your attention inward at your amazing self?

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Part of our trauma recovery is learning to trust ourselves, hear our body and spirit, focus on our self-care, be kind and loving to ourselves, and truly be thankful for our stamina on this long healing road. In an effort to negate the painful, harsh, untrue words that were spoken and self-beliefs that were formed in our trauma, it’s paramount to affirm our love for ourselves and be thankful to self that we are still here plugging along in this path. I’m grateful you shared this space with me today. I’m honored to have guided you to a place of self-reflective praise. I applaud your self-celebration and encourage you to do it as often as you can. Until next time, keep on loving and caring for yourself.