Mindful Mondays|Week 19: Support

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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.