Take it Slow

The daily reflection encourages slowing down and paying attention to surroundings. It suggests observing details and practicing non-judgment. Slowing down can impact emotions and using a container coping skill can help. The exercise guides imagining a green balloon to hold negative emotions temporarily. The balloon can be untied and processed later. A positive exercise follows, imagining a beautiful morning. The reflection ends with a quote by Helen Keller about love and loss. Welcome to the daily reflection, set your intention today to slow down and pay attention to your surroundings. Notice, where are you in this moment? What do you see when you look around? Pay attention to details you might not ordinarily notice. Find one object and observe it. Notice how the light hits the object or items around it. Notice what happens when you slow down and pay attention to the color, texture and more. What is it like to take this extra time to observe? Continue to practice some non-judgment of past episodes, this is an exercise in acceptance. If something isn't tidy or clean, just let it be what it is without judging yourself or others. In this moment, honor where you are without judging. Now look for something green and pay attention to what happens when all your attention is on that green object. What emotions are you feeling today? Where are you feeling these in your body? How does slowing down impact your emotions? When you focus on one item, absorbing all the details, you might notice less room for your big feelings. Sometimes slowing down might allow the big emotions to arise. This is when using a container coping skill can help. To breathe can sometimes feel unpredictable and by creating space to honor and hold our emotions it can sometimes help with the intensity of our feelings. Action, I'm going to guide you in creating a container for big emotions. Close your eyes and imagine a giant green balloon that will expand and grow to safely hold your feelings as you need relief. This balloon is a strong, sturdy, and safe place. Imagine it will contain whatever you need to put into it at this moment. If you are experiencing negative feelings, thoughts, images, or body sensations, visualize these gradually floating into the balloon. Take your time. They are being held until you are ready to process them later today or this evening. It can be helpful to process or share your thoughts and feelings with a friend, your therapist, or in a journal. It is important to note that this is a temporary place to hold space for your big emotions when you need relief. Now take a deep breath in, hold, and when you are ready, slowly exhale. Continue to fill this balloon with any negative emotions, body sensations, or thoughts that you are noticing. When you are ready, imagine tying off the end of this balloon. Visualize stretching the neck and looping it into a simple knot. This knot will not be like your typical balloon tie. Whenever you are ready to process what is in this container, you can easily untie it and let it out. You are in control of when to do this. Now imagine this balloon has a string attached to it and let it drift to a safe place. You can put it away for a later time. This is a container for temporarily holding the tough stuff. Whenever we do an exercise like this, it is important to follow it up with a positive exercise. So I want you to take a moment. If your eyes are still closed, keep them closed. If you opened them, go ahead and close them again if you are comfortable. Imagine the sun rising over the mountains on a perfect morning. You can hear the sound of birds chirping and feel a slight breeze as you soak in the vibrant colors. Imagine you are in one of your favorite places and this is your greeting. Allow your mind to be free of anything but this image, the beauty in front of you. Take a deep breath in, hold, and when you are ready, slowly exhale. Now feel your feet on the floor, your body in your seat. Notice how it feels to slowly come back to this space. Is there a word or a phrase that represents your experience? Write it down. Reflect. This is a quote by Helen Keller, what we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us. What does this mean to you and how does this relate to your loss?