The STRONG, SAFE, LOVED, RADIANT practice
On this page I’ll be sharing some practices that have been my personal lifesavers through 30 years of CFS/FMS, and that I use time and time again.
Even though I’m fortunate to have a terrific support system of understanding friends, family and ‘healers’, feeling unwell every day means that there are still many moments when I’m not getting the support I would like. So, I’m going to risk sharing my wildest fantasies with you. Nope, it’s nothing lurid, just a visualization practice I created that really works for me, especially on days when I feel physically or emotionally challenged and wish I had pure and abundant sources of support.
In this practice (described below) we imagine receiving Strength, Safety, Love, and Radiance from whoever might be best capable of providing it. These particular qualities cover most of our physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Of course, if there’s a different quality that works better for you, you can substitute it instead, but for the first time around, try to stick with these.
In our minds we have equal access to anyone we have ever known – those who are no longer alive, to those in animal form, to deities and spiritual figures. There are infinite possibilities. There are no rules on who/what can be one of your helpers – if whoever you choose doesn’t quite feel right, you can change the image, use the same one more than once, or even have more than one helper at a time. I like to just relax and see who spontaneously appears when I think of the particular quality I’m invoking. Once one of my helpers was John Lennon! This is your game so play it however you like.
The more you embellish your visualization in a fully sensory way, (including sight, touch, sound, speech, vibration), the more powerful its effect will be. If you’re following along with the audio (link below) you can hit the pause button if you want to give yourself more time to experience any part of it. Don’t worry if you don’t see anything clearly at first – it’s more important to just imagine what it would feel like if you were able to receive each quality.
If you find it hard to receive, it may be because you’ve been trained to be self-sufficient and have not yet developed the capacity to deeply receive. This can change with practice. For some people, feelings of unworthiness block their ability to receive. This practice can gradually and gently melt away the old conditioning that says we’re not worthy.
It also may be difficult to be receptive if we are unwilling to experience vulnerability. Receptivity and vulnerability are closely related. Since illness is usually attended by vulnerability, we can use it as an invitation to become receptive to what can be nourishing, strengthening and healing.
There is no right or wrong way to do this practice. What’s most important is to remember that you get to create whatever imagery works best for you and it may take a bit of experimentation.
Let me know if you’d like to be emailed when my next post comes out…