Safety Bubble

The Safety Bubble

For many people, creating a safe place is a difficult thing to do. This is often the case when there has been a lack of safety in the childhood environment, leading to the development of an insecure attachment style, and the unmet childhood needs associated with developmental trauma, or Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD). If this is the case for you, and you are struggling to come up with a Safe Place Image, try using the meditation attached to this module to create the safety Bubble instead.

Read through the script below to familiarize yourself with the process prior to listening to the meditation itself. If you are using this exercise for the first time, remember to practice mindful breathing throughout the entire exercise to keep your system grounded. Also remember that you can leave this meditative process at any point in time if it isn’t working for you. You are in complete control of this exercise, and you, and you alone get to decide what happens in your bubble.

The Meditation Script

Find a quiet place to sit comfortably where you will not be disturbed. Take a deep breath in, hold it for a second or two, then exhale and empty all the breath out through your mouth. Focus on your breathing for a while, in whatever way feels comfortable to you, take a few deep breaths in through your nose, and out through your mouth.

As you take the next deep breath in, imagine a bubble large enough for you to fit inside. Imagine it in any colour you would like it to be, it could be red, it could blue, it could be pink, or green, whatever colour you want to make it, and it can be as attractive or unattractive as you want it to be, as this is your bubble and yours alone.

It could be outside in wide open space like a field or a meadow. You can picture it in a wooded area, with trees and greenery all around you, or even inside a room with the perfect lighting that creates the perfect place for you to be whatever feels safe and secure for you.

Imagine that this bubble is a magic bubble because you can walk in and out of it as you please without ever breaking it. You can also take anything into the bubble that will be soothing to you and help you to feel strong, safe, or peaceful and completely at ease.

You may let other people into your bubble, or you may choose to be completely by yourself. The only thing that you are not able to take into the bubble is anything that you think might be harmful or unhealthy for you.

Spend some time picturing the bubble in your mind’s eye; imagine all the things you can take in and out of it to create the best possible bubble you can. After you have been able to imagine your bubble for a period of time, and you have gone in and out of it with whatever you want, imagine the bubble floating away to wherever you want it to go with you inside of it.

If it feels comfortable for you, and you have your eyes closed, picture yourself floating away in your safety bubble. No unhealthy critical voices can get inside the bubble with you, and you are surrounded by things or people that create a peaceful place for you to be.

Stay in your bubble for some time, looking around at the world going by, nothing for you to fear, and nowhere for you to be, just safe and secure in your own perfect bubble. You may want to stay inside your bubble for as long as you think you need to, so focus on your breathing while you relax and feel at ease.

After some time, allow the bubble to float back down to the ground in the place where it was when you left, and once the bubble lands safely on the ground you can step out of your bubble, take some deep breaths in through your nose, and out through your mouth at whatever pace feels comfortable for you..

And when it feels right come back to the room and open your eyes, take a look around you and notice that this is also a safe place for you to be.

A side note on creating your Safety Bubble

If you are someone who practices mindful meditation to release emotions and thoughts, you can use this exercise to put any overwhelming feelings or thoughts in the bubble and let it float away into the distance until you feel less overwhelmed. You can then take the feelings or thoughts out one at a time to address each one and get to your underlying need.

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