Your Saving Grace
Do you have any people you particularly admire? or flowers you just love? or a type of animal you have an affinity with?
Today’s post might not seem like anything to do with autism, but in our busy lives we need all the help we can get so I decided to go for it anyway!
However busy you are, and I know you are, you usually have time to think. Not perhaps a calm 10 minutes when you can let your thoughts settle and begin to relax, but a calm 10 seconds. Yes, this is the 10 second exercise!
In my work with people over the last 3 decades I have noticed one thing over and over. When we get stressed, the energy rises and all the thoughts seem to pop out of the head in a mad sort of frenzy. Especially when so much of your life is to do with “other”, it can be hard to come back to “self”.
Yet when you come back to “self”, it instantly grounds you and makes life easier…
Here is how to do it.
It takes 3 steps which do take more than 10 seconds but Step 3 is the one you will use over and over, and that is the 10 second one.
Step 1
let go and relax a little
When you do have 10 minutes to yourself – perhaps in the bath, or taking a walk or even, in times of crisis, my old favourite the “bathroom break” – then allow your mind and body let go and relax a little. You can help this process by paying attention to how your body feels and where you are (literally) touching your physical support, whether it is the bath, the ground beneath your feet and so on. This will let your mind sink into your body and away from the brain.
Step 2
find your Saving Grace
When you are feeling more grounded, allow your mind to scan things or people who actually make you feel better. I am delibately keeping this really simple and open. You can trust yourself. Ask yourself a question like,
“What fictional character would help me right now? “
I just did that as I was writing and I came up with Indiana Jones! Now I have only ever seen one of those films and I hardly remember anything about it, but something in that name sparks something in me that I could evidently benefit from – namely a sort of manly heroic courage. Fantastic….the thought and feeling of that quality actually felt great and made me smile – who would have thought? Certainly not my “on top” mind. That is the power of imagery.
First thoughts are usually the best. As long as you are somewhat relaxed when you ask the question, your subconscious mind will come up with what serves you best.
Other questions could be,
“What flower or plant or tree would help me now?”
“What animal would be my helpmate?”
“What landscape would serve me right now?”
If you ask a question, you will get an answer.
What you are looking for is not the thing itself, but what it represents.
It is the quality, not the thing itself, that becomes your Saving Grace.
So, again, using myself as an example, I just saw a picture in my mind of a very delicate white flower, perhaps a wild orchid, fluttering next to a really solid oak. I don’t need to know what that “means”, though I might guess I want to treasure both the delicate and the strong in me.
It is enough to have the image.
It has already done its work.
Step 3
use your Saving Grace
When you get practised at this, (and although simple, it is not simplistic), you can call on your Saving Grace whenever you need it – in a crisis, or a time when you feel out of sorts, or flustered, or over emotional…
You can either draw on a Saving Grace you thought of earlier or ask yourself an instant question, “What would help me right now?”, then trust the answer.
In the 10 seconds, breathe that image or quality into your body for a couple of breath cycles, then turn your attention back to your everyday life.
It really is that simple.
If you use EFT, you can tap on your sternum while you think of your saving Grace, or do a full tapping round.
If you don’t use EFT, no problem, you can help embody the image by holding your hand to your sternum/heart area and breathing the image in.
If you are not a visual person, again, not a problem. It is the quality you are looking for, and that is instant as you think of your Saving Grace.
This is like listening to music or reading a favourite book to bring you back to centre. But quicker and you can do it on the run!
I dare anyone to find 10 seconds. With practice, you can do this in the middle of a meltdown. It is the ultimate fast fix!
What are your Saving Graces? what character or animal can you relate to, who can help you? Please share below and maybe you will give some inspiration to someone else….
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