Ok so some of you who are on Facebook and on my friends list may already know, but for those who do not I have been diagnosed with PTSD which is short for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and over the past few months I have been in a program that is to help me learn how to cope with triggers and past issues.
In this program it includes meditation techniques and a lot of self examination and I am really happy to be in this program though it is scary at times. So basically this thread is going to be an account of what I have learned so far and what is to come
Now with that I wanted to share with you the first thing she taught me it is a visualization technique that is aimed at helping put things away as it were, so when I leave a session I am not taking it home with me and affecting my family with it. It is called
The Box or the containment box So what you do is you close your eyes and do your deep breathing and make sure your grounded by having your feet flat on the floor. And this was a guided Visualization but once you have been through it enough you can do it on your own.
You then visualize a box in any shape, colour or form that feels right to you.
Once you have it visualized the box, you then open it and then place the things inside you feel need to be in there, it can be an emotion, situation, anything.
How you place the things in the box is totally up to you, you can throw things in or just put things in carefully, once again it is whatever way you feel that fits. And once you are sure that you are done putting things in this box you then close it and you visualize closing the box and secure it so that only you can open it and then you put it away where only you can find it.
Oh and remember to keep breathing ..
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So the first time I did this my box actually was a treasure chest to me that was the simplest box I could visualize and well it suits me. As I opened it and put my things in it I noticed I was calm about it, it also occurred to me that I was looking down at my hands but it did not feel it was me putting these things in the chest.
Once it was closed I visualized it being wrapped up by the roots of a tree and the lock that I have placed in it had the tip of a root stuck in the lock so no one could get into it. Then it was pulled into the tree for safe keeping.
When I finished this weight felt like it was taken off my shoulders and I felt very happy afterwards. The one thing I did and still do need to remember is to breath normally. I found I was getting so wrapped up in my visualization that I would stop with the regular deep breathing...
So that is one technique I have learned so far and I have an art piece I will be doing to show what my visualization looks like