Try these 7 simple visualization practices by NetCredit to calm your anxious mind and feel more grounded as a parent.
1. Double-Paned Window
Use it: When anxious thoughts are keeping you awake
Step 1: Picture a bunch of people chatting loudly outside your open window – but don’t shout at them.
Step 2: You have a double paned window, so just calmly close it.
Step 3: The annoying chatting is silenced, and you are free to sleep.
2. Serene Beach Scene
Use it: When you’re anxious about taking off on a plane
Step 1: Visualize yourself lying on a white sandy beach, complete with clear blue skies and gently lapping waves.
Step 2: Imagine your body sinking into the chair and feel the warmth of the sand on your feet.
Step 3: Let go of any tension, soften your eyes and continue to breathe in time with the rolling waves of the water.
3. Stop Sign
Use it: When you have an unwanted thought
Step 1: Visualize a big red stop sign on an empty street with a clear blue sky overhead.
Step 2: Focus on the stop sign and repeat the word “stop.”
Step 3: No more unwanted thoughts will be able to enter your consciousness, your anxiety will fade and you can go about your day.
4. Blender
Use it: When you have a stressful amount of work emails to go through
Step 1: Visualize a blender being switched on. It’s full of food and starts to grind and chop loudly.
Step 2: Mentally shut the blender (and it’s noise) off, and you will feel an instant sense of calm.
5. Ball of Yarn
Use it: When you’re unable to unwind after a stressful work day
Step 1: Picture a small ball of yarn holding all of that residual tension from the day.
Step 2: Find the tip of the yarn and imagine it slowly unrolling. The strand gets longer and longer, and you can actually feel your tension unwinding.
Step 3: The yarn is now completely loose and you are relaxed and able to enjoy the night.
6. Blue Light
Use it: When you need to relax before (or after) tackling a big task
Step 1: Visualize yourself surrounded by a glowing orb of blue light.
Step 2: Breathe in the light and allow it to fill your whole head.
Step 3: Visualize those tensions leaving your body as black smoke. They dissolve completely in the light around you.
Step 4: With each breath, allow your body to gradually fill with the healing blue light until your entire being is clear, like a blue crystal.
7. Quiet Is a Liquid
Use it: When you feel overwhelmed by your chattering mind
Step 1: Visualize ‘quiet’ as a thick, clear liquid, filling your head with peace and quiet.
Step 2: See it pouring slowly down your body, filling you with the clear liquid until you feel like a liquid ball.
Step 3: Once you’re in this zone, breathe deeply and stay in this position for a few minutes.
For the full article with supporting visuals, check out the original post.