Using Bilateral Stimulation To
Create A "Safe Space"

The creation of an emotional "safe space" is a helpful stress management technique.  It's a good initial practice to use with bialteral stimulation since it forms a solid positive foundation for any other technique, exercise or experiment you may do.

 

Here's how it typically goes:

 

Before putting on your headphones or ear buds, form an image of a place that can represent a sense of safety and comfort for you.  Engage all your senses: what does it look like, sound like, smell like, feel like?  Let's say you choose a beach: imagine yourself lying comfortably in the warmth of the sun, listening to the relaxing sound of the surf and feeling the gentle ocean breeze blowing over your body. 

 

Now begin listening to a bilateral soundscape (except "IMAGO: a bilateral journey of transformation") at low volume and just "go with the flow". As long as the experience remains positive for you, continue with it. 

 

Some people choose a part of their body, such as their heart, to invite in and carry this safe space so that it is always with them for quick access during anxious moments.  This gives the brain a ready source of positive neural potential to "seed" and disperse long-held and heavily-reinforced anxiety loops.

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You may even want to consider coming up with a word or phrase that you can use to bring this sense of safety and comfort to you whenever you need it: perhaps "beach, peace, breeze" or any other word or phrase that suggests itself to you.  Imagine holding that word or phrase in your mind and/or heart and/or body for just a moment before the bilateral music begins. This exercise is designed to help your brain access positive neural pathways at a moment's notice whenever you are faced with any type of emotionally challenging situation.

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It's important to emphasize that once you set the stage like this you don't need to keep thinking about it. Think or do whatever you want.  Your activated deep brain's got this.