In the journey of self-healing and emotional regulation, finding a source of safety and support within ourselves is essential. A body resource is one such tool—an internal anchor that provides stability during moments of emotional intensity. This practice helps to build resilience, regulate the nervous system, and foster deep healing.
How to Use a Resource
Once you’ve identified a resource, integrating it into daily life is key to its effectiveness. Here’s how:
1. Grow It
Just like a muscle, your ability to access and deepen into your resource strengthens with consistent practice. By connecting with your resource daily, you increase your capacity to hold intense sensations and emotions. Over time, the resource becomes a deeply embedded part of your body-mind system, making it more accessible during challenging moments.
2. Use It to Regulate
When faced with intense emotions, your resource can be a powerful grounding tool. You can:
- Bring the sense of safety and support from your resource into the emotion or sensation to help it move and express.
- Use the technique of pendulation—alternating focus between your resource and the difficult emotion—to build nervous system flexibility and reduce overwhelm.
3. Use It to Heal
Your resource can also aid in emotional healing. By directing the safety and support your resource provides toward emotional wounds and contractions, you allow them to unravel, soften, and eventually integrate. This creates space for transformation and self-compassion.
Creating a Body Resource
One effective way to build a resource is through the Body Resource technique. This involves finding a specific place in your body that provides a sense of safety and support.
Step 1: Define Your Resource
Reflect on what safety, support, wholeness, or home feels like for you. Everyone has a unique internal landscape—what words best describe this feeling for you?
Memory Resource
Find a memory of a person, place or thing that we can turn to to get a sense of safety and support
Imagination Resource
Create a place of safety in our imagination that we can turn to
Infinite Love Resource
Give yourself the love the world denies you!
Step 2: Find Safety in the Body
See if you can locate a part of your body that naturally feels safe or neutral. It could be your hands, feet, heart, or even your breath. If you struggle to find such a place, that’s okay—you can explore other resource techniques instead.
Step 3: Explore This Place
Once you’ve found a spot, take time to observe it. What sensations arise? Is it warm, solid, expansive, or still? Simply notice without judgment.
Step 4: Cultivate Safety and Support
Deepen into the feeling of safety and support that this resource provides. Notice how your body responds—perhaps with relaxation, grounding, or a sense of expansion.
Step 5: Ground into the Resource
Breathe deeply into this area. Allow it to anchor you in the present moment, creating an internal refuge you can return to whenever needed.
Step 6: Anchor Your Resource
To make your resource even more accessible, pair it with a physical gesture. For example, place your hand on your heart, take a deep breath, and hold your wrist while keeping your resource in your awareness. This creates a neurological link between the movement and the feeling of safety.
Step 7: Build the Resource Over Time
Return to your resource regularly, reinforcing the sense of safety and stability. With repetition, it becomes a reliable support system for navigating life’s challenges.
Embracing Your Inner Safety
By cultivating a body resource, you empower yourself with an inner sanctuary that promotes emotional regulation, healing, and resilience. Whether you use it for grounding during stress, emotional integration, or simply as a daily self-care practice, this technique helps you build a profound connection with your body’s innate wisdom and support.
Start small, be patient with yourself, and trust that over time, this resource will become a steadfast companion on your healing journey.
Harnessing the Power of Body Resources for Healing and Regulation