Somatic Personal Practice
BEST CARING Protocol
I often use this when wanting to go to sleep, especially if I am particularly activated or stirred up.
B = Body. Let your attention to your body, not the overwhelm or the obsessive thoughts.
E = Environment. Be aware of the objective level of physical and emotional safety in your current physical environment.
S = Support. Be aware of the types and flavors of support that exist for you. People, animals, circumstances, nature, your own strengths.
T = Talk to yourself, saying things that are both encouraging and credible.
C = Contact. Touch your own body, or make contact with another person or animal who is safe and supportive.
A = Allow any pleasant or difficult feelings to organically arise from deeper inside yourself and gently be with them.
R = Respiration. Breathe. Notice your breath.
I = Image. Bring up an image of something pleasing and comforting. For me: flowers, bunnies, waterfalls.
N = Nice. Image is a subset of this. Think of things that are pleasing. Look around and find things in your visual field that are pleasing to look at. Or do something pleasant (drink tea, walk outside, take a bath, play music, stroke your own hair…)
G = Gratitude. Give Thanks.