Would you like to be sitting on a beach right now? Or perhaps walking the streets of Paris? An escape might be just what you need to recharge and de-stress.  If you do not have the luxury of getting away try using the “safe-place visualization” technique.  It is a powerful tool that allows you to soothe yourself by imagining a peaceful, safe place, where you can relax.  Your brain and body often cannot tell the difference between what is really happening to you and what you are just imagining.  If you can successfully create a peaceful, relaxing scene in your mind, your body will often respond to those soothing ideas.

Find a quiet place, free from distractions.  Get comfortable, close your eyes, and imagine that you are in your safe place.  It can be a real place or some place that you have made up.  Use your five senses – sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste – to experience your safe place.  Stay there for as long as you like; soak it all in.

Visit your safe place as often as you need to and share this technique with others!