How to Build Your Safe Space?

Firstly, what is your safe space? It's simply a virtual place within you.

A place where you feel comfortable, find harmony, and recharge your energy and can fully express. This space is built on clear boundaries, self-reflection, awareness and the conscious intention of taking regular me-time to spend in self-care activities.

You can find shelter when life becomes too much and need to cool off.

Here you can restore your balance while working on your self-esteem, self-awareness, and resilience. Once you know which tools work best for you, the access to this imaginary location will be available any time you need.

When life becomes busy, it is easy to overlook the importance of nurturing such a space. We forget that only by practising regular self-care, there will be enough strength and resilience when it comes to taking care of yourself and others.

Fortunately, even if it has been previously neglected, that space can be established at any point in life. Once you lay the foundations of it by exploring your values and needs, and learn how to fulfil them, you will be able to access your secure retreat anytime to recharge your mind. Yet, it is vital to keep taking good care of it, and with regular practice, you will be able to detach from your daily hassle. Even if you master it just for a short time, be proud of yourself. You'll get there,

and when a challenging event shakes your balance in the future, there will be a lower risk to losing oneself in the intense emotions that follow.

That's why it is vital to plan for unexpected emotional hurdles by building and maintaining this space to retreat into when the time comes.

A safe space is essentially built on learning how to show yourself love and respect by practising positive self-talk, self-compassion, and engaging in self-care. Therefore, it is first important to find which activities help you reach a calm and relaxed state. Then practise regularly these activities and make them become part of your routine. Learn to enjoy these moments in which you become your priority; it will teach your mind how to reach a state of well-being quickly when needed.

You will soon notice small changes in your mindset and how you feel about yourself, but most importantly, it will help you when you need to restore your balance.

Here are some ideas of mindful activities that you can choose from, to add to your daily routine.

• Yoga

• Meditation

• Walking in nature

• Listening to music

• Art and Crafts activities

• Reading books

• Journaling

• Practising gratitude

• Participating in sport activities

It is not very important how many and what type of activity you choose, the only rule is that you need to like them and make them be your habit. When life becomes rough, they will help to bring you comfort and restore you to balance.

You will notice improvements over time as both, the conscious and subconscious mind, love habits.

However, since life is unpredictable, your safe space won't help you avoid all its challenges. Still, having the right tools will help you face upcoming challenges with a different mindset.

When you are in distress and need a place where to feel safe, and you've not built yourself a "safe space" yet, do not feel compelled to face your challenges alone. Call a friend, a family member or someone you trust. If you do not have somebody close by, even a perfect stranger can be a comfort source. Contact a helpline, a support group, or a trained counsellor.

You may be the only one who feels your pain, but you don't have to face it alone.

If you are feeling overwhelmed by your thoughts or feelings, I offer free 30-minute online consultation.

Book your session here.