The guided imagery of the Inner Garden is not one of the „useful“ exercises that are necessary for trauma therapy like the safe place or containment. It is one that is supposed to help you with relaxation and some DID systems like to have their team meetings there.
As with all imagery work you should modify things to create your own inner pictures that meet your needs in the current situation. The examples in the exercise are just there to give you ideas. The Inner Garden is one of those exercises that are easily adapted to DID and I will guide you through it in the way we use it as a system. If you don’t have DID you can simply ignore those instructions and continue with your own inner pictures instead.
Please find a comfortable position that makes you feel safe and supported. Take a moment to examine your position and make changes if needed. You can close your eyes or soften your gaze or even take turns, whatever you feel like.
Maybe you can find your attention and lead it to your breath. Then you could notice how you are slowly breathing in, filling your lungs, and how the air slowly streams out again through your mouth or your nose, and maybe you can even relax a little.
When you are ready you can ask your Imagination for directions to the entrance of your Inner Garden and let it guide you there. Take a look at your garden from the outside. What are the boundaries of the garden made of? Maybe there is a fence or a thick hedge, maybe rose bushes are woven together into a wall of flowers and maybe it is something completely different. When you are aware of the safe boundaries that always keep all harm from your peaceful garden you can find the gate that will allow you to enter in. Maybe you have a huge iron gate, maybe there is a green tunnel of leaves and fern you can walk through and maybe you have a magic understanding with the plants in your garden and they step aside to let you in. And maybe it is something completely different, anything you like. You can take a conscious step through your entrance now, take a deep breath and notice if the temperature changed compared to outside the garden and if the air smells different now. If you have DID, make sure that every part of you who wants to join you in the exercise steps into the garden too and that those who can’t handle the peace yet will stay outside. Close the entrance behind yourself, nobody else can enter your garden. You are perfectly safe and protected.
Take a look around while you move deeper into your garden. What kind of plants can you see? Are there trees or bushes or flowers? What do they look like? Maybe you or one of your parts likes to touch the leaves to see what they feel like. Are they smooth or velvety? Do they feel the way they look? Take a deep breath and let every thought go that belongs outside the garden. Can you smell the flowers or the trees or the earth? Has it rained lately? Take a moment to notice if the temperature is perfectly comfortable, you can change it if you like. Is the air fresh and crisp or warm with the heavy smell of summer blossoms?
You can move deeper into your garden until you reach a central place where you can find water. That could be a little creek, a delicate fountain, a fresh spring that makes happy noises as it brings forth water, a pond or lake or whatever you like. Look around and take in the picture while you take a deep breath and relax your shoulders. What a beautiful place you have found.
Listen to the noises in your garden, the water, the wind in the leafs. You can decide if you want to have animals in your garden too. Maybe there are quick little squirrels playing in the trees, maybe there are birds bathing in the water and singing their most beautiful song for you. Maybe there are big fluffy bumblebees lazily tumbling from flower to flower. Only kind and sweet animals can find their way into your garden. You can listen to all that and observe, and maybe you would like to find a place for you to rest here. Then you can look around to find the cozy garden chair, bench, swing or whatever else is waiting for you. Maybe the garden itself provides a place of rest for you in the shadow of a wise old tree or a stone covered in lush moss that has just the right shape for you to be supported and safe. Take your time to get very comfortable, breathe the clear air, listen to the sounds, and if you like you can close your eyes for a while and rest in perfect peace.
And if you have DID, maybe there are parts of you who want to join you there and maybe there are others who want to be more active and that is ok too. The garden is really big and everyone can do whatever they like. You don’t have to stay together. The kids are free to find a place to play while the adults might want to rest somewhere.
Maybe you or parts of you would like to explore the water source in your garden. You can go there and continue with a water exercise (coming soon).
Maybe you or parts of you would like to explore a different area in your garden that looks like it will hold adventures ready for you. Maybe there is a tree that is perfect for climbing. You might also find a swing tied to a thick branch or a tree house or something else you can play with. The animals in your garden are not shy at all and will play with you too if you ask them kindly. Who knows, maybe there is even a unicorn grazing in a meadow. I am sure that you can find something fun to do with all the colorful things you can find all around you. You can do that without disturbing other parts of you who stayed in a different area of your garden for rest. If you like you can invite your Inner Helpers to play with you too.
Maybe you or parts of you enjoy gardening and you can find the corner in your garden that doesn’t have any plants in it yet. It is all nourishing soil that is already prepared to take seeds. You can plant whatever you like, water it and because it is a magic garden you can speed up the growth, so that you can watch your plants get tall and strong. If you enjoy weeding, you can do that too. Your plants are healthy and fruitful and you can take the time to trim them into specific shapes if you like that. You can do all that while far away in another area of the garden other parts are not disturbed by your work, they can rest in perfect peace while you do whatever you like.
And maybe you or parts of you came to the garden with frustration and the wish for change or with too much energy than is good for you. Then you could find a place far far into the depth of the garden and make room for your frustrations. You can pull out bushes, hit something with a branch, even take an axe and cut down a tree if that helps. You could also dig a hole and throw around dirt. And maybe after you have calmed a little you could find a way to turn all this into something creative, build instead of destroy, and shape something new in that part of the garden. And maybe you just leave it as it is, the garden doesn’t mind. You are so far away from other parts that they can’t even hear a sound of what you are doing, so you don’t have to hold back. Feel free to do anything that helps you in that moment. Nobody is disturbed by your actions.
And maybe you or parts of you feel like doing something that I haven’t mentioned yet. Then they can take a walk through your garden and find the place where their need is met and where they can do whatever they want to do. The garden is huge and if you look around you will find the perfect spot for yourself for that day. If you want to be alone, you can find solitude. If you want to be around other parts you can explore the garden together. Every part of you can find whatever they need today. The garden offers it all.
And when you spend time there the seconds can feel like minutes and the minutes can feel like hours and you can take it all in and let it saturate you with safety and peace and joy and calm until you feel fully rested and relaxed and satisfied, deep in your soul. You can stay there as long as you want to. Just breathe and enjoy.
And when it is time to return from your garden, maybe you and all your parts can meet again in that central place by the water source. You could thank your garden for giving you a place of peace and rest today and maybe leave a new seed somewhere to grow there until you return. Then you can find the place where you exit the garden and take a conscious step outside. You can become aware of the room around you again, move your toes and stretch, take a deep breath, open your eyes if they are still closed and fully return to the present.
We often use this exercise when we need a break from each other. It gives us the freedom to meet different needs simultaneously while giving us some space and time off from SystemWork. The Garden is taking care of needs so that the adults don’t have to. So while it might not seem to be trauma work it is still an incredibly important exercise.
We use a twist on this exercise whenever we feel worried about someone we care about. We then imagine Them having a garden that is able to take care of all their needs. This too is possible to be imagined for dissociative parts of others. It helps us to let go and trust that they will be ok, even if we can’t offer help in that situation. That might also be helpful for Ts and support people.
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