YOU NEED TO BE SAFE TO FEEL SAFE

There were many times in my life when I didn’t feel safe, and barrage of feelings would surface that I couldn’t identify or control. I felt internally overwhelmed. My physical body would react in ways that had no clear connection between what I was feeling in my body and my behaviors in response to that. I was clearly disconnected and consumed with unrealized fear. Feeling unsafe can be overwhelming, on many levels, and the propensity to protect oneself becomes essential. However, if we’re always on “unconscious alert,” are we ever really safe? Learning about personal safety has become something I want to understand better and my pursuit of this knowledge, came full-circle for me in a dream.

In my dream, I'm standing in a kitchen behind a table and chairs with a tennis racket in my hand. I sensed something was coming up the stairs and I needed to protect myself. I felt physical response to a sense of danger rising in my dream-body. M