Hold a sense of inner peace with you wherever you go!

Carry a positive memory in the palm of your hand to help you feel safe and calm wherever you are! I have seen this intervention done before and I have always found it powerful to use with children of all ages. I tweaked it a bit to make sure all the senses were included. This helps make it a more integrated experience and truly helps the brain and body more fully relate to the sense of calm and happiness from the memory.

1) First have child, teen, or adult trace his or her hand on a sheet of paper.

2) Second the person then thinks of a positive memory that would help the person feel safe and calm to remember even in the midst of stressful and triggering situations.

3) Write each of the five senses (seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling) on each of the five fingers.

4) The child or adult them will draw and or write about the memory in the palm of the hand.

5) Encourage the individual to identify how the memory is experienced using each of the five senses on each finger and write or draw a picture for each.

6) Last but not least talk about how thinking of the this memory can help the person feel a sense of safety and inner calmness despite outer life circumstances.
The individual may also want to draw or write the memory on a small stone to hold in his or her palm to help feel more grounded when remembering the positive situation. I have had some older children talk about drawing a small picture on their palm to help them look at during difficult situations as well to remind themselves to use the skill (obviously make sure this is okay with parents, guardians, and teachers first!). In my experience, kids write on their hands a lot anyway so having a positive, peaceful memory on there too can’t hurt! 😉