A Compassion Focused Therapy practice for settling the body and mind. Using slow breathing and gentle imagery, you build up three linked experiences - a soothing rhythm of breath, a safe and calm place, and a warm, wise, accepting compassionate presence - to help your soothing system come online when you most need it.
Compassionate Imagery: Warming Up Your Soothing System
PreviewFind a position that feels reasonably comfortable and steady, sitting or lying down. You can let your eyes close, or rest them softly on a spot in front of you - whichever feels safer for you. Let your face soften, perhaps with the gentlest hint of a friendly expression. There is nowhere to get to and nothing to force. You are simply going to practise, gently, for a little while.
This is the foundation - a calm, even rhythm of breath that tells your body it is safe to settle. Let your breathing slow down a little, so it is slightly slower and deeper than usual, but still comfortable - never strained. Breathe down into your belly so it rises gently on the in-breath and falls on the out-breath. Find a smooth, even rhythm, with the in-breath and out-breath about the same length. Some people like to count slowly, for example in for about three or four, and out for about three or four. As you breathe, notice a slight slowing down inside, as if your whole body is easing. Stay here for a minute or two, just letting your body find its soothing rhythm. If your mind wanders, simply bring it back to the breath, without telling yourself off.
Keeping that slow, soothing rhythm of breath, let an image come to mind of a place where you feel safe, calm, and at ease. It can be real or imagined - a quiet beach, a warm room, a forest, a hillside, anywhere that feels right to you. Let it build through your senses, gently and without forcing: What can you see around you - the colours, the light, the space? What can you hear - perhaps waves, birdsong, a soft wind, or stillness? What can you feel - warmth on your skin, a gentle breeze, the ground supporting you? Are there any scents in the air? As you rest here, allow a quiet sense that this place welcomes you - that it is glad you are here, pleased to have you, and wants you to feel safe. Take a little time to simply be in your place.
Now, still breathing slowly, allow an image to form of a compassionate presence - a warm, wise, completely accepting figure whose whole wish is for you to be free from suffering and to flourish. This can be a person, a figure, an animal, a light, a colour, or simply a sense of presence. It does not need to be a real or perfect picture - a feeling or a fragment is enough. Give your compassionate image the qualities that matter most: deep warmth and kindness toward you; strength and steadiness, so it can stay with you through anything; wisdom that truly understands what it is to struggle and be human; and complete acceptance, with no judgement and no criticism at all. Imagine this presence turning its warm attention toward you, wishing you well, perhaps with a kind expression or a gentle, encouraging voice. Notice what it is like to be on the receiving end of that warmth - to be cared for in this way. If it feels difficult, that is okay; just allow whatever small sense of it you can.
When you are ready, let the images gently fade, while keeping any sense of warmth or calm that is here. Take a slower breath or two. Feel your feet on the floor and your body supported. Notice the sounds in the room around you, and when you are ready, let your eyes open. There is no need to judge how the practice went - you simply practised.
Jotting down what happened helps you and your therapist notice what works for you and what to adjust. There are no right answers.
How settled do you feel BEFORE the practice? (0-10)
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How settled do you feel AFTER the practice? (0-10)
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What did you notice during the practice?
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‘Compassionate Imagery: Warming Up Your Soothing System’ is an interactive cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) worksheet. As a core CBT skill it is used right across the model, with presentations including depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma and low self-esteem, rather than being tied to a single diagnosis.
It is designed to be used within therapy rather than as a standalone self-help tool: a therapist introduces it, works through it collaboratively, and helps make sense of what it surfaces. You can preview the full worksheet above, then assign it digitally for clients to complete between sessions on any device — or download it as a print-ready PDF.
Most people work through it in around 15 minutes. It moves through six short steps:
Completed on the Formulate platform, your client's answers are saved automatically and shared straight back to you, so you can review them before the next session rather than waiting for a paper copy to come back.
In common with other CBT methods, ‘Compassionate Imagery: Warming Up Your Soothing System’ works by building a kinder, more balanced relationship with oneself (compassion-focused work). The aim is not positive thinking but a clearer, shared understanding of what keeps a difficulty going — and practical, testable ways to change it.
Because it is a CBT tool it stays focused on the here-and-now links between thoughts, feelings, the body and behaviour, and it works best as one part of a wider course of therapy rather than as advice or a diagnosis.
Formulate provides educational CBT resources for use with a qualified therapist. They are not a substitute for professional assessment, diagnosis, or crisis care.
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Sign up free and send your client a link. They complete it on any device — you review their responses before the next session.
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This worksheet is grounded in established cognitive behavioural therapy theory and practice. Key sources include:
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