My Little Garden: Immunotherapy Meditation

This gentle, imaginative meditation helps kids feel calmer and more confident during oral immunotherapy (OIT), Tolerance Induction Program (TIP), or sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) allergy dosing. Together with their trusted adult, children visualize their dose as a tiny seed planted in an imaginary garden, growing stronger over time. Through slow breathing, grounding, and playful imagery, this practice helps settle the nervous system while focusing on pleasant sensations, and shifting focus away from the often anxiety-provoking and unpleasant taste and texture of the dose.

Special thanks to Kyle Dine for permission to use his song The Doghouse for the podcast theme!
www.kyledine.com

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Transcript

Amanda Whitehouse, PhD: 0:00

Hi there. Thank you for letting me join you today to take your dose. We're going to get ready for your immunotherapy dose together by imagining something special. Let's sit or lie down in a really cozy spot with your favorite blanket or stuffed animal, and hopefully one of your favorite grownups there beside you. Both of you take a big, deep breath in. And let it out slowly. If you're comfortable, you can close your eyes and imagine that you're outside. Breathe in and breathe out. Let's imagine finding a big, fluffy dandelion growing in the grass. We're going to pick it up. Take a big deep breath in and then blow the seeds off of the fluffy white dandelion. Let's pick another one. Breathe in and blow the seeds off. Now take a moment to see where the seeds go. Watch how they float on the wind, so light and fluffy, and imagine where they might end up landing on the ground and growing. When you take your immunotherapy dose, you are like a gardener planting tiny seeds every day. These seeds need a little bit of sunshine and a little bit of water. They grow slowly, one leaf or one petal at a time, but every day they get bigger and stronger. When you take your dose, it's like the sunshine or the water for your body. It's helping your body learn how to grow strong around something that used to bother it. You're not doing it all at once. You're doing it a little bit at a time. The foods that used to cause you an allergic reaction are things that you can teach your body to stay calm around and not to react to anymore. You don't do it all at once and you don't have to do it on your own. You have all of your grownups, your doctors and nurses, to help you and to teach your body. You do a little bit at a time each day, and you wait for your safety to grow just like a patient gardener. Let's think about the place in your house that you're at right now. Ready to take your dose. It might be your kitchen table, your dining room, your living room. What does it smell like there? Can you smell the last thing that somebody cooked, or maybe the smell of one of your favorite people or pets in your house? What sounds do you hear? Is there the voice of someone who loves you and is there with you taking care of you? Maybe there's music playing or the sound of someone doing something to take care of you. Like washing, laundry, or cleaning up the kitchen. Do you have soft, comfortable things there with you? Maybe your favorite blanket or a stuffed animal? You might be wearing your favorite cozy sweatshirt or sitting on a nice, soft, comfy seat. Let your body relax into the seat. What do you see around you? Are there pictures of you with your family on the tables or hanging on the wall? Are some of your favorite toys and games around you, reminding you of the things that you like to do, and maybe there's someone there with you right now smiling and looking at you While you listen together. All of these things that you can feel, smell, see, and hear, and even the thing that you're about to taste are reminders that you're safe right now. These are the things that will help your body remember, it's okay to relax. Everything around you is familiar and you're ready, so it's time to take your dose.. As you take your dose, think about the garden. Think about the flowers that you want to plant and grow there. Think about what it might smell like with all of those beautiful flowers blooming. Imagine the bright sunshine beaming down in your garden to help it grow. The cool breeze as the flowers wave in the wind and the soft raindrops that fall to water. Everything that you're trying to grow in your garden you're taking a little bit more of your dose. Sometimes it's tempting to think too much about what it tastes like or how it feels in your mouth, or thoughts about your dose. Instead, we're going to think about the flowers. Or maybe you don't want to grow flowers. Maybe you want to grow a huge forest of tall trees where animals can live. You can grow anything that you'd like in this garden. You can get out some paper and draw a picture of it while you're working on the rest of your dose. Or you can tell your grownup who's there with you, what seed you're planting in your garden today specifically, or maybe what animal is finding your forest today. Feel free to pause the recording, continue to draw, imagine, or talk about what you're growing until you're finished taking the rest of your dose. Once your dose is all finished, it's time to rest just like you always do. Your body knows what to do with this. It's working gently and safely one tiny bit at a time. One dose each day to build your strength. Just like planting one seed each day. To grow your garden or your forest, take another breath in and picture your garden getting taller and greener. Take another breath and imagine what you'd like it to look like someday. Remember that each day you take your dose is a step closer to growing that garden When you're ready, you can wiggle your fingers and toes. Smile, a little smile and feel proud of the work that you're doing every day to take good care of yourself. Next, decide what you're going to do while you rest Whether you're going to draw, read, play a quiet game, or maybe snuggle up and watch a TV show or a movie with somebody who loves you. Whatever it is, I hope you can relax and enjoy and I look forward to seeing what you plant in your garden tomorrow.