This meditation is called safe in your own skin and it's approximately 15 minutes.
So wherever you are right now,
Whatever kind of day it's been,
I want you to know that this moment is yours.
Get yourself into a comfortable position.
And then take a slow deep breath in through your nose.
And let it go through your mouth.
With a quiet sigh.
Again,
Breathe in.
And breathe out.
There is nowhere else you need to be.
Nothing to fix.
Nothing to perform.
Right now.
The only thing being asked of you is that you arrive.
In this body.
In this breath.
So if you haven't already,
Just allow your eyes to close softly.
And let your shoulders drop.
And clench your jaw.
As it fall open just slightly.
Notice the weight of your body being held.
By the chair.
Flow.
The ground beneath you.
You don't have to hold yourself together right now you already supported with every breath.
Feel yourself becoming a little more present.
A little more here.
Not trying to relax.
Just allowing it.
Imagine a gentle wave of warmth beginning at the crown of your head.
Unhurried.
At the first light of morning.
It drifts down through your forehead.
Your temples.
Smoothing the spaces where you hold your thoughts.
Down through your eyes,
Your cheeks,
Your jaw.
Let it soften everything it touches.
The warmth flows into your neck.
Your shoulders.
Your chest.
Finding the places where you've been quietly breathing.
And with each exhale that bracing begins to suffer.
Down through your arms,
Your hands,
Your fingertips.
A feeling of calm.
Of Kauai.
Of being real.
And present.
And here.
It continues through your belly.
Your hips.
And your thighs.
Your calves and your feet.
All the way to the soles of your feet.
Where you connect with the earth below.
Your whole body warm,
Heavy.
Now imagine you're standing at the top of a winding stone staircase.
It leads gently downwards.
Into the air.
Into the quiet.
Still place that lives within you.
With each step,
You go deeper into peace.
With each number,
Your body releases a little more.
Beginning to let go.
9.
.
.
Sinking deeper.
Eight,
Your breath slow and easy… 7.
Calm spreading through you.
6 deeper still.
Bye halfway down,
Feeling safe and still.
Poor.
.
.
Drifting.
Free,
Peaceful,
Grounded.
Too.
All my style.
Bonne!
Of stepping into the sanctuary within yourself.
This place is yours.
It has always been yours.
And here.
You are safe to feel everything.
And safe to feel nothing at all.
Take a moment to notice your body from the inside.
Not as you imagine it looks from the outside,
But within.
Notice where you feel tension,
Where you feel open.
Where you feel numb or tight.
Or uncertain.
There's no need to judge any of it.
Your body has been working hard.
Holding more than it should have to.
Carrying the weight of worry.
Of comparison.
I'm not an old nurse.
And today we're going to let it rest.
Imagine that at the very center of your chest.
Right at your heart.
There is a small,
Quiet flame,
Warm,
Steady.
Yours.
This flame is your sense of self.
It has never gone out.
Even in the moments you forgot it was there.
It was there.
It has always been there.
Now imagine that flame beginning to glow a little brighter.
With each breath in.
It grows,
Not wild,
Not consuming.
Just steady.
Confident.
Warm.
And as it glows,
It begins to send that warmth outward through your chest,
Through your ribs,
Into your skin.
Your skin begins to feel different.
Like a boundary you're hiding behind.
But like something sacred.
Your home.
Let these words settle into your body now.
I am safe to be here.
I am safe to take up space.
I belong in this body.
This skin,
This breath.
This heartbeat.
Is enough.
Let them echo through you.
Not as instructions,
But as remembrances,
As truths your body already knows and is beginning to trust again.
Now as you rest here in this warm stillness,
Imagine your body's relationship with itself beginning to shift.
Perhaps in the past there were voices.
From the outside,
From the inside.
That told you your body was wrong.
Too much.
Not enough.
Something to manage.
You can let those voices become quieter now.
Not by fighting them.
Simply by turning your attention elsewhere to the breath,
To the warmth.
Let it flame your center.
Because here is the truth.
Your deepest self already holds.
Your body is not a problem to be solved.
It is not a project.
It is not the before in someone else's story.
It is the home you were given.
The one that has carried you through every hard thing.
Every sleepless night.
Every moment of grief,
Of joy,
Of change.
Your body has shown up for you every single time.
And it is asking for one thing in return.
To be met with kindness.
Breathe Gotten.
And let the warmth in your chest expand again.
This time reaching every corner of your body.
Into the part you've ignored.
Into the parts you've criticized.
Into the parts you've been at war with.
With each breath.
A softening.
They're returning.
A coming home.
Whisper to yourself now.
Silently or with sound.
I am learning to be safe here.
I am allowed to feel comfortable in my own skin.
I release the need to be anything other than what I am right now.
And feel how your body responds to those words Notice any shifts,
However small.
Even a single exhale of relief is a beginning.
And take a long,
Slow breath in.
And a full,
Complete exhale.
Imagine that everything you've released today,
A real relief.
Every harsh word.
You've turned everyone.
Imagine that it's being dissolved.
Gently.
I morning mist in sunlight.
And in its place,
There's always space.
Soft.
Open.
Peaceful space Feel the ground beneath you.
The steady rhythm of your heartbeat.
A quiet rise and fall of your chest.
You are here.
You are whole.
And you are safe.
Right here inside yourself.
And in a moment,
I'll begin to guide you back.
Bring with you the warmth.
The softness.
The steady flame.
Those belong to you now.
Begin to feel energy returning to your body.
Wiggle your fingers and toes gently.
Take a slightly deeper breath.
I'll count from one to five and with each number you'll come back calm,
Grounded and clear.
1.
Take a breath deepening.
To feeling your body fully.
3.
.
.
A quiet confident settling in.
Full,
Grounded present-entities.
Five,
Eyes gently open fully here.
And take one final deep breath in.
And exhale with gratitude for your body.
For this moment.
For the courage it takes to come home to yourself.
This is Rachel,
And it's been a privilege to guide you back to yourself today.
Remember,
You don't have to earn the right to feel comfortable in your own skin.
That safety already lives within you.
Keep breathing.
Keep softening.
And keep coming home.
Take care.
