Welcome to this moment of self-care.
Allow your eyes to gently close and let yourself arrive here,
Not halfway,
Not with one foot still in the day,
But all the way here.
Take a deep breath in,
Filling your stomach,
Filling your chest,
And gently sigh it out.
And take another big breath in,
Filling your stomach and your chest,
And gently sigh it out.
Take one more big breath in,
Filling your stomach,
Allowing your chest to expand with air,
And sigh it out.
Allow your breath to return to its normal pace,
And with each exhale,
Release a little of what you've been carrying.
You don't need your mind to be perfectly quiet,
You don't need to get it right,
You only need to allow this moment to be as it is.
And let that be enough.
Place all of your attention at the very top of your head,
And imagine a gentle wave of warm light moving there,
Across your face,
Relaxing the muscles around your eyes,
Around your mouth,
Letting your jaw loosen,
And let every tension melt away.
Imagine this warm wave moving down your neck and your shoulders,
Letting them droop,
Letting them find more ease,
And letting every tension melt away.
And let this warmth and ease move down your shoulders,
Your arms,
All the way to your hands and fingers,
And imagine that they feel so heavy where they are,
So relaxed,
And allowing your arms to just melt,
And be supported.
And bring your attention to your chest,
Imagine that warmth growing there,
Allowing it to expand with more ease,
More peace.
And let that feeling move down into your stomach,
Letting it settle and find calm.
And imagine that wave of calm moving down your legs,
Past your knees,
All the way to your feet,
And imagine that your legs are so heavy where they are,
Like they could just melt.
And let this wave of ease and peace move throughout your entire body.
There is nothing to do but just be in this space.
Allow your body this moment of peace,
And allow your mind to gently open.
Bring all of your awareness to the center of your chest.
Place your hand there if you'd like,
And simply notice,
Without trying to change anything,
What lives there right now.
Perhaps there's an ache,
Perhaps there's heat,
Perhaps something long unnamed,
Something that has been waiting quietly in the dark for someone to simply acknowledge it.
Now imagine at the very center of your chest,
A small flame.
Perhaps it's barely a flicker.
Perhaps years of being told to tone it down,
To be more palatable,
More manageable.
Perhaps all of that has left it small,
But it's still here.
That fire has always been here.
It never went out,
Only went quiet.
With each breath in,
Give it a little more room.
Let it grow.
Let it become more alive.
This is your fire,
The part of you that feels everything,
The part of you that knows,
The part of you that was never meant to be managed,
Only honored.
And now,
With great permission,
Let yourself feel what's truly alive within you.
Not the feeling you think you should have,
Not the feeling that would make others comfortable,
The real one.
Whatever it is,
Let it be.
No need to explain it,
No need to justify it,
Just witness,
By you,
And only by you.
And that is what matters now,
To let that feeling be witnessed fully and completely.
And from a place of curiosity,
Ask this feeling,
What are you here to tell me?
What truth have you been carrying that I have not yet allowed myself to hear?
And breathe,
Receive whatever comes,
And allow this fire to burn within you,
Thanking it for its warmth,
Thanking it for always burning brightly.
And when you're ready,
You'll slowly come back to the present moment,
Taking a deep breath in,
Feeling your fingers and your toes.
And when you're ready,
You can slowly open your eyes and come back to the present moment,
Still feeling that feeling in your heart,
Letting it grow,
Letting it be.
Allowing yourself to feel more alive,
More free.
