Hi,
I'm Louise Bortwell,
And today we're going to focus on loving ourselves.
We often think so hard about how we can love others and care for others,
And one of the fundamental things that we forget is how to treat ourselves and how we can love ourselves.
How we treat ourselves sets the parameters for how we allow others to treat us.
This meditation is about self-care,
Nurture,
And introspection.
Love,
Acceptance,
Compassion,
Kindness,
Trust,
And forgiveness.
Whenever you're ready,
Let's start by getting into a comfortable position.
Ever so gently,
Sitting back.
You can lie down if that's what you prefer.
Settling in and closing our eyes.
Now let's take a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in through the nose.
And ever so gently,
Let that go.
One more time,
Let's take a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in.
And slowly let that go.
And once again,
Take a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in.
Maybe pausing at the top,
Allowing some tension to build.
And then gently let that go,
Release.
And as you exhale,
Just feel your body relaxing,
Settling in.
I'm going to start by just bringing our awareness to our bodies and how we're feeling in this moment.
Starting with our feet,
We'll work our way up.
Just bring your attention to your toes,
Your feet,
The top and the soles of your feet.
Just breathing into any areas of tension.
Through our ankles,
Our lower legs,
Our upper legs,
Our glutes and our hips.
Lower back,
Middle back,
Upper back,
Shoulders,
Lower arms,
Our face and the top of our head.
I'm going to invite you to spend a few moments just breathing into any areas of tension that you may be holding on to.
Some of the most common places can be our hips.
Maybe our shoulders just need to drop down a little bit more.
And often our jaw carries so much tension.
We can relax our jaw by bringing our tongue down to the bottom of our mouth.
And if it's available to you,
Just leaving a bit of space between your tongue and the back of your teeth.
Maybe even letting your mouth open slightly.
Releasing any tension in our foreheads as well.
Now let's ask ourselves some sacred questions.
You don't have to have the answers,
Just see what shows up for you today.
Our first sacred question is,
Who am I?
Who am I?
Just trust in the process.
You don't need to have all the answers.
Feel free to gently repeat the words if that feels comfortable and right.
Now let's ask ourselves,
What am I grateful for?
What am I grateful for?
In this moment,
What am I grateful for?
Do I accept that I cannot change the past?
Do I accept that I cannot change the past?
Next,
Do I accept that I cannot control the future?
Do I accept that I cannot control the future?
And finally,
Is there anything I need to let go of that's no longer serving me?
Is there anything I need to let go of that's no longer serving me?
And just gently letting go of those questions.
Letting go of anything that's arisen.
Just returning back to your breath,
In and out through the nose.
You can either spend a few moments in silence with yourself.
I'm going to suggest a mantra that feels available and right to you today.
The mantra is Aham Prima.
Aham Prima.
Aham on the inhale.
Prima on the exhale.
Just repeating it gently to yourself,
Silently.
Just focusing on your breath for the next few moments.
Maybe even putting your hand to your heart,
If that feels comfortable and right for you today.
Just sitting gently until you hear the sound of my voice.
And gently letting go of the mantra,
If you've been using that today.
Just bringing some awareness back to our breath,
In and out through the nose.
Some awareness back to our bodies.
Taking a long,
Slow,
Deep breath in together.
And gently letting that go.
One more time,
A long,
Slow,
Deep breath in.
And slowly release.
You are love,
And you are loved.
Taking this meditation with you into your day.
Wiggling your fingers,
Your toes.
And whenever you're ready,
Opening your eyes.
Thank you for meditating with me.
