Take a moment to settle into your body.
There's nothing to fix and there's nothing to process.
Just notice that you're here,
This version of you,
At this moment in time.
Feel the contact beneath you,
The steady support that's always present.
And then take one slow breath in and then gently let it go.
Today's practice is about how you relate to yourself across time,
Not as a problem to solve but more as a relationship to mature.
And your eyes gently close if that feels comfortable.
And then I'd invite you to bring to mind a difficult phase in your life,
Not necessarily the hardest,
Just a time that was genuinely challenging.
Maybe a year,
Maybe a few months,
But it's about calling to mind a version of you navigating something hard,
Something difficult.
Notice what your mind does automatically when you think about that time.
Does it judge?
Criticize?
Does it replay mistakes?
Try to correct the story?
Perhaps it already feels compassion for that past version of you having a difficult time.
It doesn't matter what's happening,
You don't need to stop or force anything,
Just notice it.
Now ask a simpler,
Steadier question.
Given what I knew then and the tools I had available to me at the time,
Was I doing the best I could?
You don't need to answer perfectly,
Just let the question soften the tone.
See if you can relate to that past version of you the way you would relate to a younger friend who was trying to navigate something difficult without a map.
No fixing,
No rescuing,
Just acknowledgement.
Silently say,
Either in your mind or quietly aloud if you prefer,
I see what you were dealing with.
I see what you were trying to do.
Thank you for getting me here.
Notice what shifts when gratitude replaces replay.
Now notice whether there's anything you've been carrying forward unnecessarily.
Old guilt,
Perhaps old self-blame,
Old stories about who you are because of what happened.
You don't need to get rid of any of these things or these stories,
Just recognize that they belong to the past.
If there's any sense of punishment or guilt or criticism or blame from the past,
Ask yourself if,
Is continuing to punish myself actually helping the person I am now?
Give that question some space to land.
You're allowed to learn without continuing to bleed.
You're allowed to take responsibility without lifelong self-attack.
See if there's any unnecessary weight you may have been carrying that you can just allow yourself to gently let go of.
Now cast your mind forward to your future self,
Not idealized and not perfected,
Just a version of you who already kept going.
Notice the quality they carry,
Perhaps less urgency,
Perhaps less noise and more perspective.
Imagine them standing beside you,
Not ahead of you,
Not judging you.
Just ask quietly,
What matters most right now?
There's no need to force an answer,
Sometimes the guidance is not words but tone.
Now notice if you've been consciously or unconsciously dumping responsibility onto that future self.
I'll deal with it later,
They'll be more capable than me they'll fix what I avoid.
Let any patterns like that come into awareness and then invite your own self to gently shift any of those patterns.
Silently say to that future version of you,
I'm willing to make your life easier and I'll carry my part for now.
And I'd invite you to choose or to contemplate one small action today or this week that the future you is going to quietly appreciate.
Nothing dramatic,
Something doable so that at that point in time where future you becomes present to you,
You'll be like wow,
Thank you so much past me.
Notice where you are now,
No longer stuck between any past regret or any future pressure,
You're standing in the middle with access to both wisdom and responsibility.
You don't need to be perfect to be trustworthy,
You just need to stay in relationship with yourself across time.
Take one final big deep breath in and then exhale it out slowly out through the mouth.
And when you feel ready,
Gently opening up the eyes,
Oiling the fingers and toes.
And I invite you to carry this with you today,
An invitation to learn from the past without needing to relive it and care for the future without postponing your life now.
That's what self-trust looks like over time.
This practice is part of the course Healing the Self Relationship where we explore this theme more deeply.
May this support you in strengthening the relationship you have with yourself.
