Many of us learned and built a relationship with shame out of survival,
Stress,
Trauma.
And many of us also inherited shame through our lineage that still lives in our bodies.
And so shame gets stuck because our brains have built strong pathways to help us survive something,
And now it keeps using those pathways out of habit.
And shame has a sneaky way of casting a filter over all of our experiences,
Either subtly or drastically dulling our shine,
Our joy,
Our ability to create from authentic place,
And our ability to see clearly.
The good news is that we can unlearn our habits of shame or guilt by working with our bodies and our nervous systems to transform our relationship to these undesired experiences.
So I'd like you to just begin to remember any situations and experiences where you feel guilt,
Shame,
Embarrassment,
Humiliation,
Or even social rejection or exclusion,
Or any reason you might feel an intense amount of self-consciousness.
We're going to go through a process of allowing,
Accepting,
And embracing what's still resonating in the body and mind from these past experiences so that we can break through the fog of shame.
Begin in a comfortable position.
This practice can be done seated,
Lying down,
Walking,
Moving,
Whatever your body is calling for in this moment.
Let your body find a shape that invites ease,
Presence,
And safety.
Take a deep breath in and let it go with a soft and audible sigh.
That audible sigh signals to your nervous system that you are indeed safe in this moment.
So let's try that again.
Inhaling gently and exhaling even more slowly than you think you need to.
Just let yourself arrive just as you are.
Nothing to fix,
Nothing to change.
Now bring your awareness to your body as a way of coming into deeper relationship with what is right now.
Just listening and opening your awareness.
Beneath every sensation there is intelligence,
There is communication,
There is truth.
So relaxing the jaw,
The shoulders,
Sinking deeper into the support beneath you,
Allowing gravity to support you through this practice.
Can you allow yourself to be fully supported right now?
You might close down the outer eyes.
Just begin by simply allowing.
Allowing yourself to be supported.
Where in your life are you still curling into shame?
How do you know?
And what do you feel and experience as shame?
Allowing whatever is present to be here.
Are you feeling any tightness,
Numbness,
Heat,
Stillness or vacancy?
Allow your thoughts to float.
Allow any emotions to rise and fall like waves.
Let the body be your compass,
Not your critic.
And now try letting go of the label of shame or guilt,
Whatever the experience you're wanting to transform.
And just focus on the felt experience of it.
This is the alter space of the experience.
The opportunity to meet yourself.
All of the different versions.
The alter space of the experience.
And so as you breathe in now,
Imagine your breath as a warm light.
Softly illuminating the landscape within.
And for the next few moments,
Trace your breath from wherever you notice the inhale beginning.
Could be the tip of your nose.
Or out in front of your face.
Maybe you feel the inhale beginning in your lower belly or your chest.
And then follow the exhale back to the starting point.
Watching the breath for a few rounds,
Just like that.
Allowing every inhale to be a prayer.
Summoning your wisest self home.
And with each exhale,
Steadying yourself.
Sending energy exactly where it needs to go.
So conducting your internal energy.
There is an intimacy that we cultivate with the body through the breath.
We breathe to connect.
And to honor what is.
And as you come face to face with this experience that's been hidden in the dark.
Where do you feel it in your body?
You can follow the resonations.
And ask yourself,
How is this experience alive for me right now?
In what ways?
How is it impacting my current behavior?
In what ways is this experience lingering and limiting myself as a result of the attachment to shame?
Where am I hiding or shrinking?
Am I repelling my heart's desires?
And just notice if there's a particular place that feels contracted,
Heavy,
Hidden,
Or tight.
There's no need to analyze,
Just notice.
And now without judgment,
See might you be able to accept and soften into what you find,
What you discover.
You don't have to like it,
You just have to see it.
Feel it.
These experiences that stick to us,
They often want to curl in on themselves.
So your presence is a quiet invitation saying,
You belong.
You belong.
And just breathe here,
Breathing in that statement,
That truth.
Breath is our first understanding of rhythm and connection.
We breathe the breath that has always been breathed.
There's so much wisdom,
So much power in our breath.
So let the breath meet the places that have long been hidden in darkness.
To move with it,
To embrace the experience,
The memory,
The sensation,
And the medicine.
That comes from those experiences.
Even if it feels like nothing,
Accept that too.
It's a meeting of the experience as a point of connection.
And now embrace.
You might invite in embrace by gently placing one or both hands over the area of your body that feels connected to the experience that you chose to face in this practice.
And feel the warmth of your own touch.
And feel yourself soften under your own embrace.
With the love you would express to a small child,
Say this to the part of yourself that's still holding shame.
I see you.
I know you've been protecting me.
I embrace you with love,
Even if I don't yet understand you.
This is how we begin to dissolve the inner walls,
Not with force,
With compassion.
Let those words ripple through you like waves.
I allow,
I accept,
I embrace.
Feel them in your breath,
Feel them in your body,
Feel them in your bones.
Stay here for just another moment,
Just being with yourself.
This moment is a doorway to your embodied liberation.
And when you're ready,
Just connecting back to that place where your inhale begins.
And closing the cycle by connecting to that place where your exhale ends.
Wiggling your fingers,
Rolling your shoulders,
Opening the eyes,
And keeping the heart open.
Remember,
You are magic,
You are medicine,
And you are worthy just by being.
Thank you for your practice.
I'll see you soon.
