Welcome everyone.
I hope you all are well.
What is grace?
Not permission to quit.
Not lowering standards.
Not pretending everything is okay.
Grace is continuing to move and to be.
Without punishing yourself for being human.
Miss the workout.
Give yourself grace.
Maybe you ate an unplanned piece of dessert.
Give yourself grace.
Didn't meditate today?
Give yourself grace.
Maybe a bad day.
Give yourself grace.
When you're struggling.
Are you harder on yourself?
Than you would be with a friend.
Family member,
Or spouse.
Why do we offer compassion to everyone except for ourselves?
Right here,
Right now.
That is exactly what we're going to do.
Give ourselves the compassion that we deserve and the acceptance that we need.
At times,
We can find ourselves feeling almost addicted.
To fixing.
Ourselves.
Something happens that brings a frustration,
Then we give ourselves permission to step away and breathe.
We may begin to feel sick.
Then we give ourselves permission to rest.
What if we stopped trying to become worthy?
And started living as if we already are.
Taking a moment to breathe without waiting until something frustrates us.
Allowing ourselves to rest without needing to feel sick.
Being and doing what allows us to feel peace or relief isn't something we need to earn.
It's something we deserve.
We are worthy of gifts,
Such as taking a moment to breathe,
Resting our bodies.
Meditating.
Walking.
Whatever makes us feel good in this moment.
After all.
Right now.
This moment.
Is the only thing that exists.
We no longer need to think,
I'll take care of this when,
Or I'll feel happy when I Take care now.
Allow yourself to feel happy now.
Give yourself permission and allow yourself.
I want to invite you to gently close your eyes.
Taking nice.
Slow,
Easy breaths Now imagine carrying a heavy backpack.
Perhaps you're on a hike.
For walking through your favorite trail.
Inside the heavy backpack are stones.
Stones made up of regrets.
Expectation.
Judgment.
Comparison.
Shame.
Pressure.
Struggle.
Trauma.
Then.
One by one.
Imagine taking each stone out.
Leaving each stone on the ground.
Not because it never mattered,
But because you no longer need to carry it anymore.
You don't have to earn the right.
To be kind to yourself.
Grace isn't something you deserve after you've healed.
Grace is often what allows healing to begin.
Take a nice deep breath.
And feel.
The way.
Lift it off your shoulders.
An empty backpack.
Accept it.
Enjoy.
Until next time.
Namaskara.
