Hello,
And welcome to today's meditation.
Let's get started by gently settling in to the here and now.
Taking a moment to notice how you're feeling today.
What is the quality of your breath and your movements?
Find where in your body you feel tension,
And using your breath,
Allow it to release.
Softening expression in the face,
Dropping the shoulders,
Loosening the jaw.
When you're ready,
You may gently close down the eyes,
Or keep a soft gaze in front of you.
And we're going to simply breathe.
With gratitude for this unconscious thing we do every day,
That with focus returns us back to ourselves.
We're going to do this slowly and steadily.
All I want you to do is take a long,
Deep inhale.
Filling yourself up with whatever you need today,
And take an even longer exhale when you're ready,
Releasing whatever you don't.
And simply continue with these slow and steady breaths,
On your own time,
At your own pace,
Doing whatever feels right,
And releasing any tension in your body.
You can return your breathing to normal,
And place your palms down on your lap,
In a grounding position.
Noticing any differences in how you feel.
Noticing how taking just one minute to be conscious of your breath is a radical act of self-love.
Appreciating your body for allowing you to be present in this moment,
And thinking about all it took for this to become possible,
The numerous things happening in your body that you don't even have to think about,
That bring you to this very moment of gratitude and self-love.
We're going to enhance those feelings now.
On your next breath,
Imagine a moment where you felt you were at your best.
This could be recent or in the past,
And if none come to mind,
You may simply picture what is it that you appreciated in this moment.
Perhaps it's your smile,
The way you made others feel,
Coming up to a meeting really smart and prepared.
How did you feel in your body and your mind?
Taking a moment,
Putting your hands over your heart,
Or wherever feels right right now,
To breathe in appreciation and love for yourself at your best.
Letting these feelings of love for yourself build with each breath.
And now shifting to a time when you are really struggling.
Again,
This could be recent or in the past.
This is a time where you showed up as a lesser version of yourself.
A time you may have been challenged by anger or sadness or despair.
And as much as you want to turn away from this with avoidance,
Gently,
Very gently,
Turn yourself toward it and see if you can cultivate that same sense of loving kindness and compassion you had for yourself at your best.
Keep your hands steadily on your heart and meet this version of yourself with gratitude and appreciation for the difficult moment you experienced.
Notice any negative thoughts that come up and try to replace them with a simple,
I love you.
Appreciate yourself in this light,
Warming this picture of yourself.
And if it's too difficult,
Try to simply maintain a neutral feeling toward it.
The mantra of it's okay.
For yourself here too.
Picture yourself staring at your reflection.
See a light radiating from you filled with love and gratitude and appreciation for yourself in all its perfection and messiness.
This light illuminates how extraordinary you really are,
What you are good at,
How you take care of yourself and others around you.
The light shines on all those unique qualities that make you,
You.
Bringing them.
And in this warm and radiant light,
These are words of the message you want to send to the world.
Envisioning if your message was being broadcast to every home,
What would you want to say?
What message would you want to share?
This is your unique message.
For all the things that have happened in your life.
Unique message,
This passion you have,
This light you look to share.
Spending a few moments here.
Love you typically reserve for others.
Exploring any areas not yet explored.
Of appreciation and gratitude for yourself.
As we prepare to close out today.
I want you to take up the challenge this week.
Meeting yourself in good moments and bad.
With the compassion and love to which you meet others.
To say I love you to yourself.
As much as you say it to your loved ones.
To go easy on yourself.
To give yourself grace and space for love to come in.
Self love is the quietest,
Simplest,
Most powerful revolution.
That your body is marching for.
Taking a deep inhale.
To seal in this work.
Thank you.
