This meditation is about self-acceptance.
Self-acceptance means accepting ourselves for who we are at this very moment.
It means relating to ourselves the same way we would relate to someone for whom we love and care deeply for.
When we accept ourselves,
We permit ourselves to be human,
To fail,
To make mistakes,
And to learn and grow.
We accept our weaknesses instead of feeling somehow inferior because of them.
Likewise we learn how to accept our strengths but do not feel superior because of them.
Self-acceptance means that you allow yourself to simply be as you are.
During this meditation,
We will also call upon Goddess Aphrodite when we enter our inner temple.
It is here in our inner temple where we are the most centered in our power.
Only those spirits for our highest good can enter this sacred space.
We will not allow any harmful or unwanted spirits in this place of reflection and meditation.
I would like to ask you to close your eyes if you haven't done so already.
Now try to focus your attention on your breath.
Just begin to notice how you breathe in and breathe out.
Allow yourself to do just that.
Breathe in and breathe out.
There is nothing you need to achieve or become.
Simply breathe in and breathe out.
Feel how the air flows through your nose.
How your chest expands when you breathe in.
And how the air moves out when you exhale.
Follow the breath like this for a few moments.
Now,
With one more nice deep inhale and a slow exhale,
Bring all your attention on your heart chakra.
As you focus on your heart chakra,
I want you to imagine that a thousand roses are descending from your ceiling and flowing down straight into your heart.
Begin to imagine the petals literally flowing into the depth of your heart.
Imagine that the depth of your heart is limitless.
Now follow the petals deep into your heart chakra.
Keep flowing deeper and deeper inside your heart chakra like it's a tunnel.
Simply let the outside world disappear and be open to a brand new scene emerging right behind your eyes.
At the end of the tunnel,
You see a light and you move toward that light and step out into your inner temple.
Go ahead and look around.
Take stock of all that you see.
Notice all the fine details of your sacred space.
Just begin to let the images come to you.
The inner temple can be a place you have visited in the physical world or a unique combination of sacred sites and shrines from your deepest inner knowing.
Now I want you to imagine nearby there's a beautiful garden full of roses and all stages of bloom.
Go ahead and start walking through it.
Feel free to graze your fingers gently over the rose bushes.
Begin to feel the soft breeze around you as it carries the delicious scent of roses in every direction.
In the distance you hear a woman's voice humming a familiar lullaby.
As you get closer you see this is goddess Aphrodite.
She is perched over a dense thicket of rose bushes using a thorn remover tool.
Sitting by her bare feet there's a bucket filling up with thorns.
She looks up and smiles brightly at you.
She gently sets down her tools and eagerly waves at you,
Calling out your name,
Beckoning you to come closer.
As soon as you're close enough she wraps you in a warm embrace.
Here in your inner temple and here with goddess Aphrodite,
Sink into the hug.
Begin to let all your worries just melt away.
She tells you that today she will take you to a very special place within your inner temple.
A luxurious Roman style bathhouse where you can enjoy a mineral rich serene soak and goddess Aphrodite will sit beside you as you do your self-acceptance practice.
Know that your guide may communicate with you through words,
Images,
Symbols or metaphors.
Release any expectations and simply open your heart to absorb the guidance that is being transmitted to you through Aphrodite.
Aphrodite takes your hand and she leads you down a cobbled stone path.
You passed a beautiful fountain and you begin to walk up a hill.
At the top of the hill you see the exterior of the magnificent bathhouse.
Aphrodite leads you inside.
Take stock of what you see.
Let your imagination really fill in all the details.
Go ahead and undress.
Notice the temperature,
The warm room with heated floors and heated walls.
Once fully undressed,
Aphrodite leads you into a rectangular structured hot steamy room that houses a small pool under the Roman columns and skyline.
As you get closer to the pool,
You notice there's tea light candles and rose petals floating on top and all around you there's a faint scent of cinnamon and vanilla in the air.
You dip your toes in and the temperature feels around 98 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit,
Making it a wonderful spot for a serene soak.
Go ahead and step fully into the pool.
Sink into the pool.
It is deep enough for you to sit comfortably.
The water's warm and relaxing.
That's right.
Just settle in.
Notice the steam rising off the surface of the pool,
Glistening with the rising sunrays beaming down from the skylight above.
Aphrodite sits beside you washing the top of your head as she hums the same lullaby as before in the garden.
Now go ahead and peer into the reflective crystal clear water.
If there's any steam in your way,
It magically dissipates.
As you stare into the clear water,
I want you to think back to you as your youngest self that you can remember and really connect to this young person.
Really remember what it felt like to be you at this young age.
This might take a little time,
But just see how far back you can go and try to connect to your childhood self.
Perhaps you're around seven years of age,
Or maybe you're 12,
Or maybe older.
Reflect on a time as a child when you felt a need for approval from others.
See what comes up.
Ooh.
Very good.
Let's now continue to move forward in time.
As you grow older and become more mature,
You continue to be exposed to a world that appears to have rules and expectations that everyone must abide by or achieve to be considered valuable or worthy.
Depending on the environment,
You may have heard over and over and over that things like money,
Status,
Appearance,
Intelligence,
Power,
And physical strength are what matters most.
That these and only these things are what is most important.
For a moment,
Try to remember what it was like when you were a teenager or a young adult.
Visualize yourself around this time as best you can.
What was important to you at this age?
What did you believe made you worthy,
Successful,
Or enough?
What did those around you feel were important?
Were there ever any clashes between your beliefs and theirs?
Just begin to let whatever wants to come up,
Come up.
What did you believe made you worthy,
Successful,
Or enough?
So far,
We have explored what we can call your conditions of self-worth.
Conditions of self-worth are those things that we believe make us lovable or enough.
We strive for these things so that we can feel that we are loved unconditionally.
Most of us are living in constant fear of being not enough,
And as a result,
We spend our entire lives trying to live up to the expectations and standards that surround us.
I'd like you to consider your current life.
Are there standards that you've picked up during your life and that you are using to evaluate yourself today?
If so,
What are they?
How do you know that these standards are still influencing you?
How do you feel when you're not able to meet these standards?
Imagine a little child inside of you,
The child you once were who was afraid of being unloved,
That you might do something that will cause other people to disapprove of you.
Now imagine your inner child appearing right in front of you in the pool,
Looking back at you.
You can feel the child's fear of not being enough.
This child is in deep need of being loved.
Thankfully,
You now have the opportunity to say something to this child.
What do you want to say?
What do you want to say?
Can you see that you have always been worthy of love from the very first day you were born?
Can you see that everyone is equally worthy from the time they are born until that time they die to be worthy of love?
To love themselves and to be loved authentically by others?
Feel Aphrodite hold you and your inner child in her loving gaze.
To her,
You have always been enough.
And she desperately yearns for you to see yourself as so.
She doesn't want you to strive for perfection.
Just be you.
And to be brave enough to always hold space for who you are.
Can you feel how enough you've been from the very moment you enter this planet?
You've always been enough.
You've always been whole.
Always been worthy of love.
Just that throughout our life we forget about this.
So taking these moments to remember is so important for your mental health.
Love is not something you need to earn,
It is your birthright.
For a moment allow yourself to see if you can feel the truth behind these words.
We cannot control whether other people appreciate us or accept us,
But we can learn to accept ourselves.
It's not an overnight change,
But gradually begin to see the fruits of your labor.
And our spirit guides love to help us on this self-discovery journey.
All we need to do is ask.
And they'll send us intuitive hints of inspiration in our day-to-day lives.
Now if you're ready,
This is a moment in which you can decide to see yourself for who you are rather than what you believe you should be.
Think of all of your worries and insecurities that you've been carrying since you were a child.
Think of all the things that bring you unrest.
I want you to feel them rise out of your body and sit on the surface of your skin.
And then just wash them away.
Wash away all that does not serve your highest good and release it.
Just let it be dissolved in the shimmering water.
See Goddess Aphrodite take both your hands and repeat the following phrase to yourself in your head.
May I accept myself for who I am right now.
May I realize that my strengths don't mean that I am more than others.
May I realize that my weaknesses don't mean that I am less than others.
May I accept my imperfections.
They do not define me or take away from who I am as a person.
May I feel and deeply know that I am enough now and that I will always be enough regardless of what happens.
May I realize that I deserve to be loved now the same way as I deserved to be loved when I was born.
May I treat myself the way I treat those for whom I care deeply about.
Very good.
I want you to thank your spirit guide to Aphrodite and know that now that you have made contact and essentially activated the energy to connect to her,
You can speak with her at any time and all of the exercises of self-love and building confidence will become easier and clearer because you love a guide right beside you whenever you need her.
Go ahead and step out of the pool and dry off.
Aphrodite hands you your clothes.
You put them back on and she leads you back out of the bathhouse.
You walk on the cobblestone steps once more passing the fountain and into the garden of roses.
Aphrodite stops by the rose bush she was at earlier.
She gives you a final hug and she's so happy to see that you are already feeling lighter and she's more than happy to have you call on her to channel her confident,
Upbeat,
Passionate energy whenever you need it.
Now start to slowly bring your attention back to your body,
Back to your breath,
Back to the rise and fall of your chest.
Begin to wiggle your toes.
And when you feel ready,
Open your eyes.
Welcome back.
I hope you enjoy this meditation.
Namaste and blessed be.
Love yous!
You you you you
