00:30

Before I Became Me

by Jo Riley

Type
guided
Activity
Meditation
Suitable for
Everyone

This guided meditation is a gentle return to the space before identity formed. Before roles. Before stories. Before you learned who you needed to be. You’ll be guided into deep rest and subtle awareness where the body can soften and the mind can quiet. From this place you are invited to reconnect with the essence that existed before conditioning and before survival patterns took shape. This practice supports deep nervous system settling, emotional safety and a remembering of your original wholeness. It is an invitation to rest in presence and allow yourself to simply be. Best experienced lying down in a quiet space where you can fully surrender into stillness.

MeditationRelaxationAwarenessNervous SystemEmotional SafetyPresenceBody ScanIntentionBreathingVisualizationRebirthSelf LoveGroundingIntention SettingCleansing BreathInner Child VisualizationWomb VisualizationRebirth ThemeSelf Love AffirmationGrounding Technique

Transcript

Welcome beautiful soul.

Find a comfortable position either lying down or seated.

Allow your body to arrive in the space now.

Let yourself melt into the surface beneath you and feel the earth holding you.

Knowing you are always safe,

Always protected,

Guided and supported.

Gently close your eyes and allow the world around you to slow down.

Take a moment to let your body begin to relax.

Consciously release the tension from your jaw.

Soften your shoulders.

Let your belly loosen.

And allow any part of your body that is holding on to tension to soften.

Now I invite you to set an intention for this journey.

Even simply allowing your heart to be felt again.

Trust what rises and hold it softly in your heart.

Let's begin by taking three cleansing breaths together.

Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth with a soft sigh.

Again inhale softly,

Feel your belly expand and exhale fully.

Let your belly soften.

And one more time inhale into your belly,

Letting your whole body melt deeper and a slow exhale.

Your breath becomes steady,

Soft and natural.

As your breath softens,

Your awareness begins to shift as though something inside of you is gently turning towards a deeper place.

The surface of the world feels a little further away and an inner landscape begins to rise.

Quiet,

Familiar,

Ancient.

A sense of being drawn inward,

Not by force but by recognition.

As if a forgotten part of you has been waiting to be remembered.

As from within that soft descent,

A doorway appears.

Somewhere beyond thought,

Beyond memory,

Beyond the noise of the world.

There is a doorway that very few people ever return to.

It does not open with effort or force or will.

It opens with surrender,

With softness,

With the simple truth that you began long before the world ever taught you how to survive.

As the doorway opens,

A warm darkness unfolds on the other side.

Not empty,

But alive.

Breathing like something ancient,

Something waiting.

And then you step in.

The darkness curves around you instantly,

Soft as warm water,

Deep as velvet.

It wraps around your skin,

Your ribs,

Your breath,

Until you feel yourself dissolving.

Like a drop slipping back into the ocean it came from,

You drift forward,

Weightless,

Unhurried.

Carried by a current that somehow knows you.

The air thickens into fluid,

Warm,

Gentle,

Steady.

And the space becomes round,

Like a world shaped just for you.

You look around and the walls shimmer softly,

Deep red,

Gold in places where the light catches.

Like the inside of a glowing cave.

The rhythm of a heartbeat pulses through the chamber.

The first rhythm you ever knew.

A magic carpet rises beneath you,

Smooth and silent,

Its surface warm under your body,

As though it has been waiting to carry you back here.

To the place where your existence first whispered itself into form.

It glides forward,

Carrying you deeper into the chamber,

And the world around you comes alive.

Ripples of light move through the fluid,

Dancing like strands of stardust.

Each one a fragment of what you once were,

Long before cells gathered into bone,

Long before a heart learnt its beat.

Everything is soft here.

Everything is soft here.

Everything is gentle.

Everything welcomes you.

Your carpet dips lower and you see it,

A tiny shape floating in the centre of the chamber.

Small.

A life not yet shaped,

Not yet named,

Not yet touched by anything heavy.

That tiny being was you.

Not the you who learnt how to please,

Or protect,

Or hide.

Not the you who carried wounds that did not belong to you.

Not the you before all of that.

The carpet brings you closer,

Slow,

Respectful,

Like returning to a sacred place.

The innocence of it,

The purity.

This is what it felt like to exist without fear,

By a world that expected nothing from you,

Except to become who you were always meant to be.

The walls pulse gently.

They glow,

Brightening,

As if recognising your return.

Showing you a truth no one remembers consciously.

That before you lived in a world,

You lived in a sanctuary.

Your carpet rises and you move through different eras of your becoming.

You see your spine forming,

A line of light threading through fluid.

You see your tiny fingers opening and closing.

You see your heart,

A glowing amber,

Learning its rhythm from the heartbeat that surrounds you.

You are not watching a memory,

You are inside it.

You are inside the life that built you,

Cell by cell,

Light by light.

The carpet begins to rise higher,

Lifting you above the womb.

Showing you the entire chamber at once.

A glowing universe tucked inside a body,

Holding a tiny being who never once doubted their worth.

Because doubt had not been invented yet.

You feel something inside you loosen.

Something old.

Not because you let it go,

But because it cannot survive here.

It melts in this warmth,

The way frost melts beneath sunrise.

The womb glows brighter,

Waves of gold sweeping through the fluid,

Cleansing,

Softening,

Restoring.

This is healing,

Not done to you,

But revealed through remembering.

The carpet circles the chamber once more,

Slow,

Gentle.

As if letting you gather every piece of yourself you ever lost.

Tense,

Not in fear,

But in prayer.

A pool begins,

Subtle at first,

Then stronger.

As though the chamber itself is guiding you forward.

You know this path,

You've travelled it once long ago.

But this time,

You are not leaving behind innocence.

You are carrying it with you.

The carpet glides into a narrow passage,

Carrying you through the tightening rhythm,

The pulsing walls.

The ancient push of life calling you outward.

It's not a struggle.

The warmth gives way to light,

Soft at first,

Thriving.

But as the you who remembers,

A new breath enters your body.

A new softness settles into your spine.

You were born once into a world that shaped you.

Today,

You are born again into the truth that has been shaping itself inside you since the beginning.

You have returned and you have remembered.

And you rise now with new choices.

Choices born from wholeness,

Not fear.

Take a deep breath into your belly.

Feel your belly expand.

And a soft,

Gentle exhale.

Feel your belly soften.

Begin to bring your awareness back into your body.

Slowly inviting some movement into your fingers and toes.

Your wrists,

Your ankles.

Letting your body awaken in its own time.

If it feels good,

Draw your knees in towards your chest.

And give yourself a beautiful,

Soft hug.

Or you can reach your arms overhead and take a long,

Gentle stretch.

Allowing your whole body to reopen.

Take one final deep breath in and hold it for a moment.

And a slow,

Long exhale.

Letting your whole system settle with ease.

Carry this feeling with you for the rest of your day.

Remember,

You are loved unconditionally.

You are worthy.

You are beautiful.

And you are never alone.

Thank you for going on this beautiful,

Magical journey with me.

I see you.

I feel you.

I hear you.

It is a blessing to share this space with you.

With love and gratitude always.

Meet your Teacher

Jo RileyUnited Kingdom

More from Jo Riley

Loading...

Related Meditations

Loading...

Related Teachers

Loading...
© 2026 Jo Riley. All rights reserved. All copyright in this work remains with the original creator. No part of this material may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

How can we help?

Sleep better
Reduce stress or anxiety
Meditation
Spirituality
Something else