Find a comfortable place to rest,
Sitting up or lying down.
Notice the sounds around you,
Allowing them to simply be.
Notice your body,
Where it touches the earth.
Allow the shoulders to melt down away from the ears,
Crown of the head to the sky,
Chin gently tipped down.
Begin to feel into the body.
Simply notice.
Place your hands on the body where you feel the breath is starting from.
No judgment,
No opinion.
Feel into that space for a few moments,
Allowing it to be.
Notice if there's any feelings or thoughts that rise up.
Notice them.
Nothing to change,
Nothing to do.
Inhaling deeply through the nose and exhaling softly through the mouth.
Inhaling deeply through the nose,
Exhaling softly through the mouth.
If the hands are not on top of the belly,
Lightly place them there,
One hand on top of the other.
Feel for a moment the warmth your hands are creating,
And gently begin to transition to an intentional breath.
A breath that originates right there where your hands gently rest on the belly.
Inhaling and puffing out that belly.
Exhaling.
Feeling that belly rise and fall.
As the breath begins to deepen,
Allow it to move into its natural rhythm.
Perhaps the belly rises and then the heart lifts as if the breath has two parts to it or a circular motion.
Breathing in and out.
In and out.
Imagine you're walking in a beautiful forest.
Big,
Tall,
Magnificent trees surround you.
You stand there for a moment,
Drinking them in,
Smelling the sweet air.
Maybe there's a gentle breeze that moves through.
And as you stand there,
You feel your feet on the ground.
And the earth below your feet is a moss that is velvety and spongy,
And you feel it beneath your toes.
And you wiggle your toes on top of it for a moment.
Golden threads begin to move from your feet down into the earth.
Passing by rocks,
Different kinds of earth.
Bodies of water until they reach to the very center.
And in that core of the earth,
You see in the distance a beautiful white temple.
And you begin to walk towards it.
As you approach it,
You feel its power.
It radiates energy and light and love.
And so you enter it,
And slowly that light begins to infuse every part of you.
From the top of your skull,
Illuminated with light.
Your forehead filled with light.
Eyelids,
Temples,
Cheeks,
Nose,
Mouth.
Ears filled with light.
And the light moves down into the body,
To the neck.
The torso,
The heart,
The arms,
The fingers.
Moves down through the belly,
Growing the legs.
All the way down,
Feeling each toe illuminated with light.
The whole body radiating,
Emanating light and love.
Each cell of the body,
Sparkling with light.
Sit in that body,
Filled and illuminated for as long as you want.
And when you feel ready,
You begin to rise up.
The golden threads carrying you up through the earth.
Past rocks,
Bodies of water.
Until you find yourself back in the body that is resting.
Infused with light and love.
Breathing in and out.
Gently move your arms in front of the body,
Palms facing in.
And place one hand on each shoulder blade,
Giving yourself a sweet hug.
Taking a moment to love yourself.
To give yourself exactly what you need.
Allow the eyes to softly flutter open,
Taking in the room.
And feel this sense of love and light that you've activated within you.
Feel it in your body.
Feel it in your breath.
Know that it is always available.
Always there for you.
Any time during your busy day,
Pause.
Take three long breaths,
Knowing that love is yours.
Always.
I hope you enjoyed this guided meditation on self-love.
Self-love is a phrase that's said a lot,
Thrown around a lot,
And we know that self-love expresses itself in actions.
Getting good sleep,
Eating well,
Doing guided meditations.
I believe a really important ingredient of self-love is noticing the inner dialogue that we live with every day.
Is that inner voice a cheerleader and teammate,
Or is that inner voice a critic and a judge?
And can we,
As we sit in the temple of love within ourselves,
Love all of ourselves?
On our good days and on our not-so-good days when we are challenged and there is struggle,
Can we love ourselves unconditionally,
Always falling back into the space of love,
Regardless of circumstances,
To me,
Is true self-love in action.
Thanks for listening.
