Welcome,
Beautiful soul.
I'm Alicia Ashley,
And I'll be guiding you through a meditation on healing your heart's deepest wounds through self-forgiveness.
Before we begin,
There are just a few things I want to highlight.
It's not unusual to experience a variety of different emotions during a sacred self-love healing meditation,
And I encourage you to be brave.
Embrace them and lean into them if you can.
If your mind wanders,
That's okay,
Too.
That's what our mind does.
Just gently bring your attention back to your breath and to the sound of my voice without any judgment or criticism.
Also,
You may want to have your journal or paper and pen nearby,
As valuable insights and awareness are slippery,
And you want to be able to write them down as soon as we're done.
Insights and awareness are slippery due to old neural pathways.
The new self-loving neural pathways we're trying to establish aren't very strong yet,
So we lose the powerful insights and awareness we have during the meditation,
So be sure and write them down.
We will also do something a little different than you've possibly done before.
We'll be grounding ourselves to our body and to gentle,
Loving kindness for ourselves by giving ourselves a big hug,
Rocking ourselves back and forth.
We'll also cradle our face and our hands,
Gently stroke our face,
Our forehead,
And hair.
And this is to remind us how absolutely precious and lovable we are.
You deserve to receive the gentle,
Loving care and tenderness you might not have received as a child.
It is a gift you can give to yourself generously now.
So do whatever you're comfortable with,
But I hope you'll give it a try.
It's really amazing,
And it's actually a part of something called havening that has been scientifically proven to be calming and healing.
So let's get started.
Go ahead and find a comfortable position,
Either sitting or lying down.
Allow your body to be fully supported,
Knowing that in this moment,
You are exactly where you need to be.
Let's take a deep breath together as we bring our attention into this sacred moment,
This sacred moment where we go to within and cultivate unconditional self-love no matter what.
So take another deep breath and just let go of anything you've been carrying around today.
Just let it go.
I want to acknowledge you for setting this time aside for yourself,
For prioritizing your self-care and doing everything it took to be here with me today.
There are a lot of things you could be doing,
But you're here to learn to love yourself unconditionally and to learn how to be your own best friend.
So as you continue to breathe comfortably and naturally,
I want you to place one hand on your heart and one hand on your stomach,
And just feel the gentle rise and fall of your breath,
The steady rhythm of your heartbeat.
This is your life force,
Your essence,
Beating with the same rhythm that has sustained you through every challenge,
Every triumph,
And every moment of your existence.
Gently wrap your arms around you and give yourself a big hug.
Hold yourself gently and just rock back and forth slowly.
Now gently stroke your face,
Your forehead,
And softly caress your hair.
Today we're here to heal our heart's deepest wounds.
We're here to release the heavy burden these wounds place on us.
Most of the time these wounds are caused by people.
People,
As one of my spiritual mentors calls them,
Are unskillful people who are frequently unskilled in the areas of love,
Kindness,
Caring,
And respect.
We honor the fact that we cannot change anyone but ourselves,
So today we are giving ourselves the gift of healing.
Take a deep breath and repeat with me,
I now have permission to heal.
I now have permission to return to the person I was before these wounds took place.
I am worthy.
I am enough.
I am capable and I am allowed to heal.
Now I want you to imagine your heart as a beautiful sacred space.
Perhaps it's a garden,
A temple,
A cozy room filled with warm light.
Whatever comes to you is perfect.
This is your heart's sanctuary,
The place where your deepest truth lives.
As you explore this sacred space,
You might notice some areas that feel heavy,
Dark,
Or clouded.
These are the places where shame has taken residence,
Where unworthiness has built its walls,
Where perfectionism has created impossible standards,
Where self-criticism has worn deep grooves with its relentless voice.
Take a moment to acknowledge these areas with compassion and understanding.
You don't need to push them away or fix them right now.
Simply notice them the way you might notice clouds in the sky just passing by.
Now imagine a warm golden light beginning to glow from the center of your sacred heart.
This is the light of your true sacred essence,
The part of you that has never been damaged,
The part of you that's never been diminished,
Never been anything less than perfect exactly as you are.
This light begins to expand slowly and gently like the first rays of dawn breaking through the darkness.
As it touches those heavy,
Dark places,
Something miraculous happens.
The shame begins to melt like ice in warm sunlight.
The walls of unworthiness start to collapse.
The harsh voice of perfectionism grows softer.
Breathe into this light,
Allowing it to grow brighter and warmer with each breath.
As you do,
Repeat these words silently or aloud,
Letting them resonate in every cell of your being.
I am worthy.
I am enough.
I am capable.
And I am allowed.
Give yourself a big hug.
Just hold yourself gently for a few moments.
Allow this to sink in,
That you are worthy,
You are enough,
You are capable,
And you are allowed.
You're allowed to soar.
You're allowed to heal.
You're allowed to expand.
You're allowed to be you.
Just relax your hands.
Everything you've done,
Everything you've been,
Everything you've felt,
It is all forgivable.
It is all forgivable.
No matter what anyone else thinks,
No matter what anyone else has told you,
No matter how harshly anyone else has ever criticized you,
And no matter what for,
It is all forgivable.
It is all forgivable and is one of your divine assignments to forgive yourself today,
In this very moment,
For everything you've ever held against yourself in shame,
Unworthiness,
Perfectionism,
And self-criticism.
Take a deep breath.
And repeat this with me.
It is all forgivable.
And I forgive myself now.
I deserve total and complete forgiveness right now.
It is all forgivable.
And I forgive myself now.
Take another deep breath.
Give yourself a big hug.
Squeeze yourself.
Rock yourself back and forth slowly.
Gently stroke your face,
Your forehead.
Softly caress your hair.
Continue to hold yourself and repeat after me.
I forgive myself.
I forgive myself now.
It's all forgivable.
It's all forgivable.
Feel all the shame just melt away.
Feel the new lightness and freedom of forgiving yourself totally and completely.
You're allowed to forgive yourself.
You're allowed to live your optimal life.
You're allowed to soar.
You're allowed to be the magnificent you you were always meant to be.
You're allowed to celebrate your life.
You're allowed to love yourself deeply and unconditionally no matter what.
And with letting go of all the shame,
Unworthiness,
Perfectionism,
And self-criticism,
Your heart's deepest wounds,
You will now be able to soar.
It is also one of your divine assignments to love and accept yourself exactly as you are right now.
Giving yourself the gifts of love and acceptance is incredibly healing.
In so doing,
You get to release the need to be perfect.
You get to let it go.
You get to celebrate your amazing humanity.
Human stands for humbly accepting mistakes are necessary.
Humbly accepting mistakes are necessary.
So in this moment,
You get to relax and be a perfectly imperfect human being and totally shame-free.
Feel the golden light now filling every corner of your heart's sanctuary.
Where there was once darkness,
There is now understanding and acceptance.
Where there was once self-criticism,
There is now self-compassion.
Where there was once the desperate need to be perfect,
There is now the peaceful acceptance of what is.
We will now take one minute to speak to yourself the way you would speak to a beloved family member,
Friend,
Or child.
What would you say to someone you love unconditionally right now?
What words of encouragement would you share from your heart?
What recognition of their inherent worth would you offer them?
Now offer these same exact words to yourself.
Your soul is listening.
Every word of kindness you speak to yourself is healing your heart's deepest wounds that may have been there for years or even decades.
You are worthy.
You are enough.
You are capable and you are allowed to heal.
We will pause for one minute.
Now repeat after me.
It's all forgivable.
It's all forgivable.
And I forgive myself now.
I forgive myself now.
Let your sacred heart pump this golden light of self-acceptance and worthiness through your veins out to your entire body and settle into your bones,
Into the very fabric of your being.
You aren't broken.
You never were.
You aren't too much and you aren't too little.
You're not behind or ahead.
You're right where you should be.
Learning exactly what you're meant to learn.
Becoming exactly who you're meant to become today.
The shame that once felt so heavy,
It was never yours to carry.
The unworthiness that whispered lies about your value,
It was never true.
The perfectionism that demanded you to be anything other than yourself,
It was never necessary.
The self-criticism that treated you worse than any enemy,
It was never your friend.
You are now allowed to put all of these down.
You're allowed to be free.
You're allowed to love yourself unconditionally,
Exactly as you are,
While also blossoming with a sense of freedom.
You're blossoming into the person you're becoming.
Today,
Take these valuable words with you.
You are worthy of unconditional love,
Especially your own.
You are enough,
Exactly as you are in this very moment.
You are capable of healing,
Of growth,
Of joy,
Of all the beauty life has to offer.
The golden light of your worth continues to shine within you,
Melting away any darkness that tries to return.
You can come back to this light,
To this truth,
To this meditation,
Whenever you want to remember who you really are.
You are worthy.
You are enough.
You are capable,
And you are allowed to soar.
Give yourself a hug.
Gently rock back and forth.
Stroke your face,
Your forehead,
Your hair.
Now,
Let's close with the LAVA PRAYER.
LAVA is an acronym for the four pillars of self-love,
Which are love,
Attention,
Value.
Validation,
And acceptance.
The LAVA PRAYER is I love myself.
I forgive myself.
I believe in myself,
And I am proud of myself.
We will also say it in the third person,
So please add your name at the end of each of these statements.
I love you.
I forgive you.
I believe in you,
And I am proud of you.
If you're listening to this meditation at night,
Feel free to simply drift to sleep.
And if you're listening in the morning or during the day,
Slowly open your eyes and celebrate the dawn of a new day,
A day where you're completely forgiven and free.
Your heart's deepest wounds are not permanent.
They are simply a gateway to your greatest healing and transformation.
Thank you for joining me.
And so it is.
