Today,
I choose me.
Just let those words greet you as you arrive in this space,
My friend.
And let me ask you a question.
What does it mean to you to choose yourself?
What does it mean to choose me?
Well quite simply,
It means to recognize that you and I matter.
Our time and energy,
Our health and well-being are important,
They're vital and we've been given these gifts to look after responsibly.
You know,
We're here to engage in all the richness of life and to be able to do that,
We need to pay attention to finding balance and to make choices that keep us feeling secure,
Well cared for and vibrant so we can show up for whatever we need to show up for.
Sometimes in our thoughts,
Our words and our actions,
We're not choosing ourselves,
Right?
We may even be stuck in a habit or a pattern of people-pleasing.
And you can see how that is giving away our precious,
Valuable feelings,
Our sense of self and our energy,
And our power to help ourselves and nurture and support ourselves,
Giving it away often in many different directions and finding it hard to gather back.
So I think it's important to start each day remembering to choose ourselves.
That doesn't mean we're not helping others,
That means we're putting ourselves in the same picture as we put everybody else,
And we're putting ourselves first.
We're going to be using havening touch,
Which I find really helpful for emotional healing.
Havening simply means to put in a safe space.
And one of its tools is the sensory input of touch,
And I'll guide you through the simple self-touch sequence we're applying in this practice as we go along.
But just at the beginning to let you know,
There are three specific self-touch actions and you can use one or all of them.
In the first one,
And you can practice this with me now,
We take our hands and slowly rub them together,
Moving them from side to side.
Just from one side of your body to the other,
As if you're stroking your hands under warm water.
And the second is to take your hands across your body,
Your left hand is on your right shoulder,
Your right hand's on your left shoulder,
And then you're gently stroking downwards from your shoulder to your elbow.
Nice long,
Slow strokes.
And the third,
You take your hands to your face gently and stroke it,
Anywhere from the hair at all,
Maybe on your forehead or your cheeks.
And again,
You can choose to do all or any one of these that feels right to you.
I will suggest some guidance,
But you can do your own thing.
So let's begin.
Just take a breath in,
And then let it all release,
Arising.
And now,
Simply breathing in and out through your heart.
Begin to rub your hands together,
Moving them from side to side,
As if stroking the air.
And now ask yourself the following questions.
What if I listened to my body and heart today?
What would it be like to honour the honest reactions I encounter there?
What if it's safe for me to choose my own needs over placating and appeasing others?
And now rubbing down your arms,
From your shoulders to your elbows.
What if I don't have to apologise for my truth or my existence?
What if I can honour my authentic feelings,
Needs and desires?
Rubbing your face or your cheeks.
What if I can release the old stories and wounds that have me confused about who I truly am?
What if everything I do today brings me closer to my true self?
And now rubbing your hands together again,
Side to side.
More and more I honour my truth,
More and more I choose me.
Keep applying the havening touch,
Rubbing your hands from side to side,
And just settle your awareness into your body,
Noticing how you feel in your body right now.
Taking several breaths to really receive that feeling deeper and deeper,
As if it could just sink into your bones.
And then bring your attention back to the room gently,
Slowly.
Feel the skin of your palms,
Rubbing against the skin of your other palm or your shirt or your face.
And gently bring the havening touch to a close.
Remember to choose yourself today and that you can always come back to this practice to reaffirm that intention so that over time you'll feel safer and safer with it.
And see what changes in your life,
In your health and in your energy,
In your happiness when you do that.
I wish you well,
Thank you for practicing with me,
And until next time,
Bye for now.
