Hi and welcome to today's practice.
This is for the version of you who's exhausted from bending,
Pleasing,
Performing,
Just to stay loved.
Together we'll regulate the nervous system.
Reconnect with your younger self and begin to rewrite the belief that you must earn your place through perfection or sacrifice.
Let's begin.
So allow yourself to settle in.
You can be seated or lying down.
Let your body feel supported and let yourself exhale fully.
Place your hand over your heart and the other on your belly.
Now take a deep breath in through the nose.
Hold it for a moment and exhale through the mouth with a soft sigh.
And again,
Inhale safety,
Exhale survival.
One more.
Breathing in softness.
Exhale pressure.
Let your breath flow naturally now without wanting to change it or control it.
You are safe to be with yourself now.
You don't have to fix or prove or earn.
You just get to be.
Now I invite you to think of a recent moment when you said yes but actually meant no.
Or maybe when you stayed quiet to avoid disappointing someone.
Or when your stomach turned with anxiety because you were afraid of being misliked.
Feel into your body.
Where does this live?
Is it your chest?
Your throat?
Your gut?
Let your breath move toward that space.
Not to change it,
Just to hold it.
To honour the signal.
To say,
Yes,
I hear you.
Now gently whisper to yourself,
I don't have to please to be loved.
I don't have to please to be loved.
I don't have to please to be loved.
Now let's dive a little deeper.
Let's go back and imagine yourself as a little girl,
Maybe 5 or maybe 9.
She may be just learning what love costs.
See her now.
Maybe tidying up,
Staying quiet,
Trying hard,
Trying not to be a burden,
Trying to earn affection or peace by being good.
Walk up to her now,
Slowly.
Kneel down to her level.
Look into her eyes and say to her,
You shouldn't have had to work so hard to be loved.
You didn't have to earn it.
You were always worthy.
You still are.
Let her cry if she needs to.
Let her cling to you.
Hold her.
She was never too much.
She was just trying to stay safe.
Now whisper,
You don't have to please anymore.
You are safe now.
You are allowed to say no.
You are allowed to rest.
You are allowed to just be.
Let her take that in.
Feel her begin to soften,
To feel safe with you.
Now bring your awareness back to your body.
Back to this moment.
Let's regulate the nervous system together with the breath.
Place both your hands on your belly.
Inhale through the nose for a slow count of 4.
Hold the breath for 4.
Exhale out through the mouth for 6.
Let's do that together.
Inhale 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
And exhale 2,
3,
4,
5,
6.
Let's do that one more time.
Inhale 2,
3,
4.
And hold 2,
3,
4.
And exhale 2,
3,
4,
5.
That's it.
Let your breath just be natural.
This breathing exercise tells your body you are safe.
You are not in danger.
You don't have to please to survive anymore.
Let your body learn this truth.
Feel the calm,
The clarity.
Feel the edges soften.
Now say gently in your mind,
I choose alignment over approval.
I choose peace over performance.
I choose my truth over their comfort.
Let that truth land.
Let it settle deep in your nervous system.
This is how you rewire.
This is how you return.
Now place your hand over your heart again.
Feel the rhythm.
Feel the steadiness that was always yours.
Repeat softly,
I don't have to please anymore.
I am already loved.
I am already enough.
I am free to be me.
Now take a deep breath in and gently return your awareness to your surroundings.
Becoming aware of the sounds around you.
Gently wiggle your fingers.
Move your shoulders.
Stretch if you need to.
And when you are ready,
Open your eyes if they were closed.
And let this truth walk with you today.
You were never here to earn love.
You were here to be love exactly as you are.
And so it is.
