This is a short practice where we tap into one of the fundamentals of meditation.
I'll be sharing more of these tracks in the upcoming weeks,
Where each time I dive into what a fundamental aspect to have at the foundation of our meditation practice is.
Today,
I want to talk about welcoming.
Meditation is a way to commune and be in deep intimacy and relation with the life force that moves through us.
It's that magical element of life that we all have.
Meditation allows us to construct a space for the life force to unfold and stretch out and communicate to us its needs and desires.
In doing so,
When we leave our practice,
That life force can be much more smooth and we can experience what people refer to as flow.
And just a life that's grounded in love,
Joy,
And that feels natural and easy.
Basically,
All the benefits that people talk about that come with meditation.
So welcoming is really important to have in your meditation practice.
And when I say welcoming,
This is all-encompassing,
It is open,
And it is tender and understanding.
So in this moment,
How welcoming are you of yourself?
And we can begin to touch into what this welcoming feels like by gently inquiring and wondering,
How welcoming am I of myself in this now moment?
Are there any parts of myself that I have pushed aside because I'm supposed to or I think that's the way it should be in meditation?
For example,
Have I turned away from any overwhelmingly negative,
Looping thoughts?
Have I compartmentalized that and told myself,
Not here,
Not now,
I am meditating.
Or maybe it's a feeling of anxiety or worry and you're telling yourself,
Please,
I don't want you to be here right now.
In fact,
I'm trying to meditate to get rid of you.
And these are all extremes of examples.
There's many ways in which this can show up.
But the point with these examples is you can see that and you can feel.
If this is something that's actively coming up for you,
You can feel how you're compartmentalizing and turning away from aspects of your life force that are yearning to be expressed,
That are asking for space to unfold and communicate something to you.
So take a moment now and with your body,
With your arms,
Your hands,
Start to move in a way that feels welcoming.
I welcome all of myself.
This might be a movement that is like a gathering,
Like you're combing through the space around your body and gathering it close to you.
I welcome this.
And this might be a gentle holding of yourself,
An embrace.
I welcome all of myself.
I really encourage you to explore these movements.
And they might feel weird at first,
But this is a way for you to get even more acquainted with how your life force moves through you.
I welcome all of myself.
I welcome all of my body.
And I welcome the space that I inhabit.
I am open to all of this.
And to the best of my abilities,
I will make space and witness all of myself that's coming up right now.
And if it feels good,
You can also repeat some of these phrases to yourself,
Whispering it to yourself.
If you can,
Speaking it out loud,
Emphasizing different parts of the sentence and feeling how that moves through you.
I welcome myself.
I welcome myself.
Have fun with it.
Explore it.
There's a certain thrill and boldness to being open to welcoming all and really every aspect of yourself.
And what safer way to do it and what safer place to do it than in the safe,
Grounded container of meditation?
So I invite you to give yourself more and more permission.
It doesn't have to be all at once.
More and more,
Just a little bit at a time.
Just a little bit at a time,
What would it feel like if I welcomed a little more of myself into my practice?
What would it feel like to welcome a little bit of myself into my daily interactions?
I can sense a part of me starting to turn away.
What happens instead of policing myself for being avoidant?
What happens when I say,
Hmm,
I notice what I'm doing.
I notice I'm a little overwhelmed.
I notice I'm turning away.
You know what?
I'm opening the door a little bit and welcoming any part of myself that's starting to turn away to come back and be here with me,
If it so desires.
And you'll be surprised.
Just some open,
Warm,
Sincere welcoming and permission does half the work.
And when you're ready,
Starting to transition out of this practice,
Noting what felt good,
What aspects of your life force you touched in with.
Maybe remembering those little sweet moments where you touched in to your life force,
To a welcoming way of interacting with yourself and how sweet that felt.
And exploring and being open to bringing that out bit by bit into your life beyond meditation.
