Beginning by honoring the body,
Honoring the body's wisdom,
Knowing that the body will not lead you astray like thoughts can lead you astray.
So just noticing your body,
Welcoming the body into your awareness with as much compassion and as much gratitude as you can.
Gratitude to the body for always knowing what's right for us.
So take a moment to just notice what are you feeling right now?
And as you make this transition from the outer world to the inner world,
See how much gentleness you can summon toward your experience as it presents itself to you.
Honoring the body by gently relaxing the forehead,
Releasing all those little muscles around the eyes,
Honoring the body by finding a softness in your face,
A softness in your jaw,
Relax the shoulders and the chest,
Honoring the body by being with your breath,
Finding the breath,
Fully feeling the breath,
Letting your awareness be fully with the present moment as it is by feeling the breath,
Giving yourself permission to be and to feel and to be present with reality as it presents itself to you,
Not as the mind presents it.
If the mind wanders from the breath,
Just very kindly,
Very patiently,
Escort it back,
Feel the breath fully,
And now say to yourself with warmth and with care,
May I be safe,
May I be safe in the mind,
May I be safe in the heart,
May I be safe on this earth.
It feels good just putting your hands on your heart,
Feeling into this heart and knowing that so many people will tell you so many things,
But all of this heart has ever wanted was to be happy,
Wishing for yourself,
May I be happy,
May I live with ease,
May I be kind to myself just as I am,
May I care for myself just as I am.
And now remember a self-criticism you had,
Maybe today,
Maybe this week,
When you were really judgmental to yourself,
Just remembering that judgment,
Bringing it to mind.
If you still have your hand on your heart,
Knowing that that sensation is so important,
You can release the hand if it's comfortable,
You can keep the hand there,
But remember this judgment and notice how it feels in your heart.
And now bring awareness to how this judgment feels in your body and ask yourself,
Notice,
How does this judgment feel in my mind?
And seeing what lies beneath that,
How it actually feels to have these judgmental thoughts.
As if you were a child who suddenly had a first judgmental thought,
Being like,
Oh,
How does this really feel in the mind and the body and the heart?
Knowing that you always have the choice of bringing patience and kindness and compassion to your experience.
And considering that whatever this judgment,
This criticism is,
It doesn't separate you from others.
It actually connects you to many others.
Whatever that feeling is in your mind,
In your heart,
In your body,
That feeling too connects you to many others.
So see if there's some basic understanding in your awareness of the common humanity of what you're experiencing.
Acknowledging that many people in this moment are listening to the harsh voice of their inner critic and are also suffering in this way.
And now choose to say for all of you,
May we all be happy.
May we all be healthy.
May we all find peace and support.
Within ourselves,
May we all be free of suffering.
And concluding with these affirmations,
May I be gentle with myself.
From this stable place of acceptance,
Self-kindness,
May I grow.
And may I know that I can be kind to myself always.
I can be kind to myself in the present moment always.
I can be supportive and just find the joy of existing,
The joy of awareness always.
Expressing gratitude towards yourself,
Thanking yourself for doing this practice today,
For nurturing the body and the mind and for practicing mindfulness,
Compassion and self-compassion.
And let's just end with one deep breath in altogether,
Breathing in and breathing out through the mouth,
Releasing all of that,
Knowing that to some extent it will be in your subconscious.
And when you're ready,
Gently opening your eyes,
Coming back.
