Welcome to day eight of the self-belief challenge here on Insight Timer.
This marks the start of seeing yourself with a little more kindness and a little less doubt.
Each day you'll take a few minutes to remember who you are and what you're capable of.
Let's jump in to today's session.
Hello dear friends,
Jack Kornfield here.
Greetings and welcome back to the self-belief challenge.
In this challenge you've been encouraged to meet the inner critic with understanding and kindness rather than judgment.
You have offered compassion and extended it to yourself and others and learned about setting caring boundaries.
Today we'll focus on receiving,
Allowing care and kindness to come in without apology or guilt.
For some of us,
Myself included,
You could ask my wife,
It's hard.
We feel vulnerable or shy,
Don't want to be inflated,
But it's a huge gift to yourself and even more so to others to be able to take in their kindness.
So with this in mind,
Let's meditate together.
Quiet your body,
Sit in a way that's comfortable and at ease.
Let yourself settle.
And take a couple of long breaths and exhale whatever tension you can to come into the present graciously.
And as you arrive,
Establish a field of kindness,
Of loving awareness,
That whatever is here now or presents itself can be received with kindness.
If it's helpful,
You can even place a hand on your heart.
And in this field of kindness,
Now let yourself visualize or think of or remember someone you care about and how you might want to honor them after they've gone through a hard time or succeeded in a difficult task or triumphed in some way.
And how you would gaze at them with appreciation if you care about them.
Acknowledging them,
Admiring them,
Putting your hand on their shoulder and saying how much you respect them.
And notice for them and you how good it feels to honor and love someone.
And all the more so when they take it in,
When they don't deflect it or minimize,
When you can say and extend your care and they receive it with their own open heart.
And now imagine a picture that they vision that they gaze at you with the same care and kindness.
And they speak with admiration about how they value you,
How they see your good qualities,
How they love you,
How they appreciate the friendship,
They appreciate the good things you do and have and are in this life.
How cool you are in the middle of all of it,
Your best qualities.
And you can feel how they love you.
And when you imagine or picture receiving this,
If you notice that you're uneasy,
Uneasy,
You feel shy,
You contract,
Hold that young part of yourself,
That shy part with real kindness and say,
It's okay.
We can let this in.
We can let ourselves feel that we actually are lovable and special and amazing like all human beings.
And breathe and let the kindness and the praise and the encouragement settle in your being,
In your body.
Take it in.
And notice when you do that it's healthy,
That your cells,
Your mitochondria are saying yes.
Bring it in.
Delight in the well-being that's shining back to you.
Now let yourself remember some other times where people,
Sometimes when people have offered care,
Praised,
Kindness,
Admiration.
And remember whether you contracted or didn't let it again,
Or whether you did,
That now you can meet it in a different way.
Because they're honoring our shared humanity.
And you can feel how there's a shift in you to receive and delight.
And open to this bond of,
Here we are caring for each other.
And sense that this is something that you can embody and practice.
Stay with it.
And perhaps in this next day or two as you continue to work with this practice,
You can share in the Challenge Forum.
Today I let myself receive,
Or I opened myself to,
Or was honored by,
And how you really let this open in your life in a beautiful way.
In the whole vast universe,
You are unique.
In the billions and billions of galaxies and trillions of stars,
There's not a single being identical to you.
And so your voice,
And your body,
And your spirit,
This gift of being here,
Is to be valued and cherished and loved.
And honored for its own sake,
How magic and mysterious it is.
Feel this delight.
And then as you continue this challenge,
Know that tomorrow,
In day nine,
You build on this practice of receiving beautifully by learning to trust your own voice,
Speaking your truth with clarity and confidence.
Take your seat in the center of this vast universe with your heart open and with the deep wisdom and love that both offers and receives blessings and kindness.
It's who you really are.
Thank you.
