Hello friend,
I've created this meditation to facilitate healing for people who have experienced religious trauma.
And as you get comfortable wherever you are,
Just taking a moment to breathe deeply,
To get settled.
Notice how your body feels in this moment.
Maybe there is some tension,
Uncertainty.
Just noticing without trying to change what's there.
I've done my best to avoid spiritual jargon or triggering language.
Instead,
I'm going to invite you to center your attention on love.
Because every person intuitively knows what love is and is not.
And for many people,
That intuitive knowledge has been covered over,
Obscured by religious teachings or hurtful experiences.
And recovering that intuitive knowledge of love is sometimes exactly what can bring a sense of healing.
So this meditation is for anyone who has ever been told to ignore their own mind or body,
Thoughts or feelings,
In order to be good enough for some external authority.
Perhaps you were taught not to trust your inner knowing,
Your sense of right and wrong.
Perhaps you were told that cruelty was actually love and your compassion was weakness or disobedience.
For this meditation,
You are invited to deepen your connection to the love you already know.
So take a deep inhale,
Breathing in what you know to be true,
And take a deep exhale,
Releasing anything that does not belong in your mind,
Body,
And spirit.
You can trust yourself,
Because you have experienced love.
You can trust what your heart has learned.
You've seen how love does not abandon or give up,
How it's not vindictive.
You've seen parents who love their children,
How they teach and supply resources to help them,
Not in a manipulative or controlling way,
But with kindness and curiosity.
That's what love looks like.
So take a deep inhale,
Breathing in what you know to be true,
And take a deep exhale,
Releasing anything that does not belong in your mind,
Body,
And spirit.
When we love,
We humanize people who have been othered.
We stop trying to pit good guys against bad guys,
And instead,
We acknowledge our own failures and the failures of others,
And we approach both with compassion,
Maybe even moving toward healing.
In love,
We are embodied.
Real love does not shy away from flesh or blush with embarrassment.
Shame may hide,
But love openly welcomes desire,
Directs it,
Conducts the symphony.
When we love,
We appreciate and we honor our human bodies.
So take a deep breath,
Inhaling into your body,
Breathing in what you know to be true,
And take a deep exhale,
Releasing anything that does not belong in your mind,
Body,
And spirit.
When we love,
We can hold the things that feel shattered.
We can grieve.
Even when it feels hopeless.
Even when it feels like the end.
Sometimes it's like grief is a giant scale,
And it measures the weight of the love that we've held for something or someone.
So take a deep inhale,
Breathing in what you know to be true.
And take a deep exhale,
Releasing anything that does not belong in your mind,
Body,
And spirit.
When we love,
We take care of each other.
We don't condemn each other.
When we love,
We expand.
We welcome others.
We welcome ourselves back home.
Love shows us the way home no matter how long we felt lost.
It shows us how to belong no matter how long we felt alone.
Love might be the most reliable compass we have.
You can trust yourself because you have experienced love.
You can trust what your heart has learned.
And you can deepen into that feeling of being safe,
Of being whole.
So just taking a moment to deepen into that realization,
To deepen into that felt sense that you are safe.
Because you are protected by love.
And love is not out to get you.
You are made whole because you are made whole by love.
And the parts that feel damaged,
The parts that feel missing,
Are bound up,
Are treated with compassion,
Are held gently.
Like a beloved child.
Just allowing that knowledge to deepen,
To get into your cells,
Into your bones.
And it is good to be you.
It is so good to be exactly who you are.
You can trust yourself.
So take a deep inhale.
Breathing in what you know to be true.
And take a deep exhale.
Releasing anything that does not belong in your mind,
Body,
And spirit.
