Welcome.
My name is Karen Jones and I am a retired OB-GYN physician,
An energy healer,
A personal and spiritual growth geek,
And a longtime meditator.
It is my joy to lead meditations,
To bring comfort,
Stress relief,
And to deeply connect into yourself.
In this meditation,
I'm going to bring us through a visualization of hugs.
Many of us are in such need for hugs these days,
And hugs actually improve our health,
Our well-being,
And our sense of connection.
So wherever you are,
I invite you to sit down back straight,
Feet flat on the floor.
Make sure your body is comfortable.
If you need to change position a little,
Go ahead and do so now.
And connect with your breath,
Noting your noticing yourself gently inhaling and gently exhaling.
In fact,
Take a deep breath in,
Filling your belly and your chest,
And let it out with a ha sound.
Deep breath in,
And let it out with a ha sound.
And as you exhale,
Allow yourself to release the tension out of your head,
Your neck,
Your shoulders.
And one more time,
Deep breath,
Filling the chest and the belly,
And out with a ha sound,
Releasing,
Releasing that tension.
And letting your awareness drop further now to your hips and back.
Let your awareness drop further now to your hips and pelvis,
Down your legs and deep into the earth.
Now back,
Awareness in your hips and pelvis and your belly.
And bring to mind a time when you experienced a full body hug.
And if you've never experienced one,
Just imagine you're being hugged.
By someone you feel so comfortable with,
So safe with.
Maybe it's a mother,
Father,
Partner,
Or a friend.
Maybe it's a mother,
Father,
Partner,
Teacher when you were small.
Your kids hugging your dog or your cat.
And as you imagine that,
You can imagine you just have put your arms around that person.
You're up against the body,
Put your arms around that person,
Stretched all the way around their torso,
Their belly,
Their shoulders,
Depending on how tall you are.
And you can feel that person's arms gently yet firmly holding you.
Maybe there's a smell that goes with it.
Maybe your grandfather's pipe tobacco smell.
Your mother's perfume.
The smell of damp dog.
And just imagine,
And in fact to help you further,
Take your arms,
And wherever you are,
Wrap your arms around your shoulders,
Gently but firmly holding you.
Notice how with that hug,
Part of you just relaxes,
Goes,
Ah.
Take that in.
Relaxing into this hug,
This experience.
Relaxing into this comfort.
Relaxing into this holding.
Into this safety.
Feel it in your whole body.
Your arms,
Your chest.
Feel it in your emotions.
Smell it,
Taste it.
See it in your mind's eye.
Feel free to stay in this energy for as long as you wish.
And when you're ready,
Release your arms from around your own shoulders.
Release your arms from that person in front of you.
Put your hands on your heart.
That sense of comfort,
Of love,
Gratitude to you,
To the person you imagined.
For this experience of comfort,
Safety,
Well-being that comes from a full body hug.
Wiggling your fingers and toes as you need to to come back to yourself in the room you're in.
Thank you for listening.
I invite you to listen to this every day for a month and notice how you are with that care for yourself.
I would love for you to comment on how this is for you and to follow me and listen to my other meditation offerings.
Blessings and take care.
This is Karen Jones.
Until we meet again.
