I'm Kate James and this is the Connecting with Confidence meditation.
Move into a comfortable seated position,
Close your eyes and feel your feet resting on the floor.
Let yourself fully arrive in the present moment.
Straighten your spine and bring some awareness into your upper body,
Not making your body rigid or tight in any way,
But noticing how we can hold softness and strength in the body at the same time.
Become aware now of the movement of the breath in the body.
Notice the rise and fall of the chest,
The movement in your abdomen as you breathe.
Become aware now of your whole body,
Feeling your legs and your back against the chair,
Aware of the sensation of your feet making contact with the floor,
Beginning to feel grounded and centered in this place.
Become aware now of the sounds in your environment,
Noting sounds that are close by and expanding your awareness out,
Including sounds that are further away.
Gently move your attention from one sound to another sound,
Not feeling that you need to change anything in any way,
Just allowing everything to be exactly as it is.
Become aware now of the thoughts that are present.
As we go through the meditation,
Imagine you can allow your thoughts to just drift away like clouds passing across the sky.
Guide your awareness back to your breath now,
Following the path of the breath as it passes across the top lip and all the way down into your lungs.
Breathe a little more deeply as you engage the parasympathetic nervous system,
Helping you to bring down the stress response.
Make your out-breath longer and slower and begin to notice the rhythm of breathing.
A long slow in-breath and a long slow out-breath,
Just allowing your body to breathe.
Now we'll begin to scan across the body,
And release any tightness or tension you feel,
Beginning with the small muscles around the eyes.
See if you can bring some softness here,
And easing any tension in the temples,
Relaxing your cheeks and your jaw,
Softening your lips and your tongue,
And relaxing your throat and your neck,
Letting your shoulders drop away from your ears,
Releasing any tightness in the upper back.
Soften through your chest and your abdomen,
And breathe a little space around your heart,
Relaxing your upper arms and forearms,
Resting your awareness on your hands,
Awareness in the fingers and fingertips.
Become aware of all of the sensations you feel,
Relaxing your thighs and your calves,
Into your ankles and feet,
And all the way down to your toes.
Resting your awareness fully on your feet now,
Let yourself feel grounded and supported by the earth,
Held here by gravity,
Keeping you grounded,
Centered and calm.
Guiding your awareness back to the body now,
Become aware that within you already exists an innate sense of confidence.
Feel the energy of this confidence in the solar plexus area,
Located at the top of the abdomen,
Just beneath the heart.
This is the place where we hold the energy of confidence in the body.
Place one or both hands on this area now,
And breathe some energy into this natural inner confidence.
Bring to mind now one area in your life where you already demonstrate confidence.
Maybe in the company of people you've known for a long time,
Maybe in a creative practice,
Maybe in a skill you use when you're at work,
Or maybe when you're alone or in nature.
Turn your mind to this setting where you already feel self-belief.
Connecting your awareness with the solar plexus now,
Notice again that this is where confidence rests in your body.
Breathe some energy into this place now,
And let the sensation of confidence fill every cell in your body.
Letting this feeling of confidence radiate out from your being.
Now turn your mind to one area in your life where you'd like to feel more confident.
Imagine yourself in this setting now,
Calling on the energy of confidence that you already have within you.
Become aware once again of your feet resting on the floor,
Letting yourself feel grounded,
Centered and present,
Connected with the confidence within.
Allowing that energy to flow throughout all of your body,
Cleansing away any lingering doubt,
United with your innate sense of confidence.
With this beautiful energy in you and around you,
Now create a picture in your mind of yourself holding onto this feeling as you move back into your life.
See yourself connecting with others,
Feeling worthy of love and belonging,
Making authentic life choices,
Feeling grounded,
Purposeful and calm,
Embodying self-acceptance and wisdom,
Feeling valued,
Respected and at peace.
Continue to breathe this quiet confidence into every part of your body,
Know that you can call on this energy whenever you need to by deepening your breath into your solar plexus and reminding yourself that you're grounded,
Confident and calm.
As we come to the end of the meditation,
Bring your awareness back into the room,
Be aware of your feet here on the floor and in your own time,
Slowly open your eyes.
Thank you.
