Hello friends,
This is Marian.
Today's practice is about building self-confidence.
Self-confidence incorporates self-acknowledgement,
Self-acceptance,
And a healthy dose of self-love.
We have all these ingredients within us,
And sometimes we need a little help remembering that they're there.
We see there are things we know,
But we often keep them buried.
Caught up in activity and chaos and routines,
We forget the things we know.
Uncovered they are magical,
Memories and feelings and dreams.
They are reminders of who we are,
Where we come from,
What we have overcome,
And what we are capable of.
These are the things we know that we bury.
As with any meditation practice,
Trust yourself.
If at any time this feels unsafe,
Please stop and get the support you need.
Try to relax and see if you can feel your body breathing.
How miraculous your body is.
Feel your body breathe.
The rise and fall of your chest,
Air flowing in and out of your nostrils.
Feel your body breathe.
So natural,
So beautiful.
Feel your body breathe.
Soft eyes,
A relaxed jaw.
Feel your body breathe.
Fabric lightly touching your skin.
Feel your body breathe.
Allow your breath to gently caress your body.
Notice where you might feel some tightness or tension.
Maybe you feel tired.
See if you can help your body relax,
Send some soft,
Easy breaths.
Feel your body breathe.
And now,
Imagine yourself bathing in unconditional love.
Not just any love.
We choose this special love,
The one that comes with no strings or obligations,
No contracts,
Nothing expected in return.
Pure,
Unconditional love.
This is all we know before the world teaches us otherwise.
This is who we are,
At our core.
So easy to forget this,
We bury it down below.
Unconditional love.
What does this mean to you?
Who do you think of,
Or what do you think of,
When you think of unconditional love?
What does it feel like?
Can you feel its embrace,
A soft,
Warm blanket that has been toasted in the sun,
Lightly wrapped around you,
Comforting,
Soft?
Can you feel this throughout your body?
Feel your body breathe this special love.
Now allow that blanket to dissolve.
As particles are absorbed into your skin,
This love flows over you,
Through you.
Now see if it's possible to bring to mind an image of yourself as a child,
Before you had the weight of the world on your shoulders,
Before life became hard.
Real or imagined,
See the image of yourself as a child.
This beautiful child.
Notice the clothing,
The setting,
The expression on your face,
The color of your hair,
The soft skin,
The eyelashes,
The light pale color of the small fingernails.
See the beautiful child you are.
This child hasn't left you.
This child is buried inside.
Allow yourself to slip into the essence of this sweet child.
In this place,
Where there are no deadlines or looming projects,
Where there is no need to be a certain way,
No need to pretend,
There's no ballast here,
No judgment.
Can you merge,
Just for a moment,
With the essence of your child?
Can you feel the child's presence inside?
So alive,
So joyful,
No strings attached,
No conditions,
Pure,
Natural,
Deep love.
Let this feeling permeate through your whole body,
From the tips of your toes to the top of your head,
Allow yourself to bask in this unconditional love.
Just breathe,
Just breathe.
Notice your body breathing.
From this place where there is no judgment,
See if you can remember where you have come from,
All the way back to the beginning,
Perhaps before you were born.
Let your child take you there,
Go back,
All the way back to the very beginning.
So fresh and so clean,
So complete.
Now see if you can allow the early years to unfold before you.
Through the eyes of your child,
Through eyes of wonder and amazement,
What do you see?
What do you want to tell this sweet child there,
In front of you?
With your child's hand in yours,
You slowly move forward,
Observing your teen years.
You're watching it all unfold,
Through the eyes of unconditional love.
Look how you have grown.
What do you want this teenage version of you to know?
Slowly come forward,
Perhaps through many decades or maybe one or two.
Reflect on where you have come from.
Now take a moment and contemplate some of the challenges that life has brought you,
And how you have overcome these.
What are a few of the things in your life that you are the most proud of?
Find your words and say them aloud or silently to yourself,
I am most proud of.
Some of us have been taught that it's wrong to own up to who we are,
What we've done.
That this is prideful,
Boastful,
It is inappropriate.
Perhaps well intended,
This philosophy is erroneous.
It assumes that we cannot be proud of our accomplishments and also be humble.
We can.
We can be grateful for the help we've received along the way,
And we can acknowledge the work we have done.
What are you proud of?
And now take a moment and reflect on how you achieve these accomplishments.
Perhaps your strength is in your vulnerability,
You're able to reach out to others and ask for help.
Perhaps your approach is to dedicate yourself to learning more,
Or maybe you have strong self-discipline or work ethic.
Maybe you are great at building relationships.
When you reflect back,
What do you see?
How did you achieve these accomplishments?
You have done this,
You have created this,
Yes,
Perhaps with some help.
It doesn't undermine what you have accomplished,
What you have done.
Notice what this feels like in your body.
When you can own this,
Notice what this feels like.
This is your power.
This is what you know that you keep buried.
This is where your confidence and your strength come from.
Can you see how beautiful it is to be able to acknowledge yourself?
When we are able to attribute our success to our talents,
To our work,
When we attribute our success to what we have done,
We shift the story.
We see that it wasn't outside forces that made us successful,
We did this.
When we are able to connect the outcome back to us,
And when we truly believe this,
We are able to move from self-doubt to self-confidence.
Pause here for a moment.
Can you see what you bring?
Can you love this about yourself unconditionally?
In this place,
This is where authenticity lives.
It rises to the surface.
It becomes unburied when we remember and we acknowledge.
When we remember and acknowledge how beautiful we are,
From this place we are able to accept ourselves as we are in this moment.
It's okay to not have all the answers when we know we are enough.
It's okay to ask questions.
It's okay to be vulnerable when we know we are enough.
We know things.
These are the things that carry us through,
That give us the confidence to give more,
To be more,
To take on more,
To contribute more.
These are the things we know.
This is the end of today's practice.
Thank you for joining me.
I'm grateful for your presence.
