Hello and welcome.
I'm so grateful that you chose to join me today.
My name is Megan and I'll be leading you through your next session.
I don't know about you,
But one of the more difficult parts of my healing journey with trauma is actually stopping to take a moment to acknowledge and express gratitude to myself for all the ways that I've attempted or tried to heal myself and get myself feeling better.
Instead I've spent most of my time believing that I've come up short somehow.
Believing that I'm just not quite worthy or deserving of feeling free from my suffering.
It's not uncommon for people that have experienced trauma to apply this deep rooted self-criticism.
Where no matter what effort,
Big or small,
That we attempt to get ourselves feeling better it's just not quite enough.
I want you to know that you are enough.
And trust me,
I know when I hear those words myself I don't let them sink in.
But really taking a moment to understand that you're a survivor,
That it takes a whole complete person to survive what you did.
And while I know that hope and desire and deep commitment to feeling better can sometimes feel like it's never reachable,
Trust that what you're going through in this moment is progress towards feeling better.
One of the ways that we can begin to cultivate trust and faith in this healing journey is by committing to meet ourselves exactly as we are each and every day.
Spending time with ourselves to truly get to know and understand our pain,
Our suffering and our strength is going to be the way that helps us feel better.
So come to settle in in a comfortable seated or lying down position.
Take a few moments to make the adjustments that you need to so that you can fully tune in.
If you'd like,
Draw the shoulder caps down and away from the ears.
Open the space between the eyebrows and relax all the muscles of the jaw.
Find length in your spine so that you can open the chest and lungs to allow breath to flow freely in and out of the body.
Begin by paying attention to your natural flow of breath in and out of the body.
What does it feel like in this moment for you?
Does the breath come in nice and smooth and controlled?
Or does it feel a little jagged or like you can't quite get enough air?
Knowing that there's no right or wrong sensation to feel or not feel.
We're just simply tuning in to what our breath might be telling us about our mind and our body in this moment.
As you're comfortable and with the mind's eye,
As you take your next breath in,
Consciously direct the breath and awareness to the space just behind the heart.
Meet yourself there by consciously directing the flow of breath to come into the body and land softly behind the heart.
And as you exhale to allow the breath to move out of the body,
Beginning at the heart and all the way up through the chest and throat and out through the mouth or nose.
As you bring your awareness to this space just behind the heart,
Can you welcome yourself?
Can you extend a hello?
I see you.
Into the space just behind the heart.
Just simply noticing the sensations or thoughts that emerge as we're just spending some time breathing into our heart space,
Meeting with ourselves in this moment.
As you continue to breathe into your heart space,
Can you visualize welcoming yourself with a warm smile and a kind heart as if you were meeting an old cherished best friend?
Even if it doesn't feel natural at first,
Just continue to try your best knowing there's no right or wrong way.
We're just simply spending time meeting with ourselves.
Remembering that the only person that you are in a relationship with for your entire life is yourself.
Remembering that no matter how much shame,
How much judgment,
How much sadness or anger we may carry in our mind,
We're in our body towards ourselves.
That beneath all of the labels,
All of the thoughts,
All of the judgments,
Beneath all of it there is your true inner self craving your welcome,
Your acknowledgement and your compassion.
Spend as much time as you need meeting with yourself.
Just noticing the sensations and thoughts that arise as you continue to pay attention to drawing the breath into your heart space to meet with yourself.
Knowing that there's no right or wrong sensation or thought that you should or shouldn't feel.
But recognizing as we spend time seeing,
Validating,
Acknowledging our true selves that we build our capacity to see ourselves in a more kind,
More compassionate,
More accepting way.
You may not feel this way after one session or even five or ten,
But trusting that each and every time we choose to meet with ourselves,
We strengthen the connection,
We strengthen the mind muscle of self compassion,
Of kindness and acceptance.
Continue to pay attention to the sensation of breath coming into the body and landing just behind the heart.
Remembering that you are enough,
Remembering that it takes a whole and complete person to survive what you did.
