Welcome to your meditation today.
My name is Kristen Penhall and I'm so grateful to spend this time with you.
Before we settle in to our meditation today,
Let's take some gentle movements to relax the body,
To prepare a little bit.
So this could be some slow gentle neck circles or maybe some circles into the shoulder area.
Just taking whatever you need.
When you feel ready,
Begin to settle into stillness.
So this could be seated today or you could be laying down.
Choosing whichever posture your body really is calling you to take today.
Maybe you're a bit tired so you want to lay down or maybe you prefer the challenge of seated today.
And once you have settled into the position you're choosing,
Just gently closing the eyes or softening the gaze.
Begin observing your breath.
So we're not changing anything here.
We're just observing the inhales and exhales as they are right now in this moment.
And then begin lengthening the inhales.
First expanding through the belly and then the ribcage follows,
Expanding.
And when you exhale,
The ribs will let go and the belly will soften.
Relaxing the body through lengthened inhales.
And doing a gentle scan over the body,
I want you to bring your attention towards a place or body part that you feel really positively about.
Something that you really like.
Maybe it's something that you feel proud of.
Maybe it's a part of your body that you use all the time and you're really grateful for it that way.
But just focusing and bringing your attention to a place in your body that feels really positive for you.
And allowing yourself to feel thankful for all the things that that part of your body does for you.
And letting go,
Taking another deep inhale here.
And maybe exhaling with a sigh.
Or just having a gentle exhale.
Now shifting your awareness to a place in the body that you feel pretty neutral about.
And bringing your awareness there.
And with shifting your focus there,
See if you can begin to feel a bit more positively about that part of your body.
So taking it out of the neutral and just appreciating what it does for you.
Now letting go of your awareness there.
Taking a nice deep inhale and exhaling with a sigh or a soft exhale.
And now feeling safe in yourself.
Bring your awareness to a body part that maybe holds some negative emotions for you.
Or maybe it's just somewhere where you kind of stay away from.
Because it's not easily lovable for you.
Not yet.
And maybe for today,
We don't have to try to feel any positive emotions,
We don't have to force anything.
But maybe just bringing our energy there is enough.
And resting with our awareness there.
And just acknowledging the feelings that come up and allowing them to take up space.
And maybe there's room to soften a little bit.
And maybe even have some forgiveness or compassion.
Often,
These places in our bodies that don't always feel good to us,
We feel sometimes betrayal,
Or sometimes shame,
Sometimes anger.
And because our body is where we live,
It's our first home.
That can sometimes lead to us feeling anger,
And shame,
And betrayal with ourselves.
So seeing if we can soften our relationship with this body part a little bit.
Maybe sending it a little bit of love.
Or if that feels unreachable,
Unattainable,
Just keeping your awareness there,
Knowing that you're safe.
Knowing that you're loved.
And then gently releasing your awareness there.
Taking a deep inhale.
And exhaling with a sigh.
And taking another deep inhale.
And exhaling with a sigh.
And rubbing your hands together,
Creating some warmth.
And then placing them on the belly,
Chest,
Over the heart,
Or over the eyes.
And just sealing in this practice today.
And when you're ready,
Releasing the hands,
Blinking the eyes open.
Thank you for joining me today.
Be well and take care.
