Hi,
My name is Nikki D'Ambrosio and today I will be guiding you through a self-love meditation.
This meditation is inspired by two Buddhist practices that have had a profound impact on me,
The six preliminaries to meditation and loving-kindness meditation.
In today's practice we will be focusing on self-love by bringing to mind the reflection of ourselves and sending them love.
This is a deep practice in the experience of giving and receiving unconditional love.
Self-love has been one of the most important practices in my journey and I hope this meditation can give you a taste of that.
Before we get into the meditation I invite you to take a moment to clear the space around you.
Put away your phone,
Move away any clutter or anything that could provide distraction during your practice.
When you are ready find a comfortable meditative posture.
If you are seated make sure your hips are higher than your heels.
If you're in a chair be seated at the end of your seat with your feet firmly planted into the ground.
Make sure your spine is straight,
Shoulders are level and your chin is parallel with the ground.
If you haven't already and it feels safe to do so,
Gently close the eyes or soften your gaze.
Take a moment to orient yourself within your body.
Finding the feet grounded into the floor beneath you.
Soften the creases of your hips settling into your seat.
Relax your stomach and allow the breath to flow effortlessly within the chest.
Let go of any tension in the shoulders.
Soften the brows,
The eyes,
The lips.
On your next exhale allow the body to fully relax into this moment.
In your mind's eye begin imagining a perfect paradise.
A place in which you feel completely safe,
Secure and at peace.
This place can be real or imaginary,
Somewhere you have been or long to visit.
What does this paradise look like?
How does it feel to be present in this paradise?
In the vastness of this paradise bring to mind your highest understanding of emptiness.
The idea that our reality is created from our own minds.
And if that is true,
Our minds and thus our reality have endless potential to transform.
And just for a moment wish that we are able to free our mind from suffering for the sake of every living being.
Wish that we are able to free our mind from suffering for the sake of every living being.
Bring to mind a memory of unconditional love.
What is the first thing that comes to your mind?
What sensations do you feel throughout your body?
Imagine this somatic experience of love as a blue-white crystalline light seated at the center of your chest.
Let the memory in front of you dissolve while you maintain the feeling of love throughout your entire body.
Feel as this light seeps through every crevice of your body.
Feel the love warming you up from the inside out.
Begin to imagine a reflection of yourself seated in front of you.
Notice any details or small things that you might not normally see.
What do you admire about this being seated in front of you?
As you find a deep feeling of reverence for yourself,
Feel this blue-white crystalline light of love within you expanding outwards and pouring out of every pore of your being.
As it extends outward,
Your love begins to encompass the reflection of you sitting in front of you.
Watch as the worries and suffering of the reflection of yourself wash away with a gentle embrace of this blue-white crystalline light.
How does it feel to give and receive unconditional love?
As you settle into the experience of this love,
Take a moment to share with yourself anything that you might need to hear.
As you settle into the experience of this love,
Take a moment to share with yourself anything that you might need to hear.
Watch as the reflection of yourself begins to dissolve and you are left surrounded in a circle of the blue-white crystalline light of unconditional love.
Feel what it feels like to be fully embodied in love.
How does it feel to be fully embodied in love?
How does it feel to be fully embodied in love?
Slowly and on your own time,
This love begins to come back towards the origin point at the center of your chest.
Remembering that unconditional love has always come from you and can always be accessed by you at any moment.
And as you are ready,
Begin bringing awareness back into the physical space around you,
Taking small movements throughout your body.
And on your own timing,
Gently blink open the eyes and take in the space around you.
Thank you for taking the time to share this practice with me.
I hope it gave you a deeper sense of self-love.
In the coming days,
I invite you to find ways,
Big and small,
To express the love you have given to yourself.
Notice the ways in which you speak to yourself,
How you think about yourself,
And how you nurture yourself.
How can you love yourself a little bit more this week?
How can you find an endless depth of love for yourself,
For others,
And for the world around you?
