Often when we speak of love for the self,
The idea of being selfish or egoism gets in the way.
We can worry about being too much or simply taking on too much or taking up too much space and we can fail to see how our lack of acceptance towards ourselves is actually poisoning everything in our lives.
The purpose of this meditation is to help yourself connect more deeply with the ways that you are holding yourself in and offer you a chance to expand your sense of acceptance or your zone of tolerance.
Connect first with the breath.
Feeling it go in,
Out of the body.
Not trying to change it,
Just being with it.
Notice how quickly the mind may struggle with this.
Just accepting what the breath is doing,
Noting the struggle in the mind and then coming back to the breath.
Feel the sensations of the breath,
Either the air as it goes in and out of the nose or at a point where you feel it in your body.
See if you can find what experience drowns you the most.
This will be your grounding point during this meditation.
If you find yourself carried away or lost at any point,
Simply come back to this point in the body.
As you feel this point,
Begin to repeat to yourself these words.
May I be happy.
May I be safe.
May I be loved.
May I be free.
See if you can feel the weight of the words as well as how the body reacts to them.
Allow yourself to go at a pace and rhythm that works for you.
See if you can really notice how the body reacts to each statement.
May I be happy.
May I be safe.
May I be loved.
May I be free.
As you hear each one wash over your body,
Notice if your grounding point is changing at all.
Does the breath get more shallow?
Do you find yourself noticing tension or looseness anywhere in the body?
Do you retreat into your mind to ponder each statement?
See if you can notice what you do,
The impact of each statement as it's spoken.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you be loved.
May you be free.
You'll notice in that last round that we actually changed the words a bit.
Did that have any impact on the body?
See if you can notice without controlling or judging yourself.
You aren't trying to force one experience here.
You're simply allowing yourself to notice what is.
See what happens as we change the statements back.
May I be happy.
May I be safe.
May I be loved.
May I be free.
Allow the energy of each statement to impact you,
Making it as big and acceptable as possible without trying to force the experience.
Simply allowing what is.
Now just returning to that place of grounding.
Being aware of the breath,
Feeling how it is to be in this space while becoming aware of the body as well,
The weight of the body as it rests in its current position.
When you are ready,
Open your eyes.
