Hello and welcome to this guided meditation on embracing your shadow.
My name is Juana and I am honored to lead you through this inner exploration today.
Let's begin by settling down into your body.
If you haven't done so already,
Get yourself into a comfortable position with a straight spine and close your eyes.
Take this time to check in with yourself and see how you are doing at this very moment.
How are you feeling?
Be okay with whatever feeling is present within you.
Don't try to change or fix it.
Take a big breath into it,
Inhaling in through your nose and out through your mouth.
All emotions are welcomed here.
No need to hide anything.
Just be with what is.
Joy or sorrow,
Peace or anxiety.
One can't exist without the other.
Breathe into the beauty and complexity of your emotions that give rise to this incredible world of contrast that help us know what we desire.
After all,
You wouldn't know how much you love to feel joy unless you've also felt sorrow.
Sorrow gives birth to our desire for joy.
The problem is we can sometimes spend too much time wallowing in sorrow and not enough time focusing ourselves into joy.
So take some time to appreciate whatever emotion is present within you now,
Knowing very well that this too shall pass.
No need to cling to it or push it away.
We are going to move into some slow box breathing where you will inhale deeply through your nose for four counts.
Hold your breath inside for four counts.
Exhale for four.
Hold your breath again for four.
And then repeat the pattern all over again.
So inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Again in one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
At your own pace.
You let go of your counts and check in again.
How are you feeling now?
Has anything changed since your focus breathing?
Have you moved into a state of more calm?
It's okay if you haven't be with what is.
In the same way we can reject our emotions,
Hoping they could be different than they are,
Hoping we can be happier than we really are,
We also reject parts of ourselves.
So I'd like you to now place your hands on your heart as you continue to breathe nice and calmly and ask yourself,
What parts of myself have I rejected and why?
Offer yourself the utmost compassion as you go through this process.
Be honest with yourself.
Take another big breath in and out and continue to ask yourself,
What part of me am I hiding from others in fear of what they will think?
Today I want to share a bit of what I've learned or what I've already learned about myself.
Another big breath in as you now ask yourself,
In what ways am I projecting these rejected parts of me,
My wounds,
My shadow onto others?
Now take some time to breathe in some love for these hidden parts of yourself.
Let them as they are,
For without them you wouldn't know what you do want.
Without them you wouldn't know who you are.
Without them you couldn't experience humanity and all its facets to the fullest.
Take a big breath in and out as you soak that in.
Don't label these parts of you as bad or ugly or wrong.
You cannot know light without darkness.
You cannot know love without its opposite.
You cannot know what you desire without knowing what you don't.
Contrast is essential to the very fabric of life.
Embrace your shadow,
Don't push against it.
Take this time to thank your shadow for illuminating what you desire in life.
Thank it for showing you who you want to be.
Thank it for trying its best to protect you.
Thank it for teaching you compassion for yourself and others,
Knowing that there's good and bad,
Light and dark in each and every one of us.
Since you no longer resist these parts of you,
But accept them,
Your shadow can rise from its shallow depths and transmute in the light of your conscious love and understanding.
Take a moment to just silently whisper to yourself,
I love and accept all parts of me.
I love and accept myself exactly as I am.
Really feel into this love and acceptance that you are giving yourself.
And watch how this unconditional love can transform your shadow into light.
It is now time to shine your light back into the real world.
So tune into the space around you.
Feel your body to ground connection.
Anchor into the here and now as you bring slow,
Mindful movements back into your body.
Wiggle your fingers,
Wiggle your toes and flutter open your eyes.
Thank you for joining me on this journey of embracing all parts of ourselves.
It has been an honor guiding you to your light.
Please let me know how your meditation went in your review and follow along for more meditations to come.
I look forward to connecting with you again.
