Hello and welcome to Expressing Your Authentic Self.
I'm Gabby Ortega and I am so glad you're here for today's practice.
Let's begin by taking a few nice,
Really deep,
Juicy breaths in through the nose.
Filling our lower belly,
Expanding our back,
Creating space and exhaling with a nice sigh out through the mouth.
Really feeling your body grounding into that breath.
Another nice long breath in through the nose.
Feeling yourself expanding,
Relaxing,
And exhale through the mouth.
Ah.
Nice and long,
Letting all of the oxygen out of your belly.
And one more nice deep,
Deep breath in through the nose.
Feeling your entire back expand,
Feeling your chest open up,
Feeling your belly filled and exhale through the mouth,
Letting out any noise that you need to let go of any stress that you've been carrying.
And giving yourself a little bit of a stretch,
Feeling into your body before we get still,
And just connecting and seeing what feels good for you right now.
Ah.
And now,
Finding a place of stillness in your seat or lying down,
Whichever is more comfortable for you,
We'll begin our meditation.
So now,
Returning to a nice,
Relaxed breath in and out through the nose.
Today's meditation is going to be focused on clearly expressing your needs and desires as your most authentic self.
One of the things that is the hardest thing in the world to do is to really step into and embody who we are at our core.
So much of being human is also being true to our nature and being true to our soul,
But sometimes that doesn't fit with the plans that our family has for us or society.
And so we are taught that there are parts of ourselves we need to hide,
That we need to feel ashamed of,
That we need to reject or abandon,
Or even worse,
Criticize,
Judge,
Rage at.
These shadows,
Parts of ourselves,
Are still parts of ourselves,
Still part of our soul.
And we are perfect as we are,
And so the healing comes in the integration of both the parts of ourselves that we love,
The lights and the shadows,
The parts of ourselves we've been taught to push away,
To reject,
To compartmentalize,
Perhaps some parts of ourselves that we're ashamed of.
But when we are on the healing journey,
It's so important to recognize how these shadow parts of ourselves have served us.
And so as you are relaxing into your body and feeling your muscles relaxing,
Feeling your mind become still,
I want you to think about your life as it is right now,
The people who are in it,
What you do every day,
How you feel every day,
How you've been feeling lately.
Are there any parts in your life that don't feel good or aligned?
Are there aspects of the relationships that you have with the people in your life,
Whether they're your romantic partner,
Or they're your family,
Or they're your family,
Romantic partner,
Family,
Friends,
Coworkers,
Bosses.
Are there any aspects of these relationships that don't feel good to you?
Are there any ways in which you are being treated that don't feel loving or safe?
Maybe it's the way someone speaks to you.
Maybe it's the way someone speaks to others about you,
Or violates your boundaries,
Or does not see or hear or validate you.
Really taking a few moments here to do some inquiry and compassionate exploration of the relationships in your life where you don't feel like you can be your fullest,
Most authentic self,
And where perhaps you're not vocalizing your truth so that your needs might be met.
And really getting specific about how these people in your life are doing things that are really important are making you feel unsafe or unloved or rejected,
Abandoned?
And why it is that you feel that their comfort is more important than yours?
What comes up for you at the thought of maybe vocalizing your needs or your feelings?
What stops you?
You need to take really nice deep breaths as you allow your body to be held so you can dive deeper and deeper and deeper into your subconscious.
Observing with compassion and stillness the sensations you're experiencing as you are taking stock of the relationships in your life and the ways that you may not be expressing your needs and why you may not be expressing your needs or feel safe to do so.
And just holding space for the fact that there is no right or wrong,
We are just curious about ourselves so that we can improve or heal what we need to in order for our day to day life to feel really beautiful and happy and safe and full of love and joy.
And now taking a few nice deep belly breaths in and placing your left hand over your heart and your right hand over your belly or your womb space.
Really imagining with each deep breath love and lights and healing energy pouring from your palms into these hearts and belly spaces flooding your body with healing energy.
Blowing out the darkness,
The pain,
The tension and allowing it to dissipate into the air like a cloud of smoke blowing away out of you and into the atmosphere.
And repeating to yourself the following words of affirmation to guide you as you move through your day.
My needs are important.
My needs are important.
My needs are important.
Those who love me want to know what I need.
Those who love me want to know what I need.
Those who love me want to know what I need.
By sharing my needs with those I love,
I help them learn how to love me better.
By sharing my needs with those I love,
I teach them how to love me better.
By sharing my needs with those I love,
I teach them how to love me better.
My needs show me the road to my happiness and to my safety and inner peace.
My needs show me the road towards my happiness,
Safety and inner peace.
My needs show me the road towards my happiness,
Safety and inner peace.
Moving forward,
I will express my needs easily and freely.
Vocalizing my needs comes easily to me.
Vocalizing my needs comes easily to me.
Vocalizing my needs comes easily to me.
Taking a nice deep breath in and giving yourself a smile and just telling yourself I love you.
I see you.
I am grateful for you.
And now gently wiggling your fingers and toes or staying here for a few more moments.
Just noticing how your body feels.
Feeling openness in your throat,
Feeling ready to vocalize your needs.
Enjoy this moment and thank you for coming to your practice today.
And thank yourself and have a beautiful day.
Vocalizing my needs comes easily to me.
Vocalizing my needs comes easily to me.
