Welcome,
Welcome friend.
I'm so glad you're here with me.
This is Padma and I'm excited to offer you this meditation.
I'd like you to begin by finding a comfortable position.
You can be seated or lie down.
Just notice what feels most easeful right now.
Let your eyes close softly or rest your gaze on a single point in front of you.
Take one full breath in through your nose,
Releasing it slowly through your mouth.
I'd like you to know something before we begin.
Your body is not your enemy.
Your body is your friend.
The attention you give to your body,
Even if it feels obsessive or scary,
Comes from a place of wanting to feel safe.
This is a healthy instinct and it simply needs redirecting.
So let's begin by noticing the surface beneath you.
Feel the weight of your body being held,
Being cradled by the chair,
The floor,
The bed,
The sofa.
Whatever is supporting you right now has you fully and completely.
You don't need to hold yourself up.
You are invited to surrender to gravity and let yourself relax.
Now,
I'd like you to bring your attention to your hands.
Not to search for anything wrong,
Not to check your pulse or feel for anything problematic.
Simply notice the temperature of your palms.
Are they warm or cool?
Do they feel heavy or light?
Tense or relaxed?
You can trust that there's nothing to fix.
You are simply greeting your hands the way you might greet an old friend.
Take a moment and sense the soles of your feet.
The temperature of your socks.
The floor beneath you.
The gentle pressure where your heels rest.
Again,
You're not scanning.
You are simply noticing.
Noticing there's a difference.
Scanning looks for danger.
Noticing with openness is looking with curiosity.
Softly noticing with curiosity.
Now,
Let's take three slow breaths together.
Breathing in,
Feeling the ribs expand gently outward.
Breathing out,
Feeling them soften back in.
Breathing in,
Letting the lungs fill easily.
The way they've filled thousands of times today without you needing to supervise or control them.
Breathing in,
Noticing how your body knows exactly how much air it needs.
And breathing out,
Your amazing body has been breathing for you all day.
Your heart has been beating for you all day.
Your blood has been circulating,
Cells regenerating.
Your digestion has been working all without your conscious direction.
Your body is not waiting for you to catch it failing.
It is working for you,
Tirelessly serving you as a friend right now.
So next,
I invite you to imagine a warm golden light resting in the center of your chest.
This is a calm,
Gentle light.
It doesn't pulse with urgency.
It glows steadily.
The way a candle glows in a still room.
This light represents trust.
Not blind trust.
Not ignoring your body.
Rather,
The kind of trust that says,
I will listen to my body without assuming the worst.
I will trust my body.
So next,
I invite you to imagine a warm golden light resting in the center of your chest.
This light represents trust.
Not blind trust.
Rather,
The kind of trust that says,
I will listen to my body without assuming the worst.
I will trust my body.
Rather,
I will trust my body.
Rather,
The kind of trust that says,
I will trust my body.
Spreading slowly outward.
Letting it move into your shoulders.
Softening any tension.
Allowing it to drift down your arms and into the hands.
Noticing how it moves up through the neck and across your jaw.
Wherever it travels,
It carries a simple message.
You are okay.
You are okay in this moment.
You are okay.
And now,
I'd like you to notice any part of your body that you've been monitoring or worrying about recently.
And now,
Imagine that golden light reaching that area,
Without agenda,
Nothing to fix,
Nothing to diagnose.
Allowing the golden light to simply be with it.
As if you're sitting with someone you love,
Saying,
I'm here.
And I'm not afraid of you.
I'm here,
Caring about you.
Let's feel what that feels like.
Loving presence.
Noticing the body.
Often,
If we have anxiety about our bodies,
It means that paying attention to the body is searching for what's wrong.
Offering true presence is listening without assuming.
Noticing openly.
Without catastrophizing.
It's the difference between staring at someone suspiciously or gazing upon them with kindness and care.
What if you are allowed,
You are allowed,
My friend,
To feel sensations in your body without those sensations meaning something is wrong,
Nothing is terrible.
If you're feeling tension in your head,
It can be a simple headache.
A flutter in the chest can be just a flutter.
A twinge in your side can be just a twinge.
And not all sensations point to impending problems.
Sometimes,
Your body is just a body,
Doing body things in all its imperfect and miraculous ordinariness.
You can trust that your body is your friend.
Taking some breaths.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Trusting this moment.
Perhaps you can feel the steadiness of those words,
The truth those words are carrying.
They are not a denial of reality.
They are anchoring you in the present.
The present is a place to rest when the anxious mind wants to race forward into every worst-case scenario.
The present is trustworthy.
So,
My friend,
As we come toward the end of this meditation,
I invite you to place one hand on your chest and the other on your belly.
Feel the rise and fall beneath your palms.
This is your life in motion.
This is your body,
Simply doing what it does.
And you can meet it with gentleness instead of fear.
And you can trust that the body is a true friend.
Let's just pause here for a moment,
Feeling the body as a true friend.
Trusting.
Trusting.
And just notice how good it can feel to begin to trust your body as a friend.
Now,
Let's take one more deep breath in,
Filling your chest and belly fully.
And releasing it with a long,
Slow exhale.
Gently allow your hands to return to your lap.
Now,
Take your time,
Gently allowing the eyes to open as you're ready.
You are more than your concerns.
You are the pure awareness behind it.
You are steady,
Present,
And whole.
I invite you to carry this with you as you move back into your day.
And I thank you for practicing with me.
Thank you.
Thank you.
