Welcome.
This is Padma Gordon and I've been doing counseling for over 30 years and meditating for more than 40.
And during this time,
I have realized that the main thing that we can do for ourselves is to love ourselves.
So this is why I have been leading meditations on self-love,
Pathways to self-love.
And there are so many pathways to self-love.
And today,
I would like to offer you a meditation on letting go.
So take a minute,
Take a minute and let your body get comfortable.
Sit or lie down with a long spine.
Let your shoulders melt down away from your ears.
Create some space in your neck.
You might even move your head around a little bit and let your jaw go slack.
You are setting yourself up for a deep journey into self-love.
And may each breath take you deeper into self-love.
And this begins with how you treat yourself,
How you respond to the body's needs.
And now is the time that you have set aside to listen to your body,
To open to your heart.
Yes,
Opening and opening.
And in order to listen to your heart,
You need to surrender and let go of the things that are in between you and your own heart.
So let's take a few nice breaths together.
Breathing in such a way that you feel nourished,
That breathing is an act of self-love.
Sinking in to the silent spaces between my words.
Let yourself sink into the space of your body.
Sink in and down,
Down and down into the sanctuary of your beautiful heart.
Sometimes we close our hearts to protect them.
Maybe you had to do this to get through,
To survive.
And now is the time where it's safe.
It's safe to open the windows and doors of your heart so that you can let the light shine in and shine out.
And sweet friend,
You can also release,
Let go of things that are taking up space.
Consider this like a spring cleaning.
Making room for the newness,
Making room for the aliveness.
And as you settle into a comfy chair or a cozy sofa in this sanctuary of your own heart,
Perhaps you can look around or sense if there are old limiting beliefs,
Old stories that are ready to be let go.
Just take a moment and sense if there is something that you are ready to release.
It might be a thought about how you should have done this or how you should not have done that.
How you should be further along in your work or in your life or some old fable about how you should be bigger or smaller,
Taller or shorter.
Whatever it is,
Just notice it.
And then as you're ready,
Imagine it transforming into a small bird or maybe a butterfly.
And allow it to fly out the window,
Bidding it farewell.
Noticing who you are without it,
Who you are without this old limiting belief or story,
Judgment.
And then take your time and notice what else you are ready to release,
To let go.
And then this too.
Set it free.
Set yourself free.
Only you can set yourself free.
And redirect your attention into the depths of your own beautiful heart.
This is your heart,
My friend.
Your beautiful,
Loving heart.
And your heart and mine and the heart of all of our fellow meditators.
This is one heart,
One infinite heart.
So I invite you to sink in to this infinite heart.
Sink in and notice how perhaps having let go of just a few things,
A few beliefs,
There is more room for you to be alive,
To celebrate yourself,
To accept yourself as you are.
And I know that it can be challenging.
And maybe just right now,
As an experiment,
You can rest your hands upon your beautiful heart.
Rest your hands upon your beautiful heart and say,
Yes,
Yes,
I love you.
I love you as you are.
Yes,
I love you.
And you can say it out loud.
Yes,
I love you.
As you do this practice,
Feelings may arise.
Please welcome them.
Welcome them into your beautiful heart.
Your heart is big enough to hold them.
And I promise they will pass.
I invite you to return to this meditation,
To do it seven or even 14 days in a row.
And each time you will go deeper,
Discover new places,
New things about yourself,
About your own beautiful heart.
Thank you for taking time to love yourself.
