Hello dear one,
Pasha Lindy here.
Today we're going to do a short meditation designed to help us let go of tension,
Develop compassion and appreciation towards our beautiful bodies.
So taking a moment to find that comfortable sitting,
Standing or lying position.
Checking that your posture is comfortable and your body is well aligned.
Turning the attention inwardly by closing the eyes or allowing the eyes to have a soft gaze.
And some people really enjoy opening the mouth slightly so that the jaw can relax.
And taking a couple of nice deep breaths to begin with.
With a sense of letting go on the out breath.
And then allowing the breath to settle into a natural rhythm.
Placing a hand on the heart or somewhere else we find comforting to help us remember that we're cultivating friendliness towards ourselves.
Maybe bringing a slight smile to our face.
And then moving the attention down to the feet.
Noticing the feet.
And feeling the physical sensations in our feet right now.
Perhaps they're resting on something.
Can you feel the sensations of contact?
Perhaps you feel other physical sensations in the feet such as warmth,
Tightness,
Relaxation,
Moisture or dryness.
Maybe there are some kind of tingles or aches and pains happening.
Inside the foot.
So scanning through the feet and noticing what physical sensations we can feel down there.
And if anything feels painful,
Sending that part of the foot some compassion.
Which might feel like the inner equivalent of a kind of same sound we'd make if we saw a cute animal or a child struggling.
And if the feet are feeling healthy,
Maybe sending some appreciation.
Thanking the feet for everything they do.
They work so hard for us.
And now moving the focus of the attention up to the legs.
Noticing what physical sensations we feel in the legs.
Maybe some contact where the skin touches our clothing.
Maybe we can feel contact between parts of our legs and the floor or the chair that we're sitting on.
And noticing those other sensations like warmth or itches or tingles.
Maybe some aches and pains.
So scanning through the legs,
Noticing what we notice.
And just as we did with the feet,
If we notice some pain,
Seeing if we can send that part of ourselves some compassion.
Or if we notice we're making some judgments about that part of the body,
Again sending ourselves some compassion.
For some people it helps to rest a warm hand on that part of the body that's suffering.
And if the legs are feeling well and healthy and strong,
Sending some appreciation.
Thank you legs for everything you do.
And as we move through the body,
Just knowing that we have permission to skip any body parts.
If focusing there just feels too painful or difficult,
It's okay to move on.
So now moving on to the hips and the pelvis area.
What physical sensations can we feel here?
Again,
Sending some compassion if something feels difficult or painful.
Which could be kind of silent phrases such as,
I'm so sorry you feel this way,
You're not alone.
Sending some kindness to you right now.
Or sending some appreciation for those parts of the hips and the pelvis area that are working well.
And then moving on to the back.
The lower back and the upper back,
All the way to the shoulders.
What physical sensations do we feel here?
If we notice that we're subtly holding on to some physical tension,
Perhaps inviting that part of the body to soften a little.
Softening.
And again,
Sending some compassion to any painful parts of the back.
Or parts that we don't like so much.
And feeling appreciation for those muscles,
Those parts of the back which are working fine.
And now moving on to the front of the body.
The front of the body is where we feel the most pain.
The front of the torso.
From the chest all the way down to the lower abdomen.
What physical sensations can we feel here?
We'll probably feel the movements of breathing.
And we might notice other things too.
And sending some compassion to those parts that are suffering.
Maybe resting a warm hand there.
Sending some words of kindness.
I know you're struggling abdomen or I know you're struggling ovaries.
But I love you anyway.
And maybe giving them a warm rub.
And taking a moment to appreciate those parts of the chest or the abdomen that are working well.
For example,
The breathing.
And then moving on to the arms and the hands.
What can we feel there?
And sending some compassion or sending some appreciation.
And then moving on to the neck and the head area.
Tuning in to the sensations we can feel there.
What do we feel in the jaw?
What do we feel in the eyeballs?
And in compassion to any parts of the head or the face or the neck that we're struggling with.
And also taking a moment to appreciate parts of the head,
The face or the neck that are working well.
And finishing with a final kind of shower of appreciation for the whole body.
Not just the parts we can see on the outside but all the parts on the inside too that are working so hard to keep us alive and happy.
And as we come out of this practice knowing we can practice compassion or appreciation for our bodies at any time during the day.
So some ways we might like to continue informally include just taking a moment to pause and appreciate something that's working well in our body.
We could also commit random acts of kindness for our bodies.
For example self-massage first thing in the morning.
Brushing our teeth in a really caring way.
Maybe eating in a really nourishing way.
Or when we look in the mirror knowing that because of the negativity bias we're going to want to look for the flaws but instead finding one thing that you like.
Maybe it's your smile.
Maybe your hair is soft.
Well good luck with body appreciation.
You'll also find a life coaching session on this topic called appreciating our bodies which goes into a bit more depth on the neuroscience and the psychology behind social comparison and having high expectations of ourselves.
And I'd recommend a listen to that it's on my channel.
Well until next time dear one take care of your lovely self hey.
Bye bye for now.
