I want you to take a deep breath in,
And take another deep breath in.
And as you let it out,
Acknowledge yourself for taking care of yourself by showing up in this meditation.
And let yourself just slow it all down.
And with each breath,
Notice where in your body tension is released.
Notice,
With each breath,
The noise of your thoughts quiet down.
Imagine each breath carries a message,
And the message is,
You are safe,
You are loved,
And you are totally supported.
I'd like you to consider this idea,
That all aspects of my being,
All the events in my life,
Are part of my journey,
And they are only as good or bad as I make them.
Which means,
I am at choice,
And if I'm at choice,
Why not make the loving choice?
Together,
We're going to reacquaint you with your hope,
Your strength,
Your inner peace,
Qualities that all exist within you,
But seem to be hidden in darkness.
Your path to getting back there will be paved with loving choices.
So let's begin.
The first loving choice I would like you to make is to accept the fact that you've been visited by darkness.
Can you accept it with the same neutrality that you have when you get a piece of mail?
Oh look,
The mail has arrived.
Oh look,
Darkness is with me.
Can you allow yourself to accept that there is nothing wrong with me because I'm in darkness?
Keep breathing,
Keep taking in beautiful,
Life-giving breaths.
The next step in bringing light to the darkness is describing the darkness,
And you can do that by completing this sentence.
I am feeling.
.
.
What are you feeling?
Hopelessness?
Shame?
Insecurity?
Do you feel anxious?
Betrayed?
Your courage to describe how you feel is an invitation for light to enter,
And there's a sound that accompanies the light.
It's a voice that says,
It's okay.
It's all right to feel these feelings.
Yes,
It hurts,
But you're allowed to hurt.
What does the picture of yourself look like in your imagination when you feel this way?
We are continually maintaining an image of ourself,
And that picture of ourself changes depending on circumstances and how we feel.
So what does the picture of you look like when you feel this way?
If you need to,
You can invite this image of you to step out of the shadows and reveal herself.
She is not going to be judged.
It's safe for her to come forward because you accept and love her just as much as you love the images of yourself that are strong and confident and successful and acceptable to the rest of the world.
This part of you,
This image of yourself that represents who you are when you are with darkness needs your love and acceptance.
She's important because she's an opportunity for you to love yourself more.
Loving yourself more might feel like an impossible task.
In truth,
If you are this far into the meditation and are hearing these words,
You've already demonstrated self-love.
You've already done it.
Very few of us were taught to accept and love all aspects of ourself.
Most of us grew up with the belief that the part of us that suffers,
The part of us that feels pain,
Is the part of us to be denied or put away or covered over or even controlled with substances.
So,
It can feel unnatural to listen to,
To love,
To accept this part of yourself.
But again,
If you've ever had the realization,
I need to love myself more and found you were stuck on,
Great,
But how do I do that?
This is your moment.
And what can give you support here is to turn to Spirit,
Your higher power,
Whatever form of greater intelligence that resonates in your heart,
And ask for help.
And that would sound something like,
God,
Help me to love all parts of myself.
Spirit,
Help me to accept,
Without judgment,
Everything that makes me who I am.
Universe,
Help me to understand and accept the lessons that all the aspects of my being offer up to me.
Answers may come.
Answers may come later today or next week.
What's most important is that you recognize when you are in judgment and make the choice to move to acceptance,
That you are loving this part of you,
This part of you that you have wanted to get rid of.
Moving from judgment to acceptance is a powerful,
Powerful form of love in action.
And finally,
I want you to move into self-forgiveness.
Place your hand on your heart,
And I want you to say,
I'm sorry for buying into the stories and negative judgments about myself that create my suffering.
I'm sorry for buying into the stories and the negative judgments about myself that create my suffering.
And you may want to get even more specific by saying something like,
I forgive myself for believing the story that I am fill-in-the-blank.
I forgive myself for judging myself as fill-in-the-blank.
And once you have forgiven yourself,
I'd like you to say this,
The truth is,
I'm a divine child of God,
I'm a product of a universal intelligence that created stars and hummingbirds and galaxies and redwood trees and infinite space.
Because the truth is,
I'm on a hero's journey to evolve into higher consciousness at any given moment,
Doing the best I can,
Given what I have to work with.
It's hard,
It's messy,
And it's not easy.
And that's what is true.
Breathe deeply,
You've done beautiful work.
Blessings,
And light ahead.
Thank you for listening.
If you found this helpful,
I invite you to check out my course here on Insight Timer.
Finding Serenity is a 10-part journey into the heart of change.
Through personal stories,
Reflection,
And guided practices,
You'll learn how to quiet your survival brain,
Move from judgment into acceptance,
Unlock the power of self-forgiveness,
Embrace vulnerability with courage,
And discover wisdom rooted in love.
This course offers tools for living with resilience and clarity,
So you can have the deepest experience of being alive.
I'll see you there.
