A Practice For Self-Acceptance

Sometimes the shame or regret of the past can weigh our hearts down in the present. Looking back at our lives is an opportunity for self-compassion, forgiveness, and love. By looking at all former versions of ourselves in the light of love, we invite in new beauty, new growth, and new versions of ourselves into the light.

Music: Wholetones

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this guided meditation.

Take a moment to get comfortable.

You can lie on your back,

Or you can even stay seated for this meditation.

Just choose a position that feels good in your body.

Get really comfortable,

Taking any last movements that you need to,

Before you come to rest.

Bring your awareness to your breath.

Without changing it,

Just feel the gentle inhale,

And the natural exhale that follows.

Breathe in love,

Light,

Calm,

Stillness,

And peace.

And exhale through an open mouth,

Any lingering tension.

Inhale calm,

Stillness,

Love,

Light,

And peace.

And exhale through an open mouth,

Whatever your body needs you to release.

Take a deep breath in,

Filling your belly,

Your ribs,

And your chest,

And open your mouth to exhale.

And again,

Take a deep breath in,

Filling up your whole body with air,

From the crown of your head,

To the tips of your toes,

And open your mouth to exhale.

Feel the heaviness of your body,

Of your limbs,

As you sink into the earth beneath you.

Your body is rooted into the earth.

As your body melts into the ground,

All tension melts away.

You are on a beach,

Sitting in the warm golden sand,

Looking out at the ocean.

The sun is setting.

Its rays cast a golden hue across the beach.

You are enveloped by this yellow light,

By the sun's golden warmth.

Sitting here,

You begin to think about your life,

About all the versions of yourself that have existed.

From the little child,

To the teenager trying to figure out life,

To the young adult looking for their place in the world,

Former images of yourself continue to come to mind.

And as each one is thought of,

They appear before you,

Joining you on this sandy beach.

Each of them takes a seat,

Forming a circle with you at the head.

Looking into their eyes,

You recognize them as someone you used to be.

And they all look to you,

Recognizing you as another version of themselves.

As you look into each of their eyes,

You realize that they have come for something.

Each of them has arrived for a specific purpose.

They have come for your acceptance.

Each of them wants you to understand why they made the choices they did.

So here,

On this golden,

Sandy beach,

You turn your attention to each of them,

To listen to what they have to share.

You are the one who has the right to be.

You are the one who has the right to be.

You are the one who has the right to be.

After each of them has shared,

All of their attention returns to you.

Here,

On this sandy,

Golden beach,

You know more deeply what they have come for.

You understand.

They have not only come for your acceptance,

They have also come for your love,

Your compassion.

That is what they seek.

In this moment,

You realize that each of them,

No matter the mistakes they made,

Were trying to do their best with the knowledge they had.

And in this way,

They tried to care for you in the only way they knew how,

In the best way they knew.

They long for you to see this,

To give them the only approval that will provide peace.

The sun is getting lower in the sky.

A coolness begins to descend upon the beach.

You look next to you and find a basket with logs of wood and a box of matches.

Without speaking,

Each version of yourself gets up and takes several wooden logs from the basket.

You each take turns to build the foundation of the fire.

Each log is placed carefully by each of your former selves.

You work together seamlessly.

You place the last log on top and take out the box of matches.

You drag the match across the box,

Lighting a yellow flame.

You pass the box of matches around,

And each of you takes a match and lights a golden flame.

Together,

You all move towards the logs and set the flames onto the wood.

You all take a step back as the fire bursts to life.

It is stronger and brighter than any fire you have ever seen.

Its bright yellow flames flicker in the dark night that has descended.

It is the only light on the beach besides the stars that shine down upon you.

You all sit in a circle around this fire.

You understand that it is now your turn to speak to each of your former selves.

It is time to give love to each of those selves that you have been.

Each of them was trying their best,

So give them love for this.

Send them thanks.

Send them the acceptance they deserve.

Every time that you talk to one of them,

The fire will glow brighter.

It will give off more warmth,

More light.

As you send each of them love,

This fire will consume that version's shame,

Their regret.

And where fear once resided within them,

Your love and acceptance will take over,

Filling in those open spaces.

The fire will burn it all away.

It's already started.

Soft smoke rises into the air,

And the fire grows and grows as you begin to speak.

Soft smoke rises into the air,

And the fire grows and grows as you begin to speak.

Soft smoke rises into the air,

And the fire grows and grows as you begin to speak.

Soft smoke rises into the air,

And the fire grows and grows as you begin to speak.

After you finish talking to each of your former selves,

You see that your core is glowing.

A bright golden light is pouring from each of your cores.

It's time for them to go now.

You all stand up,

And each of your former selves comes up to you to thank you for listening,

For doing the best you can.

They in turn give you the acceptance you just gifted to them.

Before they go,

You take a moment to embrace every former version of yourself.

You hold them,

Wrapping them in your arms,

Feeling what it's like to truly embrace them in every sense.

You look into each of their eyes without any feeling of regret,

Shame,

Or fear.

You gaze at them with love and compassion.

You see them for the shining soul that they are.

You take your time to hug them.

You fully embrace each of them.

You hold them in the way they need to be held and seen.

When each version of you feels your warm embrace,

They melt into your being.

And this yellow glow that comes from your core grows even stronger.

Each of them melded together into one perfect being,

Into you,

Into wholeness.

They are all gone now.

But when you look up,

You see someone else sitting on the other side of the fire.

Just beyond this yellow flame,

You see one more version of yourself.

This person is your highest self,

The most loving and free version of yourself that you have ever seen or encountered.

Your fullest expression of your soul is smiling at you.

When they stand before you,

They look at you deep into your eyes,

And you can see how proud they are of you.

Then they reach their arms out to embrace you.

When you hug,

You can feel their strength.

You can feel the love this person has for you.

You can feel their gratitude for all the steps that you have taken.

You have made them possible.

Every decision you have made and will make has created them.

As you embrace,

You feel their complete acceptance and love for you.

And you slowly begin to melt into them.

You become a part of them.

You become one.

And now this yellow glow,

Which comes from your core,

Is so bright,

It lights up the whole beach.

This yellow light that comes from your core glows brighter than any flames could ever hope to.

Though moments ago,

There was darkness.

It now looks as though the sun has risen again.

You are whole.

You take a moment to feel this wholeness.

To let it sink in amidst this heavenly glow of which you are the source.

You say this out loud.

I completely love and accept myself.

I am at home within myself.

I completely love and accept myself.

I am at home within myself.

I completely love and accept myself.

I am at home within myself.

Let these words sink into your whole body,

Into your heart,

Into your mind,

Into your soul.

I completely love and accept myself.

I am at home within myself.

Slowly bring your awareness back into the room.

Using your breath as your guide.

Take a deep breath in and slowly and softly out.

Take another deep breath in and slowly out.

Now place the palms of your hands over your heart.

Feel your acceptance for who you are.

For who you have been and for who you are becoming.

All versions create you and your perfect wholeness.

Slowly bring some movement back into your body.

You can wiggle your toes or your fingers.

Slowly allow your eyes to open.

Draw your hands in front of your heart.

Thank you for allowing me to guide you in your meditation practice today.

Namaste.

Reviews

Emotional, journey-filled, full of compassion. Thank you 🙏🏾

Powerful, emotional, scary

Thank you Sherie. You brought me back home.

Whoa! So beautiful a meditation! My whole body was tingling feeling good with cold showers at the musical symphony and the creative imagery . It really helped me feel relaxed and comfortable. That was meditation at it's best. Many thanks and appreciation for your contribution.

Very nice thank you.

Each came to me from a time of trouble and each said the same “I tried. I really tried”. Those words held a world of sadness and shame. As each melted into me the sadness melted too. I’ve always tried, always done the best I could, and always will. ❤️❤️❤️

Really emotional. Like others on here, I found myself crying and releasing.

Thank you so much

Really healing meditation. I always seem to cry when doing a meditation where I'm thinking about my past self. Finding love and compassion for all versions past, present and future is so important. Thank you. Namaste.

I cried so hard. This meditation is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you for having guided me into this journey, I just wanted to send away some parts of myself that I thought were bringing me down, and instead.. It was me who was bringing them down. I don't know if this is making any sense, but now I really love each of them, because they are here for a reason. Thank you thank you 🙏

Beautiful imagery and lovely approach to acceptance. Thank you for such wonderful work...

Beautiful imageries which brought tears in to my eyes. Thank you for this guided meditation.

Another beautiful and meaningful meditation from Sherie. She speaks with inflection and feeling.

Very therapeutic. The best self compassion meditation I've ever experienced.