Hello and welcome to this guided meditation for self love.
This meditation will be perfect for you if you've been struggling with the inner critic.
If you're feeling some emotions come up regarding the way you see yourself or the way you feel about yourself,
I'm hoping that this meditation can bring you some positive affirmations,
Some comfort and reassurance that you are perfect exactly as you are.
So please settle in and get comfortable,
Whether that's by lying in bed,
Maybe you're even getting ready for sleep or finding a space,
Maybe on a yoga mat on the floor or in your favourite chair,
Making sure you feel supported and held and that you're not going to be experiencing any discomfort during the meditation.
And when you feel fully comfortable and safe in your space I invite you to just take in a deep breath through your nose and sigh out your exhale.
As you do you might notice that you let go,
A little bit of tension that you might have been holding onto,
That you relax a little bit deeper to where you're sitting or lying.
And any time during this meditation where you feel any tension arise in the body or in the mind,
Feel free to sigh out another breath.
And before we begin I want to acknowledge that self-criticism is part of being human.
The problem is when we become trapped or fixated on the negativity that sometimes comes with that criticism,
When it no longer feels constructive and instead feels harmful.
So here in this moment I want to dedicate this time that you have so beautifully given to yourself to be a time for nothing but love.
And in saying that we aren't ignoring the more complex and darker emotions that sometimes come with negative self-talk.
It is important after all to acknowledge those feelings.
However I trust that you find yourself here because you're looking to reframe or refocus that attention to a more positive and loving place.
And so with that in mind let's begin together.
And let's begin how we begin all meditation.
And that is by connecting with our breathing and thereby centering and grounding ourselves in the present moment.
Noticing how the breath moves through your body whether you're breathing shallow light breaths or deep belly breaths.
If your breath does feel light can you lengthen your exhale just a tiny bit?
Can you focus on the rising of your belly instead of the rising of the chest?
When we begin to consciously breathe slower and deeper it is an invitation for our mind and body to come into harmony to come into rest relaxation presence.
It creates a spaciousness for us to observe emotions sensations.
It gives us space to let go to process.
And so with every breath setting that silent intention that you are creating space for yourself with every breath.
And as you breathe I also invite you if you feel comfortable to hold your lips in a small smile just tipping up the corners of your lips.
And if you don't feel like you have anything that you want to smile about maybe think of someone in your life that brings you joy something that deserves a smile even if you feel like you don't deserve one right now.
Noticing if your body has relaxed fully into this moment or if you could go a little bit deeper.
Releasing any tension from your jaw from your brow from your shoulders making sure your hands are unclenched softening softening softening.
And from this deeply gentle and soft place let's begin by sending some appreciation to our body to this vessel that we inhabit in this life.
And we are talking about our appearance or necessarily a physical appreciation but a purely functional biological appreciation for everything that our body does for us.
This body that exists to keep us alive to support us to carry us.
So maybe holding that smile still on your face giving some thanks to your body.
Maybe there's a part of your body that's been working particularly hard recently that deserves more appreciation.
Maybe there's a part of your physical body that feels a little tired potentially a little strained or overworked and it needs a little bit of self-love sent to it.
And maybe just sitting in awe of the fact that your body does so much on a daily basis that you're completely unaware of and yet it is loving you by carrying out these important functions.
So thank you to our body for everything it does for us.
And of course sometimes our body does things that aren't necessarily good for us sometimes it does things wrong.
Sometimes it doesn't do things to the best of its ability.
But maybe just maybe taking this time to care for yourself to lower your stress.
You're inviting some loving energy some healing energy into your body in order to give it that space that we talked about at the beginning of this meditation to let go of some of the things it might be struggling with right now.
Just like our mind might struggle with certain thoughts can we send some of that loving compassion and kindness to our body in order for it to feel better and do better for us.
Now even though the act of carving out this time for yourself is not a good thing for yourself is an act of self love.
How could we better direct that love to ourselves on a different level on multiple levels.
So we've begun with the love and appreciation of the physical body.
So maybe let's think about things that we love about ourselves that aren't physical.
Again this might feel difficult it might be hard to think of something kind to say about yourself but that is why you're here.
That is why you are taking this time for yourself.
And so if you struggle to think of something loving and kind to say about yourself I want you to think about something someone else has said to you.
Something positive someone has said about who you are and something that you do for others that makes you such a beautiful and special person.
And as we leave some space for these kind beautiful thoughts to come forward making sure that we're keeping our breath deep and even because although these are kind words sometimes they can make us feel quite emotional.
It is a deeply emotional thing to feel and experience love and sometimes it's even more emotional when we start showing it to ourselves after not doing so for so long.
And so as we step into this space of self appreciation of who we are I'm going to state some affirmations to help encourage this more positive process and to support you if you are struggling to think of kind words to say to yourself.
And if you find your thoughts are wondering or feeling restless remembering that you can always come back to your breath to the sound of my voice and to the importance of this moment.
Everything else can wait.
You matter and taking time to love yourself matters.
I am a kind and generous human being.
I am a joy to be around and I love my own company.
I am gentle with myself as I heal,
Learn and grow.
I take time for myself because I value who I am and my needs are important.
I am a wonderful listener.
I am good at setting healthy boundaries in order to keep myself safe.
I'm doing the best that I can.
I am worthy of people's time and attention.
And as you hear these words as you continue to think of some kind things to say to yourself enduring your awareness into your heart,
Into the centre of your chest and knowing that with every kind word you say to yourself the love just grows.
And as the love grows the warmth in your chest becomes stronger,
Brighter,
More powerful and as we fill ourselves with these kind words with this love you'll notice over time that there starts to be less and less space for the unkind words for the criticism that doesn't serve us.
And of course those criticisms will be heard and they will show themselves to us but the difference will be that once acknowledged we can replace that thought or feeling with love.
I didn't do so well at something today but I will do better next time.
I feel like I didn't achieve what I set out to do.
That's okay I'm allowed to fail.
It isn't about ignoring the negative self-talk,
The criticism.
It's about acknowledging it,
Understanding that it is a part of you that's calling out for love,
For comfort,
For reassurance but it's also a choice as to whether you're going to sit with that feeling,
That negative feeling or are you going to work on transforming that feeling into something of greater value?
Loving yourself more,
Showing yourself more kindness is never going to hurt you.
It's only going to help you grow.
We spend our entire life in this body,
In this vessel and it goes by so very quickly.
So wouldn't it be nice if we spent that time enjoying,
Occupying this space?
Wouldn't it be nice if we met the negativity with kindness?
Wouldn't it be beautiful to look in the mirror and see our best friend staring back at us?
Someone we cared about,
Someone we loved.
And so as we move towards the end of this meditation I'd love if we could wrap ourselves in a hug.
So just if you can,
Putting your arms around yourself,
Holding yourself.
And as you do,
Feeling that warmth in your heart space radiate out even further.
Maybe that smile is still gracing the corners of your lips.
And as you smile and as you hug and as you focus that attention on the heart,
Your body is completely cocooned in this beautiful shell of love.
And if you've reached this point and you're still struggling to find the capacity to love yourself in this moment,
Then please know that I am sending that cocoon of love,
That shell of love around you.
Knowing that you are so worthy of loving yourself and although it's wonderful to receive that love from a stranger or from someone else we care about,
I hope that with time you'll manage to build up your own store of self love that you can always go back to in those harder moments.
In those moments when you need to remember how loved you are by yourself from your own source because it is always there just waiting for you to tap back in,
To come back to stillness,
To this little piece of quiet solitude,
Tranquility.
And if you need help reminding of how to get there,
You can always come back to this meditation or any of the others that are available to you.
So with that beautiful hug that I hope you're still wrapped in and that smile on your lips,
Thank yourself for showing up today even if it might have felt hard or challenging.
You did a wonderful job just showing up,
That is the hardest part.
And with that I send you so much love,
Many blessings and I hope to connect with you again soon.
Take care.
