Hi and welcome to today's guided meditation on changing our internal dialogue.
My name is Raquel and I am so happy to guide you through this practice today.
For today's practice,
I invite you to step out of your comfort zone and try practicing this practice without any clothes on.
If that doesn't feel comfortable to you,
Try wearing something that helps you feel at ease and sit somewhere in front of a mirror if possible.
We'll be working with our own reflection for a large part of today's practice.
So I invite you to gently close your eyes and we'll start today's practice by taking three really deep and intentional breaths,
Exhaling all of the air from our bodies,
Remaining completely empty for a few moments,
And taking a deep inhale in through your nose,
Through the back of your heart space,
Releasing your past,
Holding for just a second here,
And exhaling through your mouth and out of the front of your heart,
Releasing any plans or anything you have coming up in the future,
Holding at the bottom and taking a deep breath in through your nose,
Through the back of your heart,
Expanding your chest area,
Really opening up that heart space,
Making space for compassion,
Releasing your past,
And exhaling through the front of your heart,
Out through your mouth,
Releasing any ideas,
Any plans,
Holding for just a second,
And taking one last big deep inhale in through the back of your heart,
Really expand that chest area and that heart space,
Creating space,
And exhale through the front of your heart.
Beautiful.
Just become aware of how you're breathing.
Breathe in a way that feels natural and comfortable to you,
Becoming aware of the sounds around you.
Before we open our eyes,
I really want you to imagine your body.
What happens when you think about your body?
How do you feel about your body?
For a lot of us,
There's a lot of negative self-talk,
So much that sometimes we don't even notice we're doing it.
When we think about our bodies,
We think about our imperfections,
Maybe some cellulite or stretch marks that we wish weren't there.
We tend to look at ourselves and our reflections and wish things weren't the way they are.
And the way we talk to ourselves matters.
It becomes as natural as breathing.
So social media has a huge role in reminding us of our supposed imperfections,
With airbrushed models and all kinds of things that really make us feel that we aren't perfect.
And that makes us forget that perfection is a construct.
Instead of honoring our vessels and our vehicles,
Acknowledging that our bodies support us being alive,
We get caught up in this negative self-talk.
And today we're going to consciously work on that habit.
Today we're going to consciously make ourselves happier.
So I invite you to gently open your eyes and look at your reflection in the mirror.
Feel your body being held by the ground,
Supported.
Take in all the sounds around you.
And just take a moment to notice what it feels like to be with yourself.
How often do we really do this?
How often do we see ourselves for who we are?
I invite you to gently glance at your feet and notice what comes to mind.
There's nothing to do,
Nothing to fix or manipulate.
Just notice your internal dialogue,
How you speak to yourself.
Slowly bring your gaze up,
Your legs around your thighs.
Keep becoming aware of the thoughts that come up.
Is there something about your body that you feel is too much?
Or maybe not enough?
You can go ahead and gently place these thoughts aside for now.
And just gently scan through the rest of your body.
Being gentle with yourself and noticing what areas bring up stronger thoughts.
What areas bring up stronger emotions.
Your stomach,
Your thighs,
Your chest,
Your hands,
Your arms.
Just notice what comes to mind.
How do you usually speak to these areas of yourself?
Do you feel any regrets about how you've lived your life?
Maybe there's a tingling or a fluttering,
A tightening or a loosening.
It's normal to feel discomfort.
Just allow yourself to be present with this without fighting it.
As a natural part of this process.
Just keep looking at your physical body.
And acknowledging what is coming up for you in this present moment.
Allow your eyes to gently close down again.
I want you to bring to mind a loving presence.
Anything that feels good to you.
Could be a person,
A pet,
Even a place.
I want you to really go with what feels like unconditional love.
I want you to go ahead and allow yourself to feel unconditional love in your body.
Just think of maybe one place in your body that you hold criticism for.
Go ahead and place your hands there.
Allow yourself to imagine this beautiful loving presence.
Moving through your body and through your hands.
And flowing into that part of your body.
Really allow yourself to experience what this feels like.
And if you should be feeling some sort of resistance,
Just allow that to be.
What might this body part need to hear from you in this moment?
Let's just think about all the good things that this body part has done for you.
Can you think of a good thing that this body part has done for you?
Has it helped you in any way?
Supported you?
Kept you healthy?
Maybe it's done something automatic like digesting your food.
Or keeping you alive.
Maybe it needs to hear,
I love you.
Or a simple,
Thank you.
It could be any of these phrases.
Anything that feels right for you.
Maybe I accept you the way that you are.
I invite you to move your hands around your body now.
And maybe repeat some of these phrases if you feel comfortable.
Allowing this abundant feeling of unconditional love to flow through you.
And into these parts of your body.
With massive amounts of love and self-acceptance and compassion for yourself.
And this vehicle that your soul is incarnated in.
This beautiful vessel that carries you through life every day.
What does it feel like to give yourself love?
To love your body?
What would it feel like to think of yourself as beautiful?
And whole?
And perfect?
What does it feel like to know that your body is working at perfection for you?
Every day.
Every second.
Every single minute.
And lastly,
How does it feel to love yourself?
To love your imperfections?
Just take a moment to notice these feelings and emotions.
You were given your body and your heart at birth.
And you honor it with love.
Becoming aware of the space that you're in right now.
Slowly moving your fingers and toes.
Becoming aware of your physical body.
Feeling gratitude for it.
For everything it does for you.
Bringing your hands to heart center and gently bowing in gratitude.
Namaste.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
Much love.
