Loving Ourselves Through The Discomfort

Hello, beautiful being, and welcome to today's practice. Today we are learning to love ourselves through the discomfort. So often, we can fall into a place of judgment and avoidance of the uncomfortable moments and cycles of our lives. But what if we took the step of loving ourselves through it? What if we welcomed it in as we do the sweetness? All my love, Stefani
Music by Jesse Gallagher & August Wilhelmsson

Transcript

Hello beautiful being.

I am so grateful to be here today to guide you in another practice.

Today's practice is about loving ourselves through the discomfort.

Do you ever wake up and feel the pain?

Be it physical,

Mental,

Emotional?

It feels like your mind was gearing up to run another day the moment you opened your eyes.

Or perhaps this pain keeps you up at night.

Perhaps it has kept you in its grasp for days,

Weeks,

Months,

Or years.

Oftentimes when I have been in this heavy space of pain,

I find myself judging that I am feeling this way.

I don't like that I am feeling this way.

I sometimes don't like myself for feeling this way.

So many of us believe that sadness,

Grief,

Anxiety,

Depression,

Physical illness is something bad.

As a punishment for not being able to let go.

But it's only because so much of our lives we've been told that.

We've been told that the darkness has nothing to teach us.

That the darkness is something unpleasant.

We have been told to call it by a name.

And though it feels like we are bonded to this pain,

It feels as if every moment we either are wishing or trying to push it away.

But what if we let it stay?

What if we learn to love ourselves through the discomfort?

To give ourselves the permission to dance with it,

Not fight it.

When we stop fighting it,

We stop resisting where it too may be guiding us.

We can begin to love ourselves through it.

Today's practice may be heavy.

So if you need someone for that extra support,

Feel free to come back to this or approach it in whatever way feels easiest and is honoring your space.

To begin today's practice,

We are going to find a comfortable place to be,

To allow.

I recommend you sit or lay down today and just close your eyes.

I'd like you to place one hand on your heart and one hand on your stomach.

Just hold yourself here as we take a deep breath in through the nose and out through your mouth.

And one more breath in and out.

Now I would like you to check in with your body,

Your human.

Check in for any place that may feel physically out of balance.

Anything that may ache.

Your feet,

Your legs,

Your back,

Your shoulders,

Your chest,

Your neck,

Your head.

Just scan the body for anything that feels like it has been causing you physical pain.

Any achiness,

Throbbing,

Soreness.

And maybe there is no pain there and that's okay too.

We can all still send love to our human body today.

Let's just sit here for a moment and be with this pain.

If it brings up any emotional discomfort,

Just let yourself feel those emotions and express them however they may come up.

Now though we may be experiencing discomfort,

We're going to send love to ourselves.

Take a deep breath in and out.

And with your permission,

I'd like you to repeat after me,

Dear body,

Dear pain,

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

And keeping your hands on your stomach and heart,

Just whisper kindly to yourself,

I love you.

Beautiful.

Now I would like you to embrace yourself.

Just give yourself a big hug.

And with whatever you feel most comfortable with,

Just scan your mind and your spirit for any inner pain and discomfort you may be feeling.

This emotional pain may feel physical,

So continue to allow that too.

This stinging inner pain may be what has been holding onto you for some time,

A weight you have been carrying.

And maybe it's just something that showed up today.

Do you feel it in your chest,

Your throat?

Is there a feeling of guilt,

Of shame,

Of failure to be what others and you expect yourself to be?

Is there grief,

Sadness,

Anxiousness,

A fear that you can't let go or that something isn't working out the way you planned?

This inner discomfort may bring up a lot of emotions.

So again,

Just allow yourself to express them as they come up.

And take your time,

Love.

Continue holding yourself through this.

Do your best to allow this discovery and experience it without judgment.

Now let's just sit here a moment and let this be.

Allow yourself to be.

You are so incredibly brave,

Dear love.

Now let's send some more love to this discomfort with you continuing to embrace yourself.

Let's just take a deep breath in and out.

And with your permission,

I would like you to repeat after me,

Dear pain,

Dear grief,

Dear sadness,

Dear fear,

Dear suffering.

I love you.

I allow you.

I welcome you.

You remind me that I am strong.

Dear discomfort,

I love you.

I love you.

I love you.

And go ahead and whisper to yourself,

I love you.

Now I would like you to place your palms up towards the sky.

Place them on your knees or at your side.

I would like you to ask yourself,

What if I let it stay?

Can I let this allowing turn into a loving surrender?

What if I let go of the way I judge myself for feeling?

What if I let go of the cycle of beliefs I have tied to my discomfort?

Can I stop fighting it for this moment and welcome it?

Can I turn my heart towards it and sit with it?

I know these pains can feel heavy,

Overwhelming,

And overpowering,

But dear love,

Here you are.

Here you are sitting with it,

Being with it,

Heart still beating,

Lungs still breathing,

Love at your side as you rest on the surface of the earth.

You are here with this,

Sending love to this part of you that you have been trying to avoid.

Can you be with this?

The answer is that you already are.

You approach every day,

No matter the pain,

No matter the way it aches.

You are the witness to these states of emotional and physical pain.

You have lived with it.

You have the power,

As you are doing now,

To send love to the places it hurts.

When we send love to our pain,

We give it room to transform into something we can love,

Into something we can allow.

We can experience how it teaches us of our power.

We can become less afraid to get to know it.

We can love ourselves through every day,

Every discomfort we may witness and feel.

I know we haven't always been told this,

But it doesn't make it any less true.

In this moment,

You are here.

You are choosing to walk into your life with fresh eyes,

Like the moment you first opened them to the earth.

You are choosing a new truth for yourself.

You are choosing love,

The love that created the planet,

The stars and the cosmos,

The forest,

The ocean,

The movement,

The stillness,

The singing,

The silence.

You are choosing you.

Go ahead and open your eyes to the rest of your day,

Love.

Take a nice big stretch,

Arms open and ready.

And as we take one more breath in,

Inhale all the love and exhale all that you were carrying.

Take this love with you throughout your day and live this life like the ever-changing,

Expansive nature that you are,

The whole of who you are.

Reviews

Just what was needed in this moment. Thank you.

Just brilliant. This confirm the previous listen with davidj and accepting. I've had gross pain for 5 weeks from a sport injury this chnage of perceptive for this and other challenges has helped. Thank you

Deeply relaxing and comforting! Thank you so much, Stefani. 🙏🏻💚

Really kind and warm. Thank you 🌸

I sent this to my sister in law who’s in the hospital with ALS. Her and her mom will listen to it. I knew I had to send it as it’s exactly what I think they both need right now. You are a blessing. God bless and thank you

Crying release is good

Thank you for this balm for my soul🙏🏾

Your words are guiding me through hard times and I thank you for that. ❤️

Gentle and kind, I found myself feeling peaceful afterwards.

I've been having a tough day and carrying a heavy heart because of it. Thank you so much for this meditation. I never realized how much loving myself through discomfort would help. 💓

Thank you

I got nervous at the beginning of the meditation about needing support but I thought I will try. This is challenging to say I love you to the pain. Perhaps starting at acceptance even some of the time is at least a beginning. Thank you for mentioning so many different types of pain. Physical and emotional. I have bookmarked. Thank you for offering this. I felt your presence.