Beloved Body Practice

Oh, how hard we are on our bodies, judging, overfeeding, underfeeding, waxing, plucking, constraining, forsaking, forgetting what miracles these vessels are. In this guided practice, it is my honor to guide you in bringing loving-kindness to your embodied self.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this guided loving-kindness for the body meditation.

You can do this meditation in any position,

Seated or lying down.

So just checking in with your own body and seeing what feels most right in this moment.

And giving yourself a little time to settle into that position.

So right now whatever position you are in,

Just becoming aware of your body held by the ground,

By chair,

Floor,

Cushion or bed.

Feeling the sensations of contact with whatever surface is supporting you right now.

And letting yourself be aware that underneath whatever that surface is,

Is the earth,

Holding us always.

And now bringing your awareness to your breath and maybe even taking a few deep,

Mindful breaths.

Really noticing the sensations of filling and expanding.

And then on the out-breath,

Really feeling the sensations of dropping down,

Dropping into that holding and into that gentle tug of gravity.

So taking a few deep breaths like that.

Filling,

Expanding and releasing and letting yourself surrender just a little bit more into the holding,

Into gravity.

And now just letting your breath be easy and natural,

Not making it do anything in particular.

Just letting the body breathe itself.

It knows how to do that.

And for this meditation we'll be scanning through the body and into each area of the body offering this phrase,

Be still beloved and know that you are safely held.

So let's begin first by allowing the hands to find each other.

So allowing the right hand to hold the left hand.

And noticing that holding and repeating to your hands,

Be still beloved hands and know that you are safely held.

And now bringing awareness to your feet,

Maybe even bringing a little bit of movement to your feet wherever they are.

Breathing and really feeling the sensations of the feet and saying to yourself,

Be still beloved feet and know that you are safely held.

And you might bring your hands up to your face,

Just letting yourself rest your hands maybe on each cheek,

Cupping your cheeks in a comforting and soothing kind of way and offering to your face,

Be still beloved face and know that you are safely held.

And letting yourself really feel the sensations of the holding.

And now bringing your hands to your neck and just gently placing your hands on either side of the neck and really feeling the sensations there as you repeat to yourself,

Be still beloved neck and know that you are safely held.

And really feeling those sensations of holding and the intention behind those words.

And as we progress through the body,

Let's see what it might be like to link the breath to the phrase so that as we breathe in,

We say or think,

Be still beloved neck and on the out-breath,

Know that you are safely held.

So now crossing your arms so that you can comfortably place your hands on the opposite shoulder.

And if any of these positions is uncomfortable for you,

No problem,

No worries.

Just imagine doing it in your mind.

That's a powerful way of connecting with the practice.

So with your hands resting or in your imagination resting on your shoulders,

On the in-breath thinking or saying out loud,

Be still beloved shoulders and on the out-breath and know that you are safely held.

And now with your arms still crossed,

Allowing your hands to rest on the opposite arm,

Almost as if you're giving yourself a hug and really let yourself feel that sensation,

Maybe even give yourself a little bit of a squeeze if that feels comfortable.

And on the in-breath saying or thinking,

Be still beloved arms and on the out-breath and know that you are safely held.

And moving the hands now down perhaps to the belly,

Finding the belly and letting your hands rest there with a kind and comforting energy in the hands.

Feeling the sensations in both hands and in belly and repeating on the in-breath,

Be still beloved belly,

On the out-breath and know that you are safely held.

Now moving your hands down to your hips,

Feeling the connection there,

The hands resting against your hips and on an in-breath repeating,

Be still beloved hips and know that you are safely held,

Allowing the hips to really feel the holding that's here.

If it feels comfortable to you,

You can bring your hands now to the area of your pelvis,

The area of your genitals and just gently resting the hands on this part of the body.

And offering on the in-breath,

Be still beloved pelvis and know that you are safely held.

And we don't want to leave out the back but that is a difficult part of the body to really reach.

What we'll do now is using our active imaginations,

We're going to imagine either the feeling of our own hands or perhaps the hands of somebody we feel very comfortable and safe with resting on our upper back.

Just imagining that,

Imagining the feel to your back of having warm,

Comforting,

Caring hands,

Just resting and offering,

Be still beloved upper back and know that you are safely held,

Allowing the back to really feel that,

To really sense that warm touch,

That holding.

And then you might imagine your own hands or the hands of somebody who loves you and whom you trust resting on your mid-back.

If there's any place in your back that is a place where you might have a little discomfort or tension or pain now or at times,

You might imagine the hands resting there.

And repeating the phrase,

Be still beloved mid-back and know that you are safely held.

And really letting yourself,

Letting your back feel that,

Receive that.

And imagining now,

Or perhaps you can actually reach around and place your hands on your lower back,

Feeling the presence of the warm and caring hands and repeating,

Be still beloved lower back and on the out-breath and know that you are safely held.

And now bringing your hands to your thighs,

Really feeling the presence of the hands there and imagining,

Feeling,

Sensing that the energy and the warmth of the hand can travel down through the whole of your legs,

Through the thigh,

The knees,

The lower legs,

The ankles and the feet.

And offering,

Be still beloved legs and know that you are safely held.

And we'll end this practice by bringing hands to the heart,

So placing your right hand on your heart and your left hand on top of your right hand.

Really letting yourself feel the presence,

The touch,

Really imagining both offering to yourself and receiving the phrases and the intention behind them.

Be still beloved heart and know that you are safely held.

Maybe again,

Be still beloved heart and know that you are safely held.

And one more time,

Be still beloved heart and know that you are safely held.

Giving yourself some time to really feel,

To live into the sensations that arise,

The emotions that arise,

Feeling the presence of your own loving hands on your own sweetheart.

Continuing like this just as long as you like,

As we end this guided meditation.

Thank you for your practice and Namaste.

Reviews

Truly beautiful, thank you for this practice today. 🙏🏼💗

A really lovely practice with tender self-touch

Thank you so much for this beautiful meditation and your loving guidance and voice. A true gift... much love and gratitude ♥️

What a gift! Gentle & healing balm for body-mind🙏

I can’t explain why, but this meditation moved me very deeply and I feel like it touched something deep inside. Thank you this was a true gift.

So soothing & comforting!☺️Thank you

Your gentle voice is magical... thank you for this practice🙏❤️🌹

Beautiful. Thank you.

I love this body scan type of meditation. Thank you!

Beautiful. Very sweet practice filled with Lovingkindness. Thank you and Blessings!
💖🌻🕊

A beautiful, loving meditation - thank you for sharing. 🙏 Namaste. 🙏

I imagine this as a bedtime gratitude practice as I prepare for sleep. Namaste 🙏💜

Such a tender loving meditation! Thank you very much. 🙏

Truly blessed and loving thank you for sharing this love, & teaching us this inward way of loving

Beautiful and very interesting thank you and Namaste

Thank you for the precious reminder of my amazing body!!

Wonderful. Thank you 🙏🏽

What a Wonderful practice!!! My body feels good and loved. Thank you 🙏 Namaste

Just the practice for me this morning as I woke up in great pain and stiffness from a poor sleeping position this morning. I relieved the stiffness but was still very sore, and then found this practice awaiting me. I am a chronic pain warrior of many years, and this practice was absolutely wonderful.

I have always said my body and I are a team in managing and overcoming our challenges, rather than adversaries. I regularly practice positive health affirmations, gratitude, and gentle movement/mindful walking, all sorts of things to support and nourish my physical presence in this world. This practice today, bookmarked and downloaded, has now joined the small list of practices I keep readily available to assist during both difficult and easeful times.

Soothing voice, loved the hands-on approach (I practiced while laying down in a zero-G adjusted bed for additional comfort), and I deeply appreciated the guidance of how to practice if actual physical contact with an area is not possible or comfortable.

Thank you so very much for sharing this practice with us here. I see the beautiful starlight within you. 🤲🏻❤️🤲🏻