Self Love Meditation

This guided meditation will take you through some guided breaths as well as a guided body scan before inviting you into creative visualization, with a focus on self-nourishment, love, compassion, and care. You can do this meditation sitting or lying down. Music is Binaural Cloud (Alpha 7 Hz) by Syntropy. Enjoy!

Transcript

Hello and welcome.

My name is Erin Musick and this is a guided meditation for self-love.

I'd invite you now to get comfortable,

Finding a space where you won't be disturbed for the next 15 to 20 minutes.

You can do this meditation sitting or lying down,

Whatever you would prefer.

And I would encourage you to make sure that you are in a position where you feel really held and supported and in a position where you can be comfortable going through this meditation without having to do much in the way of movement or adjusting,

Allowing for your spine to be straight and your heart to be open.

And as you settle in,

Just noticing your breath,

Noticing your natural inhale and noticing your natural exhale.

Nothing that you need to do or change,

But just simply observing,

Filling up your belly on the inhale and then letting that as you release all of that air on the exhale.

So gathering in,

Releasing,

And then just noticing if there's anything that might be restricting in your breath.

Maybe it's not going quite as deeply as you'd like it to.

Maybe you're feeling a bit tense or restricted in some space within your body.

Taking a moment now to just gently acknowledge that space,

That tension.

Breathing into that space,

Giving yourself permission,

If you can,

To welcome just a little bit of release,

A little bit more spaciousness into that area.

Just working to soften with breath.

And now starting to tune in to the rest of your physical body.

You'll do just a quick gentle body scan,

Inviting you to just be a curious observer where you can take note of spaces within your body that feel open and relaxed and others that may feel a bit tight or restricted or more closed off.

So continuing to just breathe easily,

Starting at the crown top of your head,

Just observing how that feels at the top of your head.

And then moving into the forehead,

Your temples,

The muscles on the sides and between your eyes.

Scanning further down into your face,

Your cheeks,

Your jaw,

Your mouth and your tongue.

Coming back to the crown,

Moving down the back and sides of your head.

If you're lying down or you have your head resting against something,

Just noting the contact point between your head and that surface.

Scanning down the back of your head,

Through your ears,

Down into the base of your skull and then down into your neck.

Moving around to the front,

Checking in with your chin and into your throat.

And then just noticing the tops of your shoulders.

Scanning down each arm,

Down through the shoulders,

Into the biceps,

Triceps,

Down your forearms,

Into your wrists,

Back of your hands,

Palms and out your fingertips.

So again,

Just gently observing,

Just noticing.

Nothing you need to do or change,

Just gathering up information,

Noticing where the body is at in this moment.

Returning again to the tops of the shoulders,

We'll move down the back body this time.

So again,

Noticing contact points that you might have,

The chair or surface that you might be lying down on.

Scanning into the back body,

The shoulder blades and upper back,

The mid-back.

Scanning the rib cage,

Through the sides and into the front as well,

Into the low back.

And then wrapping around to the front,

You're scanning your belly,

Scanning above your belly button,

Heading up into your diaphragm,

Scanning through into your heart center and into your chest.

Connecting that whole torso together,

Front and back.

Curiously checking in,

Breathing into that space.

Your spine arriving at your hips,

Checking in through your buttocks and again,

Any contact points and surfaces below and beneath you.

Looping into the hips and the pelvic floor,

Pelvic bowl,

Pubic bone in the front.

Just checking in with that sacral and into your root chakra region and just noticing what's there.

Nothing right or wrong,

Good or bad,

Just gathering up what's open and relaxed,

What's feeling a bit more closed off or restricted.

Down each leg,

Thighs and hamstrings,

Into our knees,

Down our shins and calves,

Into our ankles,

Tops of our feet,

Soles of our feet and out our toes.

So now just feeling the weight of your whole body just surrendered to the surface beneath you.

Breathing into the whole space that you've just created for yourself from head to toe.

Seeing if you can imagine feeling,

Especially those maybe tight or tense or sore spots,

Softening and releasing as you're able to.

And as you enjoy the heaviness that you've created within your body and the state of a deeper relaxation,

Continuing to let your breath easefully rise and fall,

I'd invite you now,

We're going to use our imagination a bit,

And I'd like you to imagine a garden.

This is your garden.

You are the garden,

But you're also the gardener.

Inviting you to connect to your senses.

What do you see in this garden?

What sights do you behold?

What sounds do you hear?

What do you smell?

What do you feel,

Both physically in your body,

But also emotionally as you see this space unfolding in front of you?

You can imagine it just sort of unfolding,

Like building a scene,

Or perhaps you're the artist and it continues to grow and flourish with every paintbrush stroke.

Who's there with you in your garden?

Any people,

Maybe divine entities,

Maybe helpers,

Maybe people from the past,

Or maybe you're just there by yourself in your own private little space.

What's in your garden?

What's beautiful and flourishing?

What grows there?

Is there anything that's intruding on your garden?

Any weeds?

Any dying plants?

Anything that's maybe taking up space that you don't want there?

Is your garden the way you want it to be?

Notice if it's a yes or a no.

How does that yes or no show up in your body?

What sensations arise?

What emotions are there?

Are there any changes that you need to make?

I want you to imagine just lovingly planting,

Watering,

Tending to this beautiful garden,

Taking extra care of all the things that you want to nourish so they can grow here.

Pull out the weeds,

Pull up the dead or dying plants.

What do you want to put in its place?

And taking out old and offering new,

What would you like to replant here?

What do you need maybe around your garden to contain and protect it?

Can you imagine a greenhouse or maybe a fence or a gate?

Is the fence high or low?

Can you see through it or no?

Inviting your imagination to really paint a vivid and beautiful space here and change or take away anything that you'd like and when you arrive in a spot where it feels good right now for today just pause really feeling into it.

Allow yourself to receive and be nourished by the beauty of this place.

How does that feel?

What's happening in your body as you allow yourself to receive,

As you allow yourself to enjoy the fruits of your labor?

This place is yours.

You have created it.

You maintain it.

You get to decide what and whom are invited to be.

You get to access this place and the feeling and sensations that go with it whenever you want to because it never leaves you.

All you need to do is pause,

Slow down,

Breathe and then take yourself back into this space.

Taking a pause for yourself is a beautiful self-love offering.

We don't always need to push and rush and do.

It's not about the what.

It's about what we are doing,

What we are feeling,

What we are occupying in terms of our space within our heart,

In our physical body,

Our mental and emotional bodies right here right now.

So keeping this garden in mind as a metaphor,

How can you bring this experience,

This feeling into more spaces in your life?

Can you nourish yourself in this same way?

Can you tend to your needs in the same manner?

Can you lovingly nurture,

Take care of and manage,

Not from a place of frustration,

Not from a place of push or have to,

But can you take care of yourself with the same love and patience and care as you can your garden?

And in your life in doing that,

Perhaps you can work more easily.

Perhaps you could walk or drive or talk slower.

Perhaps you could pause for 30 seconds throughout your day and just check in.

Take a breath.

What do I need right now?

Can you imagine just being so beautifully attentive and responsive to yourself,

Knowing that the more that you do this with yourself,

The calmer and more nourished you'll be.

Your body learns to trust you and you learn to trust it.

You know that you can count on yourself always to show up in this ever-present loving and conscious way.

So you are the gardener.

You are the one who nourishes,

Who plants,

Who waters and tends.

But you are also the garden,

The recipient of all of these beautiful gifts.

And as you are tended to,

You will grow.

You will flourish and you will bloom.

We grow best under these conditions,

With love and patience,

Attentiveness and kindness.

Imagine leaving your garden for now,

Knowing that you can visit it anytime that you need to,

As an anchor point and as a reminder and also as a means of checking in with yourself once again.

Return to your garden and see what's there.

See if anything has shown up that is intruding,

That's interfering with the growth there.

Return often so that you can be mindful.

Connecting now to your physical body,

Connecting to the breath in and out of your belly,

Starting to introduce maybe some wiggles of your fingers and toes,

Fluttering your eyelids and offering yourself any stretching or gentle movement.

Starting to energize a bit more with breath as well,

Perhaps finding a more even inhale and exhale.

If you feel so inclined,

Bringing your hands up to your heart,

Offering gratitude to yourself for taking this time for yourself today and offering yourself this practice focusing on love and care for you.

You can revisit this whenever you need to and you can revisit your garden in your mind's eye as a way to anchor you back into the practice of forever being nurturing and kind and loving to you.

Last couple of breaths here and a little bit more movement.

Thank you so much for joining me for this meditation today and I wish you a wonderful rest of your day.