So always before you do a guided meditation,
You're going to want to make sure that you're in a place where it's both safe and appropriate to close your eyes.
So when you're ready,
Go ahead and settle down,
Settle in,
Close your eyes.
And I invite you to start the process of focusing in on your breath.
Breathing in and breathing out.
And it can feel quite nice to take some time to focus in on the breath.
To take some time to focus in on the breath.
With every breath in,
Breathing in calm.
And with every breath out,
Releasing and letting go.
First letting go of the past.
Anything that may have happened before you closed your eyes and began to settle down.
Exhaling and letting go.
One can feel good letting go.
As you breathe in and breathe out.
Focusing in on your breath,
Allow yourself to let go of the future.
Taking a breath or two breaths and with every exhale letting go of anything that may be coming up.
Just releasing it.
And while you breathe in and breathe out.
Giving yourself permission to connect to your breath.
Connecting to this very moment in time.
I invite you to start the process of relaxing the body.
The eyes are the smallest muscle group over which you have conscious control.
Just invite the eyes to relax.
Letting go of any of the tension that's there.
Letting go of any tightness as you soften the muscles around the eyes.
And soften the jaw and the muscles of the jaw.
Inviting stillness into all of the muscles of the face as you release the tension.
As you let go.
It can feel good just to nurture yourself by taking time to relax the body and release,
Let go of anything that may have been there.
And as your face continues to relax and soften.
Draw your attention down to the shoulders and let the shoulders soften with relaxation.
Perhaps your shoulders even drop down just a little bit.
As you allow yourself to sink into or melt into the place you're sitting or lying down.
Every out-breath is like a silent declaration of letting go.
Giving yourself permission to release and let go just a little bit more.
Now as you focus in on your breath.
I invite you to relax the muscles of the stomach and the chest.
Softening the muscles with relaxation.
A beautiful sense of stillness flowing through the chest and the stomach.
Just how deeply can you relax?
How much can you let go?
As you scan down the body through the legs,
Through the knees,
Through the shins,
The calves.
Continuing to relax.
It feels good to take a few moments of stillness.
It feels good to take a moment to nourish your body and mind with stillness and calm and quiet.
Invite into your awareness an image that represents peace.
The colors that represent the colors of peace.
The sounds in the image.
Sounds of peace.
An image,
A place or a symbol that generates a deep sense of stillness inside of you.
Allow yourself to be there.
To see,
To hear and to feel what it's like to be in that place.
Or to connect in some meaningful way to the image that represents peace and stillness for you.
Allow that feeling to begin to work its way down into the body.
Softening the insides as you cultivate peace inside.
It may help to silently repeat the word,
Peace.
As you savor that word,
Rolling it around your awareness,
Allowing it to echo through the mind.
Allowing it to echo through the entire soul,
Peace.
And give yourself permission to dial that peace up.
Almost like you had a volume knob.
That you could turn up,
Up,
Up in such a way that the presence of peace begins to radiate and spread through your body.
Expanding your soul,
Your mind,
Your heart with peace.
Then invite into your awareness a younger version of yourself,
One who needs love.
There's no right or wrong age.
Simply inviting a younger you that is ready and willing to receive deep,
Honest and sincere love.
And whether you're simply aware that you've connected with that younger version of the self.
Or whether you see the image of the younger you.
There's not a right or wrong way to do this.
Simply allow your awareness to rest on that younger version of yourself.
And then imagine reaching down inside and finding a word,
A small act of kindness like a hug or an embrace.
Or perhaps even an idea like love or kindness.
And there in the imagination express that loving kindness,
That word,
That embrace to the younger self.
Expressing deeply the feeling of love.
To that younger version of you.
I love you.
I love you.
And just allow that love to flow to the younger self.
And if it feels safe and appropriate to do so,
Reach out the hands and place a younger version of the self.
Shrinking down that image,
Down into the hands,
Until you're holding that younger version of the self in the palm of your hand.
And then lovingly place that self into the heart.
Allowing yourself to continue to nourish that younger version of the self deep within the heart.
Also inviting yourself to receive love back from the younger self.
And allowing that love to grow and to radiate through your entire being.
Perhaps you may even imagine the color of love growing inside of the heart.
Draw your awareness down to that color now.
And invite an image from the unconscious mind,
From your awareness.
An image that represents that light of love.
And allow the light of love to grow,
To expand.
Perhaps it's tingling or vibrating through your body now.
As the color of love begins to radiate through you,
Expanding you,
Growing you,
And growing inside of you.
When you deeply connect to love,
What is that like?
Some people feel an openness radiating through the heart.
Many people feel warmth.
Others feel a soft feeling that's difficult to describe.
There's not a right or a wrong way for you to experience that now.
But with every in-breath,
Allow that feeling of love to radiate,
To grow,
And expand.
Until it's filled your entire being.
Allow the feeling to radiate,
To grow,
And expand.
Out beyond the self,
Connecting you deeply to the ones who you love.
Fill them with that love now.
Growing,
Radiating,
Expanding.
And also feeling the flow of love coming back to you as it enters into your being.
And as we come to the close of this meditation,
Hold on to this expanded feeling of self-love and love from others.
At your own pace,
At your own speed,
You can gently open your eyes and bring your awareness and attention into the present moment.
Giving yourself permission to connect fully and completely to the here and now.
And as your eyes are opening,
I would like to leave you with these words.
You are worthy of love.
May you be well.
May you find peace.
And may you find joy.
Thank you.
