Hello and welcome to this gentle guided meditation practice that will invite you to grow compassion and love for your whole body.
Before we get started take a moment to find a comfortable position either seated or lying down.
Lengthen your spine gently if you can and then allow your limbs to relax.
Begin by noticing the parts of your body that make contact with the surface beneath you,
Becoming aware that you are held and supported by gravity.
Now draw your attention to your breath and take a few cleansing breath cycles here.
Consider that each breath in fills you with fresh restorative oxygen and each breath out clears you of what you no longer require,
What you no longer need.
After your next cleansing out breath continue to breathe naturally as you pay attention to the breath's effortless ebb and flow.
In a moment we will move into a body scan calling upon loving energy to fill each part of your body.
This process will look and feel different for each one of us since we all occupy our very own unique body in a different way.
Some body parts will feel spacious or light,
Others might feel numb or contracted and some might hold difficult emotions.
Our intention in this practice is not to judge what is present within the body but to nourish it with compassionate awareness regardless of how it feels or how we feel about it.
Know that at any time during this practice if a body part feels too difficult to be with you can let your attention move elsewhere resting in a place that feels easier to witness with love.
While we aren't here to avoid difficult feelings we might need a bit of time before we can fully embrace certain body parts with compassion especially if it carries with it intense emotions.
So to begin draw your attention towards both of your feet.
Notice how each foot feels without judgment and without expectation and regardless of what you observe here send your feet the gift of your loving awareness.
You might experience this loving awareness as a gentle soothing quality or perhaps as loving words such as I see you,
I love you,
I thank you.
Gently let your attention rise from your feet now passing through your ankles and into your lower legs.
In the same way notice what is here and then offer your lower legs the gift of your loving awareness.
Move gently up through the knees and into your thighs and in the very same way hold your thighs with open curious non-judgmental awareness and then offer them your love,
Your care,
And your gratitude.
Again this might be a sensory experience or it might come in the form of words like I see you,
I love you,
I thank you.
When you are ready gently draw your attention up into your hips holding your entire pelvic region in your awareness offering this part of your body the same quality of presence,
Curiosity,
Care,
And compassion.
If you encounter any difficult emotions or sensations along this journey see if you can witness these without making them right or wrong and recognize any difficulty that might be present and then offer it your love,
Your care,
And your tenderness,
Making friends with your experience entirely.
From your pelvis draw out attention into your entire core,
Your belly,
And lower back feeling a sense of self-care,
Self-compassion,
Self-love,
And self-nurturance pervading the space right now and then rising into your chest area invite a sense of care and ease to fill your heart and to fill the entire space around it.
Know that this practice is not about forcing good feelings upon ourselves rather it's about opening up to our inherent ability for self-nurture and self-love.
Let your attention rise up from your heart and into your shoulders allow your shoulders to feel your care and your love and your compassion and then allow that care to seep all the way down your arms eventually landing in your hands.
Let both arms in their entirety feel your love and compassion reaffirm with any loving words that arise naturally for you.
Draw your awareness now all the way back up your arms and into your throat feeling a sense of care filling this region and when you are ready to move on gently guide your awareness into your face noticing what it feels like to grant the fullness of your face your love and your care and your warmth.
Remember there is no right or wrong way to experience this.
Each one of us will experience our body parts differently and even that will change from moment to moment from day to day so allow even your own experience to be fluid and dynamic and then let your entire head fill with this loving awareness your forehead the crown of your head and all the way down the back of your head hold your entire body in your awareness now offer your full body your compassion your tenderness your love your care your kindness without it having to be or feel or look a certain way you are worthy of your unconditional love and compassion and your body not excluded.
I invite you now to gently rest a hand on your heart and then silently repeat may I move forward with love and compassion for my whole body may I move forward with love and compassion for my whole body may I move forward with love and compassion for my whole body take a couple more mindful breaths here gently wiggle your fingers and wiggle your toes and when you're ready to transition out of this practice in your own time gently open your eyes namaste
