Self Love Through A Safe & Nourishing Body

For us to feel genuine self-value,

Self-acceptance and self-love,

It's important to feel that your own body and mind is an environment of safety and comfort.

When we judge ourselves a lot,

It can lead us to become disembodied,

Because it's like we don't want to fully embody who we are right now.

Realizing your body and your mind as a place of safety and comfort can feel really rewarding and nourishing.

After I was injured many years ago and went through a traumatic time of physical,

Mental and emotional suffering,

I embarked on a journey of really deep self-discovery,

And this was a journey involving becoming embodied and becoming aware of the movement of energy within.

I began to really understand that the nature of everything in life is just a process of energy moving and evolving all the time.

For example,

If I was feeling a negative feeling,

Like just say being upset,

I started to understand that this feeling is just a process of energy moving through my body,

And I stopped solidifying that feeling into a solid sense of myself,

Which helped to ease the self-judgment.

I gradually became more comfortable in being able to just be with that process of energy moving through my body,

And my body started to become a place of support for me,

A place where healing and transformation happens.

And isn't that great,

When your own body can be that place of support and security for you,

Instead of trying to find it from an outside source?

You can be your own sense of comfort and safety.

So let's do a meditation where we'll ground,

Connect to our bodies,

And become aware of the inner vitality of our subtle body.

And then resting there as things arise,

We'll notice them,

Give them space,

And allow them to move through without contracting around them.

And as we begin to settle and touch into an inner quiet and stillness,

It can feel deeply satisfying,

And the new sense of spaciousness can begin to allow your innate joy and love to want to bubble up and shine through into your being.

Before we begin the meditation,

Find yourself somewhere comfortable to sit,

Somewhere your body can relax.

I'll give you some guidance and then I'll leave some spaces of silence.

These spaces of silence are for you to really be with your own experience and feel what is happening for you.

It's really helpful to sit with your back straight and tall,

But don't be too rigid.

Allow a sense of movement and softness in your body.

And as you start to settle,

Bring your awareness in to become aware of your breath.

Notice the natural rhythm of your breath.

You can notice the sensations of the air coming in and out of your nostrils or your throat.

You could notice the feelings and sensations of your lungs,

Ribs,

And abdomen rising and falling with each in-breath and each out-breath.

You don't need to be trying to do anything here.

Just allow yourself to be present and inquisitive,

And notice the feelings and sensations in your body as you breathe.

Now shift your awareness slightly to become aware of your out-breath as a resting and settling breath,

And really follow each breath down and feel your body relax as you do that.

Noticing your body relax deeper and deeper with each out-breath.

Now move your awareness to become aware of your ground Now move your awareness to become aware of your ground.

Notice the feelings and sensations of the weight of your legs.

Notice the sensations of the ground or the cushion pushing up from below you.

Notice the feeling of the ground really supporting you as you relax.

The feeling of it almost holding you as you start to settle and relax.

And notice if you're really allowing yourself to trust that sense of ground and allowing your whole body to deeply relax and let go into it.

Whenever you become distracted,

There's no need to judge yourself.

There's no need to try and stop the thought or do anything with it.

See if you can let it go for now and then gently bring your awareness back to your breath and allow yourself to relax back down into the ground again.

As you rest and settle,

Move your awareness up into the trunk of your body and notice feelings and sensations within your trunk.

And whatever you notice,

Just allow it to be there.

Give it space and allow it to move how it needs to move.

Now allow your awareness to expand out to the rest of your body,

Out to your arms,

Up to your neck,

Your head,

And all the way down to your feet.

Up to your neck,

Your head,

And back down into your legs until you become aware of your whole body from the inside out.

And just allow whatever you notice to be as it is,

To move how it needs to move with a sense of quiet,

Present awareness.

Whenever you become distracted again,

You'll probably notice a sense of holding or contraction within your body,

Either subtly,

Energetically,

Or grossly,

Physically.

And if you notice this,

Allow that holding or contraction to gently soften,

Relax,

And open again.

And then gently bring your awareness back to your breath and back into feelings and sensations within your body as you relax and breathe.

You could have the sense that your whole body is breathing,

Like your skin is permeable.

And let that breathing process soften the subtle holding to your sense of form.

So as you breathe,

Let your whole body breathe and let yourself gradually become more spacious and open.

So as you breathe,

Let yourself gradually become more spacious and open.

Continuously relaxing and letting go.

While you're resting in this spaciousness,

You may get a sense of the aliveness within your body,

An inner vitality,

A vibrancy within.

And you may notice that this vitality has different tones feelings and nuances to it.

Whatever you notice,

Allow it to be there and give it space to be as it is.

If you notice yourself trying too hard,

Again,

You'll probably notice a sense of holding or contraction in your body.

If you do,

That's fine.

Just allow that holding or contraction to soften and relax again.

And then gently bring your awareness back to your breath and back into feelings and sensations in your whole body.

As you relax,

If you notice any pain in your body,

See if you can just notice the sensations for what they are.

Give them space and allow them to move how they need to move.

And notice what you feel.

If you notice any feelings or emotions arising,

See if you can give them space to be fluid and move through.

However they want to move.

You may notice feelings,

Sensations and pain moving through.

But deeper than that,

You may notice a sense of comfort and safety that can be found within yourself.

You may start to notice a subtle feeling of joy.

You might notice just some kind of pleasant feeling somewhere there in your being.

You might notice a feeling of inner joy and love that feels like it wants to bubble up and expand into your being.

If you notice this,

Allow those feelings to expand out and fill your whole body with feelings of joy,

Compassion and love.

And try not to visualize it,

But see if you can really feel this joy and love in your body as you breathe.

As we bring this meditation to a close,

Know that these feelings of joy and love are innate aspects of your being.

Joy and love are innate aspects of your true nature.

They are always there.

So anytime you may need them in your normal daily life,

See if you can allow yourself to settle,

Open to spaciousness and allow that joy and love to shine,

Expand and fill your body as much as you like.

For some of us,

It may be more challenging to really rest in and feel comfortable in our bodies.

Most of us are disembodied to one extent or the other.

And this could be from trauma in our life,

Old wounding,

Pain or stress in our lives.

So if you find that you're someone who struggles to feel a really deep connection to being fully embodied in your body,

To being fully embodied in your body,

Or don't feel safe in your body,

It could mean that you just need time to begin to trust your body again.

I encourage you to take your time and stay with what feels resourcing for you.

You can repeat this meditation as many times as you want if you feel like you need time to trust your body and deeply let go.

This meditation is from my course called Deep Healing,

Self-Acceptance and Self-Love.

So if you enjoyed it and would love to explore deeper feelings of self-acceptance and self-love,

You're welcome to have a look at the course.

Thank you.