I'm Janna,
And welcome to accepting an imperfect body as is right now.
And as we practice this,
I am going to be doing it with you so you are not alone.
This is an unscripted meditation,
And I'm just going to share my own experience and my own practice with you in accepting our bodies,
Our imperfect human bodies.
So gently begin to close the eyes so you can settle into your body.
Take a moment to arrive into your body,
Your living,
Breathing body.
And place one hand on your chest,
If you can,
And one hand on your belly.
This is for all bodies,
So if there's anything that your body is not able to do,
Just imagine doing it.
We are all here to practice this meditation together.
And I know that sometimes when we place a hand on the belly,
Especially the belly,
There's judgment.
So whatever experience is there,
Just bring awareness to it.
You can even give it a little name tag,
You know,
Judging or neutral if there's no particular sensation,
And then release whatever that is and come back to my voice.
Just notice the hand rise with the chest on the inhale and the belly and fall on the exhale.
So just connecting first to your breath.
And you can let your hands fall wherever they may.
So when we breathe and bring awareness to the breath,
There is often less judgment than when we place a hand on the body.
Because often when we do not want to accept our bodies as is right now,
We tend to disconnect from them.
And then we are no longer sensing all of the important messages that our bodies can give us.
So today we will focus on acceptance from a place of full openheartedness.
So no striving,
No trying to change the body.
But in this practice,
We are going to bring full acceptance,
And we will also utilize the three components of mindful self-compassion to do that.
So let's take one more moment to just find a comfortable position for the body that we can sustain for the practice,
And just bring awareness to the crown of the head,
And we'll scan downward on your own,
Just noticing if there is any tension,
Or pain,
Or softness,
Or joy,
Or any part of the body that is calling to you,
That wants you to notice it.
So scan downward from head to toe.
We are focusing on awareness of the body.
That awareness is experienced through the mind.
Now I want you to bring to mind,
To your awareness,
People that you love,
Who have helped you have shown you compassion,
Who've been there for you,
Who've been an important part of your life,
And perhaps are still an important part of your life now,
And I want you to think about what it is about the people in your life that is most important to you.
Is it their essence,
Their compassion,
Their sense of caring for you,
Their companionship,
Maybe their playfulness?
Perhaps just name these traits,
These characteristics of the loving people in your life.
Name them in your head,
These characteristics that make them so special to you.
I want you to notice now,
If you named any of their body parts.
Perhaps you did,
Maybe their arms wrapped around you.
But most often,
What is most important in the relationships in our lives are not what people's bodies can do,
What they look like,
Or how they perform,
But it's how these people treat us and make us feel.
Imagine if we could do the same for ourselves,
If we could truly celebrate our goodness,
Our essence,
As opposed to focusing on the failures of our bodies.
So failures that we consider to be detriments,
To be lacking in some way.
So maybe it's what our bodies look like.
Within our culture,
We often feel we fail there,
Or how our bodies perform.
Maybe there's illness,
Or we compare to a time in our lives when we were better performers with our bodies,
Or we compare ourselves to others.
Those others,
Those others we hold up high on a pedestal,
Without knowing the stories in their own heads.
So in this practice,
I want you to focus,
As you do with others,
On yourself,
On your goodness and your essence.
And we're going to begin using the three parts of mindful self-compassion.
So the first is simply mindfulness in relation to our bodies.
Just bring awareness to what you're experiencing,
Or what you've been struggling with in your own body,
Without denying it,
Or saying,
You shouldn't think this about your body,
Or perhaps your body shouldn't be this way.
Just allow your thoughts and your feelings about your body to come to mind,
Because they exist.
Your perception of your body exists.
So just allow it to be known.
Perhaps you can say to yourself,
What do I think about my body as is,
Right now?
You can be truthful.
Now,
We move to part two,
Common humanity.
I want you to know your connection to others,
Even your connection to me.
I'm doing this with you right now,
Without words typed out or planned.
I'm experiencing this with you,
With the other people doing this meditation around the world right now.
We all struggle.
We all criticize our bodies.
We compare to how they were,
Or how they could be,
Or how we see the bodies of others.
You are no different.
You are no more flawed in this practice.
Bodies are imperfect.
Bodies are impermanent.
They change,
And they are meant to change.
Know you are not alone in your struggle to accept your body as is,
Right now.
This is a human struggle.
Now,
Let's move to the third part,
Self-kindness.
Kindness toward our bodies,
Which are all imperfect.
If you're able,
Place a hand on your heart.
Just connect to that metaphoric heart space,
That openness around the chest area where we breathe.
It symbolizes our loving space.
I want you to say to yourself,
It's okay,
Sweetheart,
Or dude,
Or buddy,
Or whatever term works for you.
It's okay to feel this.
It's okay to struggle with acceptance of the body.
It's okay to be imperfect.
It's okay for bodies to change.
It's okay,
Sweetheart.
Now,
You can release your hand.
Let yourself be comfortable in your body.
And this is your moment,
Your opportunity to let go of the striving.
It doesn't mean you can't care for your body and heal whatever needs to be healed.
In fact,
When we can accept our bodies as is,
Right now,
We reconnect with the body.
We listen to the needs of the body,
Not the outside cues of our culture and our society,
Perhaps even what our doctors tell us,
But rather our own wisdom from within,
That I call our wisdom on tap,
Our intuitive knowing.
Our bodies tell us what they need,
Even ailing bodies,
Even struggling bodies.
Let your body be heard.
Let it be felt.
And allow yourself to love your body the way you love the essence of the people in your life you care about.
Bring that same loving energy inward.
I know it's not an easy practice to do that.
We are conditioned to apologizing for our bodies.
We're disconnecting from them if there's been pain or trauma or criticism.
Yet this is your body.
This is your landing pad where your mind landed in this lifetime.
It can also be your launching pad for the best you,
The best version of the essence of you.
Yet you must accept your body as is now.
And then you can connect better with it,
Love it,
Nurture it,
Heal it.
Know it.
And of course,
Always hold it with compassion.
Your body is exactly as it's meant to be right now in this lifetime.
Let's inhale loving,
Caring energy for our bodies.
And let's exhale anything that doesn't serve.
Let go.
Let's take a few more breaths together.
With each inhale,
Bring some kindness and care into the body.
And with each exhale,
Let go of some striving,
Some comparisons,
Judgment.
Let's place the hand one more time on the body,
On the chest or on a part of the body that feels nurturing.
And send this beautiful human imperfect body that breathes for us.
Send it compassion.
Send it love.
Care for it.
And gently begin to open the eyes.
Thank you for meditating with me.
I'll be here whenever you need me.
