Show Yourself Love Today

Hello and welcome.

My name is Amy Ballantyne and I'm very excited to be leading you through this guided meditation today.

I invite you to get into a comfortable position.

Ensure that it is quiet in the space that you're in.

Perhaps plug in your earphones.

Find a space just for you.

If you're practicing this meditation lying down,

Ensuring that you have something supporting your neck and your head.

And you may want something underneath your knees,

Maybe around your hips.

If you are in a chair for this meditation,

Making sure that your feet are flat on the ground,

Your back is fully supported,

And your neck or your chin is in line with the floor.

Your hands can be palms facing up,

Facing down,

Clasped together.

And if you are seated for this meditation,

That your back is fully upright,

Chin is level at the floor,

Your hands can be palms facing up or facing down.

I invite you when you feel ready to do so to close your eyes and begin tuning into the sound of my voice and into your breathing.

Moving on that inhale,

Moving into your body.

And the exhale,

The flow of air coming out of your body.

Tension here.

Expanding that inhale for the count of four,

Three,

Two,

One.

And releasing the inhale for the count of four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Continuing to pay attention to that breath as it moves into your body and out of your body.

You may notice that your mind may begin to wander.

That's very normal.

When this happens,

Come back to your breathing and come back to the sound of my voice.

On your next inhale,

See the breath moving into your body,

Expanding your stomach,

Opening and releasing that breath on your exhale.

Follow it all the way out of your body.

Have your stomach fall back down.

Carefully deepening this breath.

On your next inhale,

I invite you to take your attention down to your feet.

You may want to clench and unclench your toes,

Point and flex your feet.

Rotate your ankles.

Really bring some relaxation to your feet and ankles.

Relaxing your calves and your shins,

Relaxing and unlocking your knees.

Focusing on your quads and your hamstrings,

Breathing that relaxation into those places,

Releasing any tension,

Letting any tension of your hips and pelvis go.

Noticing this feeling of relaxation flowing all the way from the tips of your toes all the way up,

All the way up,

Feeling very,

Very relaxed in your lower half.

Your attention now goes to your abdomen,

To your low back,

Releasing and relaxing here,

Letting go of any tension held in your stomach area,

Releasing all the way to your chest,

Having your chest open just a little bit more.

Good.

And breathing into those shoulders,

Releasing and relaxing them down and back,

Allowing the relaxation to flow all the way down your shoulders,

To your elbows,

To your forearms,

And to your hands.

This relaxation flows all the way down your shoulders to your fingertips.

Taking your attention now to your neck,

Releasing here,

Letting go,

Unclenching all of the muscles of your neck.

Noticing as you breathe in where your jaw is,

Is it clenched and tight?

Do you need to relax this area?

Where are your teeth and your tongue in your mouth?

Are they clenched?

Relaxing here,

Relaxing all of the muscles around your face,

Around your eyes,

Around your forehead,

On your scalp,

Feeling your face and neck and head become very,

Very relaxed.

And on your next breath in,

Scanning your mind all the way down from the top of your head to the tips of your toes or any other places in your body that you need to focus on releasing,

Letting go and relaxing,

Breathing in to those places.

On your next breath in,

You see this beautiful bright white light flowing into the top of your head.

It flows all the way down your head and neck,

All the way down your arms,

All the way down to your fingertips,

This bright white light.

It flows and it fills your entire chest and torso,

Flowing and filling as it fuels every cell all the way down,

All the way down your body.

Relaxing all of the cells it touches,

This bright white light flows all the way down your legs,

All the way down to the bottom of your feet,

Flowing and allowing this beautiful energy of relaxation and calm to fill every cell of your being.

It is pulsating,

It is vibrating this beautiful bright white light as it flows all the way through your body,

All the way to the bottom of your feet and every cell it touches,

It energizes your body with a sense of love and peace.

And it flows all the way down at the bottom of your feet to become the most glorious roots,

Surrounding you,

Rooting you to the earth,

Helping you to feel very,

Very present in this moment.

And you breathe here,

Feeling a deep sense of calm,

A deep sense of peace.

On your next breath in,

I invite you to see this beautiful path surrounded by flowers of all different colors and it winds off to the left.

There are long grasses amidst the flowers and you decide to walk along this path.

You continue to walk along and it is so beautiful here.

You can feel the sun on your body,

The warmth on your body.

You can feel the breeze,

This gentle breeze that is allowing you to be just cool enough.

You feel very content and peaceful in this place as you walk along this path.

Feel your feet walking along.

You reach out and you can touch the tips of the long grasses on either side of you.

It's a path made just for one,

But you can tell that many people have walked this way.

You spot many colors of flowers around you.

There are yellows and whites and purples,

A few reds.

It is very beautiful,

Very peaceful.

And up ahead,

You can tell that there is something coming as you walk along the path.

You're not quite sure,

But you are walking along the path and eventually you get to a place where there is a bench right in front of a very,

Very,

Very large old tree.

The stump itself,

It would take four people wrapping their arms around this tree to hug the tree together.

That's how large this tree is in front of you.

And you decide that you're going to sit down in this quiet place surrounded by all of this beauty.

You can hear a few birds here and there and a few insects,

But really it's quite quiet.

And you sit down near this tree feeling a deep sense of peace and strength.

This tree has been here for hundreds and hundreds of years.

It is very grounding just being near it.

And as you sit here,

You have a moment just for yourself.

You have a moment to take stock of all of the things about yourself that you are really,

Really proud of.

Perhaps it's something in work that you've recently accomplished.

Perhaps it is something with your family.

Perhaps it is that you have brought beautiful energy or joy to people around you in your experience.

Perhaps it's that you finished some books and you just love to read or you finished a garden.

You went and helped a neighbor with something.

You held a door open for a stranger.

You let a car pass that was clearly in a hurry.

There are so many things big and small to be proud of.

There are so many moments in the day where you have shown others care and help,

Comfort and love.

And as you sit here reflecting on these good moments,

It reminds you of the importance of providing good moments for yourself as well.

And so you take some time here to think about how have you shown yourself love today,

This week,

This month.

And as you ponder this question of showing yourself love,

Knowing that it can be small acts of kindness for yourself,

All the way up to big acts of kindness for yourself and love,

What will you do for you today?

Sometimes we look to external sources to bring us happiness and peace.

And it is with true enlightenment when we realize how fulfilled we can be when we are experiencing happiness,

Peace and love for ourselves,

From ourselves.

It's no one else's responsibility but ourselves to find moments that bring us joy,

Bring us calm,

Peace and love.

I will mind the time now and I invite you to think about and reflect on things that bring you joy,

Things that help you to feel love and peace and calm,

Happiness and how can you bring more of that into your life today.

I will bring you back in a moment.

I will signal with the As you consider love and showing yourself love,

What will you do today?

Perhaps it's as simple as saying,

I love you,

While looking at yourself in the mirror.

Perhaps it's writing those words.

Perhaps it's writing something kind.

Consider something that you can do just for yourself today.

You are grateful for this time of reflection and peace and calm and quiet.

This space to be still,

To relax your mind,

To relax your body,

To breathe deeply.

And as you look around at this very large tree and the strength and security and stability that it demonstrates,

You are reminded of your strength,

Of your stability and all the things that you bring into the lives of those people around you.

You stand up from your bench and you turn away from the tree and walk back down the path,

Noticing the vibrance of the colours around you.

Seeing the tickle of the grass on your fingers and the sun on your body and the cool breeze as you walk along your footsteps on the pathway.

As you walk along,

You stop and take one last look back at the tree and remember,

I am loved.

I am loved.

And you continue walking down the path.

And as you do,

This beautiful beam of sunlight follows you as if like a spotlight following you on your journey,

Pouring into the top of your head,

Flowing all the way down this bright white light down your neck,

Down your shoulders,

Flowing down both arms all the way to your fingertips,

Flowing all the way down your back,

Your torso,

All the way down,

Filling and fueling every cell that it touches,

All the way down your legs to your feet.

And you come to the beginning of this path and as you reach that spot,

You feel very happy and calm as the sunlight pours into the top of your head and flows all the way down to your feet where the most incredible roots form,

Grounding you here,

Connecting you to the earth so you feel very peaceful,

Calm and safe.

I invite you now on your next breath in to release all images.

On your next breath in to move your hands and feet and come back into this space you are in and finally when you feel ready to do so,

On your next breath in to open your eyes.

Thank you so much for meditating with me today.

Namaste.