Breaking Through Self-Sabotage

So for this practice,

Before we even go ahead and get comfortable,

I'm gonna invite you to just reach the arms way up overhead if that's available to you.

And if not,

You can just close your eyes and visualize this as well.

But reach the hands way up and then take one,

Take the wrist and the opposite hand,

It doesn't matter which side,

And then just gently stretch over.

So just opening the side of the body a little bit,

Because we sit a lot.

So we're just opening the physical body and then coming back to center,

Then inhale and then exhale,

Just going to the other side.

Just a little side stretch.

And then coming back to center and then dropping the hands and letting them shake.

We're gonna really shake out the hands,

Shake out the shoulders.

I bounce a little,

That's okay.

Just releasing tension in the body.

And then now when that feels complete,

Going ahead and finding a comfortable position.

You can do this lying down or seated in any way that's most comfortable for your body today.

If you're lying down,

You might put something beneath the knees to take pressure off the low back or something beneath the head to support the neck.

And if you're seated,

Just letting the spine have something to rest along,

Or letting the head just find a comfortable position,

Just resting between the shoulders.

And whether you're seated or lying down,

I encourage you to place a blanket over you or wrap a shawl around the shoulders.

This helps keep the body temperature steady as we practice.

And it also invites a sense of comfort to the nervous system allowing it to feel safe,

Allowing you to feel protected as we go into this inner space.

I'm making any final adjustments so that you can be as cozy as possible.

And then gently closing your eyes as an invitation to go inward.

And then taking a nice full breath in through the nose,

Pausing at the top of the inhale,

And then open the mouth,

Exhale with a nice audible sigh,

Softening through the eyes,

The jaw,

Releasing the tongue,

All the muscles in the neck.

And taking another full breath in through the nose,

Feeling the ribcage expand with that inhale,

Pause,

Open the mouth,

Sigh it out,

Exhale,

Softening through the shoulders,

Upper arms,

All the way down to the fingertips,

Through the whole torso.

And then taking another full breath in through the nose like this,

Feeling the belly expand,

Pause,

And then open the mouth,

Sigh,

Exhale,

Feeling the hips sinking into the support beneath you,

The whole body sinking into the support beneath you as the breath now finds a natural rhythm,

Each breath flowing fluidly one after the other.

Breath is easeful and steady as you gently become aware of the sounds that are off in the distance,

Just letting your attention travel from sound to sound to sound,

And becoming aware of the sounds that are a little bit closer to the body,

Perhaps even the sound of your own breath traveling in and out through the nose,

Echoing the sound of a gentle wave,

And bringing your awareness to the top of the head,

And feeling the top of the head and the forehead begin to soften,

Noticing the eyes softening,

Sinking a little deeper into the sockets,

Noticing the jaw and the cheeks softening,

The nostrils,

The lips,

Even the tongue,

All softening.

With the next exhale,

Noticing the shoulders and the upper back softening and releasing into the support beneath you,

Mid-back,

Lower back,

Upper arms,

Elbows,

Forearms,

Both hands,

And all 10 fingers softening and releasing,

Gently becoming aware of the upper chest,

Abdomen,

Lower belly,

And hips all softening.

And releasing the buttocks,

Upper legs,

Knees,

Lower legs,

Ankles,

Tops of the feet,

Soles of the feet,

And all 10 toes soften,

All right side of the body,

The whole left side of the body,

The whole body,

The whole body softens and releases,

You know,

Gently scan the body,

Becoming aware of any areas of lingering tension or any part of the body that is calling for your awareness and letting the breath rest here.

You might greet this part of the body,

And thank you for letting me know you're here and needing awareness,

Thank you shoulder,

Welcoming all sensation,

Welcoming the whole body into this,

And then scanning your experience for any emotions that are present with you today in the body and greeting them,

Welcoming each emotion as it arises,

All emotions are welcome.

And then gently bringing your awareness now to the flow of the breath.

You might imagine the breath traveling in through the crown of the head on the inhale,

Resting at the heart,

And exhaling from the heart to the base of the spine,

Inhaling base of the spine to the heart,

Exhaling heart to the crown of the head,

Inhale,

Crown of the head to the heart,

Exhaling,

Heart to the base of the spine,

Inhale,

Base of spine to heart,

Exhale,

Heart to the crown of the head,

Continuing to breathe in this way for just a few more moments,

Each breath soft and long,

Fluid and steady,

Transitioning through the heart center,

Just noticing if any thoughts are present,

Just noticing the ease in which the thoughts arise and dissolve,

Effortless activity in the mind,

Allowing the face to soften as you imagine and see yourself clearly in your mind's eye for a moment,

And seeing yourself clearly standing before you and gently directing these words to your own image.

I see you,

I hear you,

I'm sorry,

Please forgive me.

Thank you,

I love you,

I'm sorry,

Please forgive me.

Thank you,

I love you,

I'm sorry,

Please forgive me.

Thank you,

I love you,

I love you.

Pausing here and just holding awareness.

You might ask this vision of you if there's anything that they would like to share with you,

Being aware of any sensations,

Feeling tones or images that arise as you release this image of yourself and bring your awareness now into the body,

Just feeling the whole body,

The whole body becoming light,

The whole body light as a feather as you feel a subtle energy pulsing through the body with each breath.

Each breath moves the subtle energy through the body as you feel your aliveness,

Your vitality,

Your presence,

And then sensing into the support of the earth beneath you,

Feeling fully grounded,

Rooted,

Secure,

Feeling the support of the earth beneath you and the embrace of the air and the space around you,

Feeling fully supported,

Safe,

The body light and expansive,

Rooted and secure.

The breath is easy and soft,

Fluid and steady,

The body rooted and secure as this breath and energy moves into the space of the heart.

And you might sense the breath and this light traveling in waves,

Breathing in to the heart and exhaling,

Radiating out through the whole body and visualizing this light with the color of healing.

So this healing light,

This healing color enters the body with each breath,

Coming into the heart and with the exhale,

Radiating out into the whole body.

And this warm,

Healing colored light warms and softens the heart.

The whole heart is becoming warm,

Dissolving any doubts that linger.

As you exhale,

This warm,

Healing light moves through the body,

Radiating and expanding outward,

Dissolving tensions.

This light expands outward,

Each exhale becoming brighter and brighter,

Dissolving the boundaries of the body,

Illuminating the space around you,

Your light shining out into the world.

And you gently hold awareness of these words in your mind,

I grow,

I change and right here,

Right now,

I'm okay,

I am growing,

I am healing right here,

Right now,

I'm okay,

I am growing,

I am healing and right here,

Right now,

I'm okay.

Right here,

Right now,

I'm okay,

I'm okay.

As I expand in joy,

Love and abundance,

I'm okay,

I expand in joy,

I'm okay.

As I expand in joy,

Love and abundance,

I'm okay,

As I expand in joy,

Love and abundance,

Right here,

Right now,

I'm okay.

I trust this,

I trust this moment,

I trust,

I trust,

Allowing the breath to deepen as you begin to draw your light inward,

Gathering your healing light inward,

Closer and closer to the heart,

Whole body,

Light,

Supported,

Peaceful,

The breath gathering at the heart,

Often long,

Fluid and steady.

As you gently bring awareness back into the points of contact between the body and the surface below,

The feet on the ground,

The backs of the hips,

Shoulder blades,

The backs of the hands,

Still feeling the warmth in the heart as you begin to connect with the sounds that are around you,

Moving outward from the sound of the breath,

Moving in gentle waves with the sounds around the body,

Perhaps even the sounds off in the distance,

Inviting a very deep breath to travel in through the nose,

Feeling the ribcage open and expand,

The belly rise,

And exhale with a nice audible sigh,

And gently inviting soft movements into the fingers and the toes.

And if you're lying down,

You might draw the knees into the chest and give them a big hug and rock side to side or lay perfectly still.

If you're seated,

You might roll the shoulders,

Keeping the eyes closed,

Inviting subtle movements into the shoulders one direction and the other.

And if you're lying down,

You might roll over to the side now and taking the hand closest to the sky and pressing it onto the earth in front of the heart and allowing that to help you return to a seated position.

We can all meet seated together,

Eyes closed,

Hands gently resting on the lap for just a moment here.

And then bringing the hands together in front of the heart into a prayer position.

And on the next inhale,

I'll invite you to open the arms out wide to the side,

Just feeling that expansion.

And then exhale,

Just gathering the arms back in and coming back to that gentle prayer position.

We'll do that a couple more times,

Just inhaling,

Feeling that expansion,

The opening of the chest and the heart and the arms.

Exhale,

Gently gathering and bringing that in.

Just feeling that movement of opening out and becoming bigger in space,

Taking up space.

And exhale,

The coming back to center,

That gathering in.

Doing that two more times to your own rhythm.

Inhale,

Expanding.

Exhale,

Gathering.

Last one.

And gently finding stillness.

Inhale,

Tucking the chin just a little bit towards the chest and pausing here for a moment,

Inviting a soft grin to form on your lips.

One that says,

I got this.

I'm okay.

And keeping the gaze down,

Gently opening the eyes and then closing them again for a moment.

Opening the eyes,

Closing one more time and just pausing in that stillness.

And then opening the eyes once again and coming back to center,

Into community,

Into this shared space.

Welcome back.