So go ahead and straighten up,
Pushing the crown of the head up towards the ceiling.
Now notice how the spine is strong,
But the whole rest of the body just hangs off of the spine effortlessly.
And already there's an ease and relaxation.
So the initial relaxation piece is going to be a little bit different than usual.
So what we're going to do is take three really deep breaths and then hold each one of them below the navel.
So go ahead and inhale deeply,
Retain the breath below the navel.
Now exhale,
But exhale very slowly,
Lengthening the exhale.
And now inhale again very,
Very deeply,
Retaining the breath below the navel.
Retain.
Exhale,
Really extend the exhale.
Now one more very deep breath.
Retain below the navel.
Exhale,
Really extending the exhale.
And now we're going to do a few minutes of body scan.
So bring your attention to the lower half of the body,
The feet,
The legs and the hips.
And the feet,
The legs and the hips all relax on their own without you doing anything.
And now feel the abdomen rise and fall on its own,
No effort.
And now touching into this effortlessness helps you relax the whole body and mind.
Even more.
And now feeling the chest expand and contract.
And now feeling the chest expand and contract.
And also noticing how this happens on its own,
No effort,
No intention.
And now feeling the shoulders and upper back,
Often we hold tension here.
And if there's any tension,
Just rest your attention there.
In a sense,
Just making peace with any tension,
Not trying to get rid of it.
And now feeling the arms.
And now feeling the hands.
And now feeling the head,
Neck and face.
And the head,
Neck and face all relax on their own without you doing anything.
And now take a deep,
Deep breath,
Feel the whole body all at once.
And now exhale,
Feeling the whole body exhale all at once and the body and mind all seem to disappear,
Dissipate.
And you notice this deep relaxation and pleasant focus.
And now bring up your safe place.
And now your safe place.
This is important.
This is already an imaginal exercise.
This sets up the rest of the meditation.
So we've kind of enlivened the body,
Touching into the body.
And now we want to enliven the imaginal aspects of the mind.
Keep developing your safe place,
Tuning into the visual,
Auditory,
Somatic,
And even olfactory,
The smell of your safe place.
That's right,
Keep going.
That's right.
And now really notice the impact,
The effect of being in your safe place on the body and the mind.
You feel even more relaxed and settled.
Even more at ease.
Okay,
Good.
So now bring up an easy to love object.
This will be either like a pet,
An animal,
Or a child below the age of six.
So if you have a pet,
You have a really easy to love object.
If you have a person or a pet you have a really uncomplicated relationship with,
An uncomplicated loving relationship with.
So bring them to mind.
We're going to do about one minute of loving kindness meditation.
You might say something like,
May you be well.
May you be well.
And also notice this is very personal.
You're both looking in each other's eyes sweetly,
Lovingly.
Also these feelings of loving kindness are totally mutual.
It's so personal.
And also so pure.
That's right.
Okay,
Good.
So now,
Let's take a moment to look down.
You as an inner child,
Your inner child now takes the place of the easy to love object of the beloved.
And also your inner parents are sending you loving kindness.
You as the inner child.
And now notice the perfectly calibrated responsiveness.
Notice this receptivity.
Notice the complete trustworthiness of your inner parents.
The complete trustworthiness of your inner parents.
It's so obvious to you,
You can trust these people.
And now develop the scene in such a way that this becomes very clear to you.
And now also notice this sweet quality of interest.
They really want to know what's going on with you,
What's coming up for you.
And they speak to you in a tone that reinforces this sweetness,
Trustworthiness,
Receptivity,
Interest.
Keep elaborating the scene in such a way to really get all of your needs met.
And now also notice how you can really be yourself.
And you can be yourself.
And you can be yourself.
And who you truly are is seen and received.
You can present messily.
You can present just however you are.
If there's upset,
No problem.
If there's joy,
That's celebrated as well.
And now check in with what the body's like.
Notice how this experience is seen and captured by the body.
You really feel settled.
Feel this very clearly in the body and in the mind.
That's right,
Keep developing the scene.
And now if this works for you,
The inner parents ask,
Well,
What's going on?
Is there anything that you need?
Is there something we can do to help you?
And now see them acting in accord with whatever it is that you need,
Whatever it is that you want.
Seeing how this in itself is a joy for them.
And now really notice what it feels like to get this kind of attention,
This kind of care.
And let that imprint deeply.
And now you can let that scene fade.
And now come sustain the meditation.
But come into your real adult life.
And at this point,
I'm going to read out some of the primary schemas,
Drawing from schema therapy.
And just pick one of them that kind of really resonates for you,
That's really been triggered over the last week.
And then we're going to do a repatterning scene around this to heal this part of you.
Okay,
So some of these schemas that are kind of very root,
Very core are a sense of abandonment and instability.
Mistrust and abuse.
And here you just want to pick one,
One of these to work on.
Also,
Emotional deprivation,
The sense of being deprived of nurturance or empathy or protection.
Defectiveness and shame.
Feeling like there's something wrong with you.
Isolation and alienation.
Dependence or incompetence.
A sense of enmeshment or an underdeveloped self.
So pick one of those to work on.
And now review a situation recently that triggered one of these.
So like touch into the image thoughts,
Touch into the auditory thoughts that remind you of this and really get triggered.
And it's also okay to work on something that's not related to one of these schemas.
Okay,
Good.
Coming into that mental state strongly.
And now see yourself on a timeline floating back to childhood.
And now find a memory that triggered you in the same way,
But now if it's actual trauma,
Don't go into the trauma,
Just go in afterwards where you're dealing with the emotions.
Don't go into the trauma itself.
But it can be anything,
Just as long as you're triggered in the same way.
And it can be a real memory,
Or like a composite felt sense reconstructed memory.
So take a minute to find that scene.
So now really experience this as your inner child.
Seeing how upsetting this was.
Now,
Bring up the inner parents.
Maybe they change locations with you,
But they move in such a way to make you feel really really safe.
That's the first thing to establish.
You feel really safe.
And there's this total sense of trust towards these inner parents.
These inner imaginary parents.
And now they inquire well what's going on,
What happened.
And there's this quality of total receptivity and responsiveness to you.
Also,
These parents see it from your perspective,
They are not circumspect,
They don't view it from anyone else's perspective,
Just yours.
So it's clear that you have advocates here.
That's right.
Keep changing the scene in such a way that you really get your needs met.
These inner parents validate your emotions.
But if you have any negative thoughts,
They actually do not validate that.
If you have negative thoughts about yourself,
They're not in accord with that.
Like no,
No,
This is not your fault.
And it's really clear to you that your parents see you as totally blameless.
And they keep reassuring you,
Keep comforting you in just the right way.
And now it's also clear you don't need to modify yourself for your inner parents.
You can present just as you are.
There's openness,
Receptivity and spaciousness about these inner parents that really give you a deep permission.
That's right,
Keep going.
So around any of your suffering,
The response of these inner parents is compassion.
It's not just recognition of your suffering,
But recognition from a place of complete love and receptivity.
You also notice how these inner parents are so at ease with physical affection,
With physical proximity,
In a way that would feel right to you.
And you're in control of that.
So just the amount of physical affection and support that you want.
Very calibrated to what you need.
So keep modifying the scene as you see fit.
And so now for some of you,
You might be getting really kind of emotionally regulated at this point.
And now notice how when you get really emotionally regulated,
The happy child,
The creative child arises.
And if that's arising for you,
Go do a scene consistent with this happiness,
Creativity,
This desire to play,
This desire to discover the world.
And then have the inner parents support you in just the right way,
Taking total joy in your creativity and play.
But if you still need soothing support,
Compassion from these inner parents,
Go ahead and do that now.
Keep going with that scene.
These parents would never ever rush you.
Keep going.
And keep imagining in such a way that you're getting just the perfect support,
The perfect responsive,
Highly attuned support from these inner parents.
That's right.
Keep going.
Really feeling this in the body and in the mind.
See how deeply this has affected you.
And already noticing how your life is going to be totally different going forward,
Given that you can rely on this level of support.
Good.
And so,
Go ahead and dissolve that scene and now come strongly into this happy child,
Happy child mode or creative child mode.
And now do a scene that's consistent with that mode,
That mode of being.
So this will be a positive scene where you work on something and you do something that you really find meaningful and interesting.
And it can be just anything.
That's right.
Keep developing that scene.
Really noticing the support of your inner parents.
That's right.
Keep going.
Okay,
Good.
Really feel all of this in the body,
In the mind,
Having it impressed deeply into your being.
And now,
Reflect on the piece of suffering that you worked on.
Maybe it was one of these schemas.
And now reflect.
This affects so many others.
I'm not alone in this suffering at all.
So on the in breath,
Reflect on the suffering of others,
How calm and it is.
This is compassion.
And now on the out breath,
Send them peace.
So on the in breath,
Reflecting on the suffering of all beings that have experienced this kind of conditioning.
And all beings includes you.
And now on the out breath,
Send all beings peace and well wishing.
The wish to be comforted and soothed,
To be supported.
And again,
All beings includes you.
Really touch into this quality of not being separate from others.
There's a sense of camaraderie,
Shared experience.
Now reflect on how you've really experienced this suffering.
How you work through some of it now in this meditation.
And now see how you see how all beings just want to be happy,
Just the same as you.
This is a common experience,
Common to all beings.
And now also reflect on this quality of understanding.
You understand yourself,
You understand your experience.
And thereby you also understand the experience of others.
Imperfectly,
You don't understand it totally.
But there's a more or less good enough sense of understanding for others as well.
Okay,
Good,
Now really feeling that in the body and the mind.
And now look forward into your real adult life,
Going forward.
And now see how these experiences that we had in this meditation have changed your life going forward.
See how you're going to be compassionate with others,
How others will be compassionate with you.
How there will be a mutual sympathetic joy,
A rejoicing in each other.
And now see how all conflicts that you might have otherwise expected all dissolve into well wishing and cooperation,
Collaboration.
And now notice how this changes everything in terms of what you expect from life.
I really feel that in the body and the mind.
Okay,
Good.
So now we'll start wrapping up the meditation.
I'll count from five to one and when I get to one,
You'll be awake and present in the room and settled in the experience.
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
You'll be awake and present in the room,
Settled in the experience.
