Welcome to this body healing meditation.
This is Sherry Macri,
Clinical Director at Green Mountain at Fox Run.
This meditation can be helpful in developing love towards the body.
It's especially useful in healing body shame,
Particularly shame that may be related to emotional eating or disordered eating.
So to begin,
Sit comfortably with your back erect,
Though not rigid.
You may close your eyes if you're comfortable doing so,
Or if you prefer,
You may leave them open,
Settling into a soft gaze at a spot in front of you.
And relaxing your eyes,
Dropping your shoulders,
Relaxing your jaw,
Softening your belly.
Beginning to notice sensations of breathing.
Noticing the place where your breath is most vivid.
Perhaps that's at the tip of your nose or the edge of your lips,
Or in the expansion and contraction of your belly.
And when you find the place where breath is most vivid for you,
Gather all of your attention on this place and rest.
When tension wanders and you're distracted,
Notice that you've been distracted.
And without judgment,
Bring your attention back to the place where you notice your breath most vividly.
Simply breathing,
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
And now becoming aware of your body,
Simply noticing your body as it is sitting or lying here.
And scanning the focus of your attention throughout your body.
Scanning from the bottoms of your feet all the way up through your legs,
Your hips,
Your belly,
Back,
Shoulders,
Arms,
Hands.
Back up to your neck and throat,
Your face,
Back of your head,
Up through the top of your head.
And as you're scanning,
Being aware of the parts of your body that you feel positively about.
Also being aware of the parts of your body that you feel neutral about.
And noticing the parts of your body you feel negatively about.
Simply being aware.
And now focusing your attention on the parts of your body that you feel less comfortable with or negatively about.
Noticing which parts of your body you feel negatively about.
Having awareness of the thoughts in your mind that may come up as you focus on these parts of your body.
Also noticing emotions as you focus your attention on these parts of your body.
You may be aware of anger,
Regret,
Fear,
Grief,
Perhaps feeling betrayed by your body.
Any emotions and thoughts that are here,
Simply allow them to be just as they are and be aware of them.
Your body has been with you all your life.
It's with you every day.
It has changed in many ways.
And it changes every day,
Internally and externally.
Within your body is the essence of you.
Regardless of how your body changes,
The you remains.
Your body has changed and will continue to change,
Much like the weather changes.
Through weather changes,
The sky holds the weather and remains its essential self.
Much like the essence of you remains yourself.
Weather can be pleasant and warm.
It can be dark and stormy or cloudy and dreary.
People comment on the weather every day,
Sometimes commenting that the weather is beautiful,
Other times not.
Yet regardless of the weather and what people say,
The sky remains its essential self.
Unwavering,
Still,
With space and understanding to hold any type of weather as it changes moment by moment,
Day by day.
We can embody the same unwavering stillness in the face of everything that changes in our own lives.
In our lives we constantly experience the changing nature of mind and body and the outer world.
We have our own periods of warmth and coldness,
Our moments of pleasantness or drabness.
We experience storms of varying intensity in our own minds and bodies.
We endure periods of darkness and pain,
As well as moments of joy.
Our thoughts and feelings,
Our emotional storms and crises,
Our appearance and bodies are very much like the weather,
Changing constantly.
By embodying the sky,
Unwavering still,
With an enduring nature and understanding,
You can link up with this stability and adopt it for your own.
Using the sky's energy to support your energy and connect the true essence of you beneath the changing weather of your own body.
Allow yourself to experience your body again,
The parts you feel positively about,
Neutral about,
And negatively about.
Though with a sense of stillness,
A sense of unwavering peacefulness and non-judgment.
Letting yourself experience stillness,
Understanding,
And compassion for all parts of your body.
Perhaps as you breathe,
Repeating to yourself on the in-breath,
I care and have compassion for all parts of my body.
Then slowly breathing out.
Again,
Breathing in,
Repeating,
I care and have compassion for all parts of my body.
And slowly breathing out.
Now shifting the focus of your attention on the sensations of breathing.
And bringing this meditation to a close,
You may gently open your eyes when you're ready.
Using this meditation to allow any thoughts or emotions that arise about your body to simply be as they are,
Allowing them to be okay.
And finding a place of space and understanding and compassion and non-judgment for all parts of your body.
