Find a position that feels safe and supported.
Seated,
Lying down,
Or even standing if you want to work with more movement.
Let your body settle in.
Close your eyes and soften your gaze.
And begin with two or three slow,
Deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Let your nervous system believe that it's safe to slow down.
Bringing your attention inward.
Slowly scan your body from the crown of your head down to your jaw,
Chest,
Shoulders,
Your hands.
Feel the belly,
The trunk of the body into the hips,
Your glutes,
Thighs,
Legs,
Feet.
Where do I feel tight,
Clenched,
Heavy,
Or numb?
You might notice it in your stomach,
Thighs,
Arms,
Face,
Or pelvis.
Places that shame often hides.
So place a gentle hand there.
No pressure.
Just contact.
If the mind starts to wander out of fear of facing the shame that you believe you are carrying,
Bring yourself back with the breath.
Say inwardly,
I feel you.
I'm here with you.
Now let's begin to work with the shame.
Once you've located it in your body,
Breathe into that area intentionally.
Inhale through your nose.
And imagine breathing directly into that spot.
So that when you exhale slowly,
Like a sigh through your mouth,
That area softens even by 2%.
Not all at once.
Just enough.
Repeat this three more times.
Letting the breath act like a gentle spotlight.
Illuminating,
But not shaming.
As you become more aware of the shame and where it lives in your body,
If placing the hand isn't containing enough,
You can cross your arms over your chest and give yourself a hug.
Activating your ventral vagal safety.
And letting your nervous system know that this emotion is okay to feel.
Continue to breathe into the place that shame is living.
Gently rolling your shoulders or your torso.
Opening your chest slightly as if you're taking up a little bit more space.
And let this movement gently invite mobility into parts of the body that shame has tried to shut down.
And maybe now shame has a voice or a sound.
Maybe with each breath,
As you bring more awareness to this place in the body,
It gets louder.
So let's give it a voice.
Take a breath in.
And on the exhale,
Let out a sound.
A sigh,
A hum,
A groan.
Let your body guide you.
Let shame speak.
Let it have a voice.
Give it space.
And maybe it's tears.
Maybe it's anger.
Without harming yourself or others around you,
Give shame a place to speak.
Return to the place of shame in your body,
Now that you've given it a voice.
It's time to use your voice of the self to bring it back into love.
Speak to this shame inside of you softly.
You're not bad.
You're not bad.
You're not bad.
You make sense.
You make sense.
You make sense.
You don't have to hide anymore.
Tell it.
You don't have to hide anymore.
It's okay.
I choose to stay with you,
To hold you,
To allow you to take up space.
Let these words land in the tissue of your cells.
Let these words land in the tissue of your body,
Not just in your mind.
Sometimes we don't know what we don't know.
Or sometimes the more wounded parts of us make decisions for us before the self can come in and support.
It's okay.
It's okay to be human.
Rub your hands together for a few seconds.
Feel warmth and aliveness.
And place those hands on your chest or wherever the shame lived.
And feel the shift,
However small it may be.
Take three more breaths.
Cleansing,
Softening,
Grounding breaths.
Has anything softened?
Opened?
Warmed?
You've just changed something.
Even if it's small,
It's real.
Repeat these words in your mind and in your body before moving on with the rest of your day.
My body is not wrong.
It remembers,
And now it's learning safety.
I can feel shame and stay present with it.
I am building a new relationship with the parts I used to hide.
Healing doesn't mean perfection.
It means progress.
When you're ready,
Slowly and gently open your eyes.
Stretch your body.
Take up physical space.
And don't forget to drink a lot of water after this.
Maybe even journal what came up for you.
And know that shame is not where your story begins.
