Self-Love Practice

Thank you for joining me in this self-love meditation and taking the time to nurture yourself.

If this is your first time trying a self-love practice,

You may find that this feels a bit unnatural or awkward.

Don't let this discourage you.

Only do what feels safe and healthy for you.

Our lives present us with constant opportunity for self-doubt and judgment.

Returning daily to self-love practices will assist you in staving off negative self-talk and in encouraging an authentic appreciation and connection with yourself.

To begin,

Let's take three deep breaths to settle into this self-love practice.

We will utilize a counted breath to find stillness.

Inhaling to the count of three,

Holding the breath for three,

And exhaling for five.

Let's begin.

Inhale one,

Two,

Three.

Hold one,

Two,

Three.

Exhale one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Good.

Inhale one,

Two,

Three.

Hold one,

Two,

Three.

Exhale one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Last one.

Inhale one,

Two,

Three.

Hold one,

Two,

Three.

Exhale one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Very nice.

Now please place both hands with your palms just above your ears and allow your fingers to spread across the top of your head.

Notice how this feels.

What amount of pressure or movement of the hands feels most comforting to you?

Continue this experimentation with your touch for three more breaths.

Let's move our hands so that with our palms at our chin,

Our hands cover the face with our fingertips at our forehead or hairline.

As you breathe,

Notice how it feels both physically and emotionally to place your hands in this way.

Now bringing our fingertips to hold the earlobes.

Lightly press or massage the earlobes.

Take a moment to think about what your ears do for you,

How they help you experience the world around you.

Think of some sounds that are precious to you.

Now stacking the hands on the back of the neck,

One hand at the base of the skull and the other beneath at the base of the neck.

Using the whole hand or the fingertips,

Find a form of massage that is pleasurable.

As it feels natural to you,

Move the hands back to the head or down to the shoulders.

Allow the hands to linger in any areas where it feels most comforting,

Healing or supportive.

Placing your hands now over your heart or in the center of your chest,

One on top of the other.

Feel the rise and fall of your chest as you inhale and exhale.

See if you can sense the beating of your heart.

Allow yourself three deep breaths,

Attending to the sensations available to you in this position.

Now cross your arms over your chest with your hands resting on the shoulders.

Notice how this hug feels.

See if you can identify one authentic,

Kind statement about you that you can acknowledge to yourself.

As you hold your shoulders in this hug,

Repeat the statement three times.

Good.

Begin working your hands slowly and methodically down your arms until you're holding your hands together.

Interlace your fingers and roll the wrists in a figure eight or infinity symbol.

Good.

Now reverse the direction.

Release the hands and bring the thumb of one hand to the palm of the other.

Work your thumb up and down your palm in a manner that is pleasing to you.

Now using the fingers and thumb,

Apply pressure as you work up each of the fingers.

As you feel ready,

Repeat this on the other hand,

Bringing the thumb up and down the palm.

And then using the fingers and thumb to apply pressure as you work up each of the fingers.

How does this feel?

You're doing great.

Let's place one hand on our chest and one on our abdomen or belly.

Here we are going to practice a three-part breath,

Noticing the movement of our state internally and externally.

As we inhale,

First the belly rises,

Followed by the ribs,

And finally all the way up to the collarbone.

As we exhale,

The collarbones fall,

Then the ribs,

And finally the belly.

Let's begin.

Inhale,

Belly,

Ribs,

Collarbones.

Exhale,

Collarbones,

Ribs,

Belly.

Once again,

Inhale,

Belly,

Ribs,

Collarbones.

Exhale,

Collarbones,

Ribs,

Belly.

And one more.

Inhale,

Belly,

Ribs,

Collarbones.

Exhale,

Collarbones,

Ribs,

Belly.

Now forming the hands into fists,

Bring them into the small of the back or your lower back.

Gently pound your fists into the back,

Moving them up and down as it feels soothing to you.

Feel free to play with your hand shape,

Placement,

And rhythm as you see fit.

Vary the speed and pressure and listen to the sounds this produces.

Notice the sensation in the hands and the lower back and the reverberation as it moves through you.

Bringing a little love to your hips now,

Place your thumbs into your hip creases with your fingers curving around the outside of the hip.

Use the whole hand,

Fingers and thumb,

To massage the hips.

You may wish to rock your torso a bit to loosen the hip joints.

Good.

Let's try moving your torso in a circle.

How does that feel?

When you're ready,

Reverse the direction of the circle,

Balancing the body by matching the number of rotations on each side.

Now using the base of the palm where your hand meets your wrist,

Rub the length of your legs starting at the hips,

Press the base of your palms into the side of your thighs,

And moving all the way down the length of your legs to the ankle.

Gradually moving the hands up and down the lengths on all sides,

Smoothing the muscles all the way around.

Feel free to straighten or bend the knees so that this action can be performed comfortably.

Finally,

We bring the gift of touch to our ankles and feet.

Bring your hands to your toes and manipulate the ankle by using your hands on your toes to rotate them.

If you feel areas of tension,

Feel free to stretch and manipulate that area as you see fit.

Now releasing the toes,

Press the thumbs into the flesh of the soles of your feet.

As we massage the feet,

Let's take a few deep breaths again to the count of three,

Three,

And five.

Ready?

Inhale,

One,

Two,

Three.

Hold,

One,

Two,

Three.

Exhale,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Inhale,

One,

Two,

Three.

Hold,

One,

Two,

Three.

Exhale,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Last one,

Inhale,

One,

Two,

Three.

Hold,

One,

Two,

Three.

Exhale,

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five.

Awesome.

Thank you for taking this time to show yourself some appreciation.

Remember to return to this or any self-love practice daily to improve your relationship with yourself.