A Journey Of Self Love, Stillness, Kindness And Gratitude

I invite you to just get comfortable and settle in or whatever that looks like for you.

Allow your body to just relax and bring yourself right to your center.

I invite you to bring your awareness to your breath.

Tracking your breath,

Being right with it,

With the inhalation,

If comfortable,

Through the nose and the exhalation out through the nose.

As you track your breath,

You're bringing yourself back to the very present.

So if thoughts pop into your head,

That's okay.

Just give them a figurative nod,

Allow them to pass by.

Bring yourself back to your breath.

Now bring your awareness as well to your body.

Becoming aware and allowing your shoulders to relax a bit.

Feel the loosening and the releasing of your body.

Feel the loosening and the releasing of tension from the back,

From the neck,

Allowing yourself to settle in even further.

Bring your awareness to what is supporting you,

Whether it's a chair,

A bench,

A sofa.

And just notice what parts of your body are literally being held or supported.

Bring your awareness to where your legs are making contact with the seat.

Allowing the muscles in your legs,

Your knees,

Your joints to just relax.

Bring your awareness to your feet.

Perhaps they're connected with the floor,

The ground.

Bring your awareness to the air around you.

Can you feel the temperature?

Is it different on your skin?

As we bring our awareness inward,

We slow our attention to everything outside that's calling for our attention.

And that's okay.

It'll be there at the end of this brief moment.

Everything that you've left put aside,

It'll be there for you to pick up again.

But right now,

This time is for you.

This time is a gifting to yourself so that we can come home to our very presence,

This very moment.

And just experience the now.

And when we do this,

It allows us to do a little bit of an inward journey.

So if you can continue tracking your breath and imagine as you're sitting here that you're going inward.

Whether you're climbing inside of yourself,

Whether you're turning your attention inward.

We're going into that quiet space that holds so much information,

That holds so much knowledge,

That holds so much wisdom.

So I invite you to get comfortable with that awareness of going inside.

And then get your physical body really comfortable with however you're sitting or setting,

Allowing all of your muscles to just relax a little more,

Settle in a little more deeply.

And for the next 10 seconds or so I invite you to just continue tracking your breath.

And I will count down the last three seconds or so.

And then invite you to just sit inside of yourself for two minutes.

Allowing everything to empty and allowing you just to be.

Three,

Two,

One.

And I invite you to figuratively come forward and give a nod,

Give a nod to yourself.

Because you just paused everything and went on this little journey climbing inside of yourself.

And then holding just that space for two minutes.

And sometimes that is the most difficult thing that we can do.

And part of that is a gifting of self-kindness.

Yeah.

Can also be considered emotional support.

Gifting of self-kindness.

We're going to go on a little bit of a guided journey and I invite you to bring your awareness back into yourself.

And just do a scan.

What does it feel like on the top of your head?

Bringing your awareness to your face,

To your neck,

To your shoulders.

Not trying to change anything but just bringing your awareness.

Is there tension that needs to be released?

When I mentioned that,

Is there a shift?

And continue with your awareness down through the trunk,

Like through that chest area,

The solar plexus,

The belly,

Your hips.

And bring that self-awareness to your legs,

To your knees,

To your shins,

Down to the ankles.

And notice what your feet are connecting with.

I invite you to imagine that your feet on the floor are allowing the energy of your body to extend down into the floor,

Into the earth.

Really expanding and traveling down.

Just connecting,

Almost like deep,

Deep roots into the earth.

And while you have that energy,

That light energy from you down deep into the earth,

Like roots,

Like magnificent roots of plants or trees,

I invite you to feel that connection and to then bring your awareness to your breath,

Tracking a larger inhalation and allowing that exhalation to be even bigger as well.

As you breathe in,

Imagine that it's fresh air that you're taking in,

Bringing more life and energy to each of your cells.

And as you exhale,

Allowing things that are stagnant,

Stuck,

Stiff,

Out through that exhalation.

So you're bringing in new,

And you're releasing that which no longer serves you.

And go ahead and just track that for a few cycles.

It's almost like you're waking the energy within your system and remember that that is also going down into the earth.

And if we are to receive that everything is energy,

Allowing that energy to come in to your root system and to track and travel back up into you.

And allow your breath,

That inhalation and the exhalation to match with the rhythm of the energy from the earth.

Allowing your body to be in sync with the rhythm of the earth.

So I'm going to invite you to take two more cycles of breath at your own pace.

And when you're ready,

I would invite you to imagine in your mind's eye,

Standing up and going to the door and opening it.

And as you're standing,

And you take that inhalation,

Notice the air and the freshness to it.

Take a look around,

Observe.

What do you see?

What do you feel?

Are there fragrances?

And continuing this journey in your mind's eye,

The imaginal journey,

I invite you to step out over that threshold to the outside.

That's very lovely.

It's very pleasant.

And if you turn to your right.

There is a bit of path.

So I invite you to turn right and start walking down this path.

Being completely present.

I just allow you to open up,

Almost like rolling your shoulders back as you walk,

Allowing that heart chakra to open up.

And breathing in with a gratitude,

Noticing what is around you.

What is something beautiful that you see?

And just make note of it.

And how does that shift how you feel inside.

Perhaps you pause and take a look and see a lovely garden.

And with that inhalation through the nose,

What do you smell?

Is it fragrant?

And again,

What is it right around you that you can bring a gratitude,

A thankfulness for?

It doesn't need to be big.

It can be quite small.

And if you're not sensing it outside of you,

Awaken the awareness of that part of being within you and what is there,

Right there,

That you can be thankful for?

And again,

I invite you to keep walking.

And just a few more steps down on the left-hand side,

There is this,

It's almost like an outdoor book box.

And it's beautiful.

And there is a door,

And the door has glass on it.

And you can see inside clearly that there are books,

An assortment of books.

It's lovely.

Two shelves.

And you open it up.

And there is a little sign that you notice.

All are welcome.

So you open it,

And you start looking at the books.

You're looking at the spines.

And there's one that's really,

Really tickling your curiosity.

And you pull it out.

And you open it up,

Just to a random page.

And I invite you to allow your eyes to settle and see if there is a word or a sentence that is just for you in this moment,

In this time.

Is there something for you?

Is there something for you?

And if not,

I invite you to put your hand on that open page.

And say,

What does myself want to share with me?

And you may hear a word.

You may get a sense of an emotion.

Or you may see a picture.

Or you may have the essence of a feeling.

Whatever it is,

Go ahead and close that book.

Slide it back onto the shelf.

And take a moment and allow a slight smile to come across your face.

And from your heart,

Say thank you.

And when we come back to our center,

Come back to who we are right inside,

And we give ourselves permission to first sit with the empty.

And then to invite a question.

And then to begin to hear from those quieter parts within ourself.

The deeper aspects within.

So now I invite you to go ahead and close that glass front.

And look back down the road,

That beautiful path.

And I invite you,

As you start to walk once again,

To clear everything from your mind.

If a question comes in,

Allow it to float by or nod and allow to release it.

And just keep the practice of clearing your mind,

Clearing yourself.

And your breath.

And each step.

You're totally safe.

You're moving forward,

It's lovely.

This time is just for you,

Allowing that space within to grow.

Sometimes it's difficult.

And I invite you for the next minute to walk and allow the clearing.

Now go ahead and pause your walking.

And allow yourself to reflect on what that empty space felt like.

Sometimes the greatest kindness is the practice of stillness within.

And sometimes the most difficult thing is releasing all of the busyness and actually getting to that stillness,

That empty within.

So now as we continue this journey in our mind's eye,

I invite you to take a slight turn.

I invite you to look your way back.

And as you're walking I invite you to just be aware of what is around you.

And I invite you to bring your awareness as you're walking to your breath.

With the inhalation and the exhalation.

And ask yourself,

What is it that I need to know about bringing greater kindness to myself.

You can also ask,

What does it look like kindness for me?

And then ask yourself,

What does it feel like to have this self-kindness?

What does kindness for me feel like?

And allow your awareness to take notice.

Is there some place in your body that lit up?

Is there some place that felt a hug?

Is there some place that felt an essence,

An energy,

An emotion?

And just give that a nod.

And as you're walking up ahead on your right,

There is looks like two steps.

You're not sure what they're going to so you're going to slow down.

And as you come to these steps,

There's a lot of growth around.

So you're not sure what they go to but you choose to pause.

Curiosity getting the best of you.

And you put one foot up on that first step.

Bring the other foot up.

And this next step is quite tall but you can step up.

And so you choose to do that.

And it seems that there's an opening through these trees,

These plants.

And you lean forward and just look through that opening.

And in there,

You see the most beautiful,

Beautiful surrounding,

Beautiful scene.

And without even realizing it,

All the muscles in your body have relaxed.

Even the muscles on your face have relaxed.

And you find that your heart is just swelling up.

And there's so much love.

You also feel incredibly safe.

And you feel as if you have come home to your center like you have not been there in a long time.

But you feel strong in your power,

In your center.

And there's a beautiful peacefulness.

And what you see and feel and hear,

You then invite it to come right into you,

Into your heart so that you can embody this.

So that you can take this moment with you.

And after receiving it,

You give a nod and a big thank you.

And you climb down those steps.

And then you turn and you head down your path back to where you began.

And you're almost there,

But you just want to bask in this thankfulness.

And you want to realize that this is a feeling that you want to be able to access any time.

Allowing you to find stillness in any moment,

Wherever you are,

This going within.

And as you come back up to that door,

You take a big breath.

You put your hand on that handle and go ahead and open up.

And as you go over the threshold and go back to where your physical body is and climb right in,

Settle in,

Make yourself comfortable.

And bring your hands up to that heart chakra.

With a big breath.

And allow yourself to be in such gratitude.

Allow yourself to hold the kindness within.

And remember,

This is found from coming into your center.

The practice of finding that empty.

And then the practice is also receiving that wisdom from the deeper aspects of self.

So I thank you for taking this time for the journey today.

And when you're ready,

Bring yourself figuratively forward,

Wiggling fingers,

Toes,

And have a lovely day.