You can listen to this wherever you happen to be.
If you're laying down,
You can stay laying down.
If you're sitting,
You can stay sitting.
Just getting into some sort of comfortable position.
And you can even listen to this if you're like doing stuff around your house or if you're stretching or just having it on as kind of pleasant background noise.
That's totally fine too.
Hopefully,
However you hear the words,
They'll still be beneficial to you.
So getting into that comfortable position where you can just start to tune into the physical shape that your body's in.
The shape that your spine is in and the spinal cord and just the space between your pelvic floor and the back of your throat and the crown of your head.
And then that relationship between your shoulders and your hips.
And just feel that center channel of energy starting to straighten out and clear.
And if you're in a space where you feel safe to do so,
At any point you can allow the eyes to gently close.
You can mark your arrival today to this practice with a full and deep cleansing breath.
Taking a long slow inhale in through the nose,
Letting yourself fill up with this new air.
And then pausing for a moment when you are full of that air and just experiencing what that feels like.
And as you need to,
Slowly exhaling,
Letting it all go bit by bit and pushing a little more air out of you even once you think you're empty.
To truly empty and then pause and experience that emptiness.
And letting the next inhale come as needed.
And you can breathe just like that a few more times if that feels good.
Just exaggerating the four parts of your breath,
The inhale,
The pause and the exhale and the pause.
And at any point you can release the guidance of your breath.
And just allow your body to breathe itself as you just start to tune in to the rhythm of your own bodily functions,
Your heartbeat and your breath.
And as you start to arrive into your own body,
You need to start to notice the physical muscles of the body.
And just notice any tension anywhere within the face and the head.
Maybe there's some tension in the jaw,
In the forehead,
In the ears,
In the scalp.
Maybe there's some tension in the neck and the shoulders.
And just by being aware of this sense of holding or resistance,
You can let these areas soften.
Just communicating to your body and to your muscles that it is safe.
It is safe to rest.
Safe to be in the position that feels the most natural to you.
And it is safe to let go of any facial expressions.
There's no need to hold anything up.
And just trusting that your body is perfectly capable of holding yourself up.
And there's nothing that you need to do at all for the next 15 minutes or so.
Your only job is to sit and to be.
Just be present in your body,
In your mind,
And stepping into that role of the observer.
And letting yourself just simply observe.
Observe what is present in the body,
What is present in the mind.
And know that sometimes this feels like a completely impossible task to do.
And that is perfectly okay if that's where you are today.
And remember that this is a practice.
This is a daily practice that changes every moment of your day.
Sometimes it's very straightforward and simple for us to sit and witness and be inside of our bodies and witness what is happening to our bodies,
What is happening to our minds.
And sometimes we feel very attached,
Very attached to the body,
Attached to the thoughts.
And we have trouble separating ourselves from the sensations in the body and from the ideas in the mind and the emotions.
Know that it is okay wherever you are in that process today.
And remember that this always is changing.
So letting yourself be in whatever phase you are in right now.
And if you feel very attached to the mind and if you're identifying with the judgments or the distractions,
The wandering to the past or to the future,
To regrets or to planning or to any form of judgment on yourself or what is happening,
Know that that is okay.
And sometimes what keeps us attached to those judgments is being angry with ourselves for having those judgments.
That makes sense.
Sometimes we get really frustrated with ourselves for not being able to let go and to relax.
And that frustration just keeps us hooked in that cycle for a little bit longer.
So by reminding yourself that it is natural and it is okay to feel attached to your surroundings,
To your body,
To your mind,
And know that it's normal.
It's completely normal that you feel that way if that's the way you feel.
And just by being okay with where you're at,
You're already doing the practice.
It's by accepting the circumstance that presents itself to you right now.
And oftentimes the biggest block in accessing our own love and our own heart is the judgment we have about ourselves and the feelings that we should be somewhere else.
Or maybe we get that reinforced from the outside as well.
Maybe we hear other people say that we should be in another place or we're not doing what we're supposed to do.
And know that that will never be true.
And you are the only one who can feel these things or who can know these things to be true or not.
Or just reminding yourself that you are always exactly where you need to be,
Even when it doesn't feel like it.
And it's impossible that it will always feel like we are where we're meant to be.
It's not possible that we would always feel connected and whole and like we are our best selves,
I guess.
And we're not meant to feel that way.
We are humans.
We are in a human body that experiences pain and emotions and trauma and cycles.
Our bodies and minds are always moving through cycles.
And by having the expectation that we should always feel loving and whole and holy,
This will keep us from getting there eventually,
Holding ourselves to these otherworldly expectations.
But simply by accepting where you're at,
You get a little bit closer to those feelings.
Accepting the pain,
Accepting the trials and the tests that present themselves to you.
And when we talk about loving ourselves,
This cannot only be our best selves or ourselves that we are proud of.
We have to love all sides of ourselves,
All versions of ourselves,
Past,
Present and future,
Which is so much easier said than done.
But it can be a lot more straightforward if we think about ourselves the same way we would your best friend or your child or your mother or anyone at all in your life who you love so deeply where you know that they will make mistakes and that doesn't change who they are as a person and your love for them.
So we have to practice this same attitude when thinking about ourselves and loving yourselves and all your shadows and all the dark parts of you because they are a part of you.
And that contrast that exists within you is what makes you beautiful.
If you think about yourself just as the yin and yang sign,
There is darkness intertwined with the light and there's always a little speck of darkness in the lights and there's always a little speck of light within the dark.
And this is who you are too.
And we should not strive to be all light all the time.
But rather accept ourselves when we are full of light and let ourselves be full,
Let ourselves be a full moon.
There's actually a full moon tonight,
So this is relevant.
And also accepting ourselves when we are more like a new moon and we are completely in the dark and not illuminated by soul or by the sun.
And then all those phases of the moon in between the new and the full.
Know that we are just like the moon and we should not strive to be any different.
So letting yourself be in whatever phase you happen to be in.
Know that it is exactly where you are meant to be.
And as you start to just tune in and listen to the rhythm of your heartbeat,
Just notice anything that you feel here.
And if it's at all difficult to feel or hear your heartbeat,
You can always place one or both hands there to just encourage that feeling from the outside as well.
And just remember how loved you are simply to have this heart in your body.
This heart would not exist within you.
This heart would not be keeping you alive for all these years if you were not deeply loved.
This heart is the result of being loved.
And there is nothing that you need to do in order to earn this love.
You are worthy of this simply for being here,
Simply because you are alive and because you have this heart that means that you are worthy.
And we can all get stuck in stages where we may be self-harm in some ways,
Maybe with addictive habits or some form of self-sabotage.
And that is perfectly okay.
This world is heavy.
This is a lot to deal with.
But we just have to keep remembering that if we want to truly show thanks for our love and for our heart and be truly grateful and live in that gratitude,
The best way that we can show thanks is by caring for our temple,
By caring for our bodies and our minds and doing the things that we know we need to do.
And leading by example,
By sharing the ideas that help you by living your truth and being so kind to yourself when you don't,
When you have those stages where you are not walking the walk,
I guess.
And there's this really helpful idea that comes with this,
I'm trying to remember.
It's the antidote for,
I guess,
Guilt or shame.
The antidote for shame is self-compassion.
That's what it is.
So when we feel so shameful about certain things that we have done or certain things we are doing,
We think that or a part of our bodies think that by shaming ourselves,
We can stop these behaviors by being really hard on ourselves,
By being that tough coach that you might have had.
We assume that that will change the behavior because if we're really tough on ourselves about something,
Then naturally we will want to change the way we're acting.
But that's not true.
It often just keeps us stuck in that cycle where we feel so bad about what we're doing that we just do more of it to not feel bad about it and the cycle continues.
And the antidote for this,
How we get out of this cycle is by self-compassion,
Is by understanding why we do what we do.
And it's because look at what we're all living through.
This is a crazy time to be alive.
There is so much stimulation and information all the time available to you.
And it can be really heavy and overwhelming.
So a lot of times we want to escape.
So that is okay.
And we don't have to beat ourselves up for that.
We can look at ourselves with this sense of understanding why we do what we do.
And then from that viewpoint,
You have the freedom to make your next move and decide if you want to break that cycle and walk forward in your true self and make the changes that you need to make.
And know that only you know what those are.
Only you know what your next step is.
Only you know what you are meant to do here.
And other people can spark some memories of what those things are for you.
But no one can tell you what you need to do.
Only by tuning deeply into yourself can these truths become evident to you.
So just having some patience,
Having a lot of patience with yourself through these times,
Through whatever you are going through right now.
And just give yourself that hug.
Give yourself a mental hug,
A real hug.
And just remember how strong you are just by being here,
Just by showing up to a practice like this,
For taking time to just step away from your busy life,
To just look inside yourself and question what is there.
And know that underneath everything is nothing but love.
And the more that we recognize the love within ourselves,
The more this love is allowed to grow.
And the more that we can grow our own love,
The more this will inspire the people who witness us.
I mean,
The more we can share that with the people that we love.
So know that this is not a selfish act.
Taking time to recharge yourself is never selfish.
It is exactly what is needed to move about this world in a helpful and honest way.
Just take a moment to recognize how your physical body is feeling or responding right now.
Realize any shapes that the face has moved into.
And then once again,
Relax all the muscles of the face.
Relax the shoulders,
The neck.
Soften the stomach and the hips.
And just allow each breath to flow freely inside of you.
And allow each new breath that comes into your body to cleanse you,
To fuel the things that you'd like to grow inside of you,
To fuel your love.
And each exhale will naturally cleanse and let go of anything that no longer serves you.
Just letting your breath act as a natural filter.
If it feels like something you'd like to do,
You can bring your hands to a prayer position at heart center and just feel that connection of your fingers and your palms.
Feel the connection of your heart into your thumbs and your thumbs back into your heart.
And just allow the crown of your head to lift away from your seat.
And just feel how much space you can take up.
Feel how much love and energy is within you.
And as you take a deep breath in,
Allow this new and fresh air to fill you up to every corner and every edge of your body.
And as you exhale,
Just letting all of that go and allowing your head to gently bow.
As you bow to the source of energy that you have come from,
Whatever that means to you.
As you bow to the constant guidance and inspiration that's around you,
Whatever form that might take for you.
Bowing to everyone in this space who's listened and completed this practice alongside you.
And most importantly,
Bowing to yourself for choosing to take the time to show up today.
And for this pure act of self-love and self-care.
May this act continue to heal you through the rest of your days and nights.
May you bring the same love and understanding into everything that you do and to everyone that you see.
Namaste.
