Hi,
My name is Will and this is a guided practice on self-acceptance.
I want to welcome you wherever you find yourself and invite you to set aside any distractions whether physical or otherwise that would impede your present moment awareness.
Contrary to popular practice,
Mindfulness and meditation is intended to invite us to experience our experience.
And in areas of self-confidence,
Self-acceptance,
It may be easier to avoid hard truths.
But this practice is rooted in the truth that these hard truths have something to teach us.
And so,
We'll use them,
We'll befriend them,
And hopefully grow through them.
We'll begin with the sound of the bell.
Start with a few deep cleansing breaths.
Breathing deeply and at your own pace,
Begin to sink into a natural rhythm of breathing.
Not breathing too deep or too shallow,
But allow your own rhythm of breathing to emerge.
And it may be hard to sink into this breath,
But it's perhaps the most important part of practice.
And as feelings,
Thoughts,
Or sensations arrive,
Try not to resist or change.
Allow whatever is coming in this moment to come.
And as your mind,
Body,
Or heart becomes heavy,
Bring your awareness back to this breath.
And trust that you have the strength needed to be strong in this moment,
Grounded in present moment awareness.
And as Rumi writes,
These guests become guests in our guest house.
Let them come,
Stay for a while,
And then they'll be ready to leave in no time.
So let's focus on what we can control,
And that's this beautiful rhythm of the breath.
I invite you now to become aware of the presence and aliveness around you.
For a moment,
Shift outside of yourself to feel into the space around you,
To open your ears to the sounds around you.
And remember that you are held in this moment by something greater,
Something great that's beyond you and within you.
And now notice the awareness and presence in your body.
And perhaps notice it may be difficult to know where you end and this presence beyond you begins.
Make room for this deeper connection.
And speaking of this deeper connection,
Shift your attention now to the center of your chest and what's known as this deep spiritual heart.
And if it helps,
You can rest your hand on your heart or even drop your attention down from the head or up from the gut until you bring this awareness to the center of your chest where naturally we have a deeper capacity to hold and care.
In this spiritual center of our being,
We deeply know that all parts are welcome.
Even the darkness is welcome.
What is it like to feel known,
Held,
And seen from this deeper heart?
I'll now ring the bell and invite you to rest in this loving,
Open-hearted awareness and be open to what wisdom may emerge.
And then to signal the end of our time,
I'll ring one final bell.
Thank you for practicing with me.
May your spirit be strong.
May you be safe and protected.
May you be filled with healing and goodness.
And may you be held by love.
Peace.
