Often we think that the weight loss comes first, then the body love follows once we’ve gotten down to X size or X number of pounds. That’s not actually true, you have to start feeling good in your body now, so that you’ll give it the love and the nourishment it needs to get healthy and be able to release the weight.

One vital part of healthy living is slowing down. It’s taking notice of what’s around you and truly soaking in the moment so that you’re living your life every minute, and nothing is passing you by. And one good way to do that is to slow down through meditation. Meditation can be daunting for a lot of people because it seems like it’s hard. It seems like it takes a lot of time. It seems like you have to have a particular skill or be really good at it. And that isn’t the case.

I want to show you that today. We’re going to do a little meditation and the focus of what we’re going to be meditating about is body love. 

So how many times a day do you find yourself talking about your body, saying things like, “Ugh, I’m fat. I look terrible in this. My clothes don’t fit.” Whatever you say to yourself creates emotions, and emotions get assimilated into your body. Think about it, if you are scared, if something startles you, the physical change in your body that happens as a result is your heart pounding. Maybe you’re breathing quickens or you sweat. Whatever it is, that emotion caused a physical reaction.

So everything that you say to your body is causing an emotion and your body hears you and your body reacts to that. It’s going to affect your energy, it’s going to affect your confidence, and it’s going to affect your ability to nourish yourself with diet, exercise, and all that stuff. 

So I want do a quick meditation to show you how to start showing your own body some love, and to kind of counteract those messages that you’ve been sending yourself with that harsh inner critic, saying things to yourself that you would never say to anyone else, to your best friend, to a child, to someone that you love. And the thing is, your body is working so hard for you. No matter what we throw at it, no matter how tired we let ourselves get, no matter how much we neglect and don’t drink water and don’t eat healthy, no matter what we throw at it, our body keeps moving us forward.

Every single day, it takes you through your job. It helps you move through your day and get all those things done that you’re asking of it. So we need to start showing it some love. We need to start thanking it for all that it is doing for us. I recommend that you do this meditation every day or as many days as possible over the next few weeks or maybe the next month, because you’re really going to start noticing a difference in your thinking patterns and the way that you feel about yourself every day. So first I want you to find a comfortable spot where you can be alone and uninterrupted. I want you to find a comfortable position that can be seated on the floor. You can be in a chair or you can even be lying down. And then I just want you to start coming into yourself and coming into your body and letting the room around you.

Just start to disappear. You can close your eyes or let your eyelids droop, whatever is comfortable for you. And I want you to keep in mind that meditation is different for everyone. You may have a stressful, busy mind. And if that’s the case, that is perfectly okay. Meditation is always perfect. Whatever happens in meditation is exactly what is meant to happen at that time for you. So if you fall asleep, that means you’re tired. Great. If your brain is going and going and going, that’s fine too. That’s just your stress sort of squeezing itself out of your brain and releasing it from your body. So if you find your mind wandering gently, come back to your breath and focus on breathing in and breathing out, that keeps your mind occupied. And it keeps you from wandering and worrying about your to-do list or what you’re going to do after this or whatever. So come into your comfortable position and start breathing in nice and slow. Hold it for a few seconds and breathe out.

Just imagine the air flowing into your nose, filling up your belly and your lungs. Hold and exhale. Do that a couple more times at your own pace, breathing in, holding, and breathing out. If your mind starts to wander a little bit, just notice it, be compassionate, and just gently come back to noticing your breath.  We’re gonna start with your feet. I want you to think about your feet and think about how hard they’re working for you every day, how they are taking you wherever you need to go.

And then move up to your legs. Think about how strong they are. Think about all the work that they do in a day and how they carry you. Remember to breathe deep, breath in, hold, and exhale. Next, we’re going to move up to your hips. Your hips are your stabilizers. They’re what carries the weight all day. I want you to thank them for being so strong and for working so hard and keeping you stable and sturdy and grounded, taking a deep breath in and deep breath out, letting it move up to your stomach. 

Thank you stomach for assimilating nutrients for keeping me fed. Thank you for everything you do for me every day, breathe in, hold, breathe out next. The lungs are so important. Breathing all day and all night, without you even thinking about it, taking deep breaths. Then your hands for all the work that they do every day, and your arms  for helping you accomplish all your tasks every day. I want you to focus on your shoulders and your neck. We hold a lot of tension here. So when you breathe in, I want you to think about sending the breath and the energy to that area.

Let the shoulders relax. Let them drop and move up to your face. Notice if you have any tightness in your jaw, just let the jaw relax, relax your cheeks, relax your eyes and your eyebrows, and let your eyes just sort of sink in and take it up to your forehead and your scalp and just let them relax and release. I want you to think of a warm, loving light surrounding you, surrounding your whole body, pouring love into you. You’re so warm and you’re so comfortable and you’re so loved. Breathe in the love and the light and the compassion and the forgiveness. Breathe out the stress and the toxins and the negativity. Continue to breathe. Continue to feel that warm light enveloping you. You slowly start to wiggle your fingers. Start to wake the hands up, wiggle your toes, maybe rotate at the ankles, maybe shift around and shake out your shoulders a little bit, and your neck, and then slowly open your eyes and come back into the room. Take one more big deep breath, inhale all the light and the love and send it to every part of your body.

Namaste.