Welcome back!
Day 4: Self Love — Gift of the Inner Child
Loving ourselves is the greatest gift we can give ourselves and everyone else we encounter throughout our days. When you fill our own well, you feel satisfied, happy, nourished, and then when there are requests from others, you have the energy to come to them from a full open heart. Even if your reply to someone’s request is a “no,” it isn’t personal. It is because you are choosing what is best in honouring yourself. You are practicing self love and can express your decision with kindness instead of being defensive.
Picture yourself walking into a room and you notice a young child curled in the corner, crying. Imagine you walk over to that child with deep concern and compassion and ask her or him what is wrong. And between sobs he tells you that a parent or a teacher or someone else got mad and yelled at him because he didn’t finish his homework. He goes on to explain that it was because he was so tired. He hasn’t slept in many days because of the arguments at home and he’s afraid.
Would you say to that child, “Well it serves you right. You should have done your homework. How do expect to succeed in life if you fail school?”
Of course, you wouldn’t say that! Isn’t it more likely you would kneel down to comfort the child, tell him you are so sorry that he was yelled at and that there is fighting at home and he feels afraid. Wouldn’t you hold him and dry his tears and show him you care? Of course you would.
Yet, how many of us do that for ourselves? When you are treated badly, is there a part of you that believes you deserve it? That you are not worthy of kindness and love? Many of us take on the admonitions of others long after they have said them and beat ourselves up for a long, long time with the words that were said to us as children. We take over where the punishers left off, even if they are no longer alive while their words are still reverberating in our heads.
We say things to ourselves we would never say to anyone else and what’s worse, over time, we start to believe them and believe that is who we are.
The things you say to yourself have enormous power over your life. In fact, your beliefs drive the bus. And whatever you focus on expands, making it more and more difficult to move out of that groove.
Today is a brand new day to become curious about self-harm, whether it’s the words you speak, the unhealthy food you eat, or the relationships you keep which may be toxic.
The most important thing is to learn to love yourself in ways you never have. Today you have the opportunity to nurture yourself above anyone else knowing it is paramount for feeling good, and anything else is non-negotiable. Remember, this challenge is only for 7 days, and the honest investment you make to play full out during this week will put you on a path where you will be empowered from the inside out.
Are you willing to up the ante and congratulate and celebrate yourself for your courage and tenacity to overcome hurdles, for your ability to stand up again no matter how many times you may have fallen? No matter how weary you have been or how hopeless it may have felt? The fact you are here means you have already won. You have survived all that has befallen you in the past. Now, it’s beyond survival. It’s about falling in love with your own heart — your loving, sensitive, kind nature — and for simply being here. Navigating your life in the best way you know how in a world that often seems crazy and out of control.
In today’s meditation, you will have an opportunity to love the child that still lives inside of you. To give her or him all the love and compassion you can muster. After all, who knows better than you, what that younger you experienced? Who better than you to give yourself what you need?
Now, let’s meditate.
In preparation for this guided meditation, please gather your journal or notebook, pen, and a glass of water and put them beside you, ready to hydrate and write when the meditation is over.
So, journal and pen ready. Please get yourself comfortable. Make sure you’ll be undisturbed for the next 30 minutes. Here’s today’s meditation:
Action step: Take a drink of water, set your timer for 10 minutes, and Write Where You Are. Today you are going to write your child-self a love letter. This is your opportunity to re-parent yourself in a way you never knew. An opportunity to pour out your love in the most nourishing ways. “Dear (the name you were called as a child) …”
Action step: Go to our Facebook group and share your aha moments with the group, and remember to read and respond to the others taking this journey alongside you.
Action step: Decide now to choose one or more self-loving practices. And with self-loving determination, put them into action this week! Share in the Facebook group which one(s) you are choosing. Stating it out loud has lots of power. And remember, you are not alone. You have me and your tribe members championing you every step of the way!
Bonus Exercise (optional but highly recommended):
A powerful self-loving exercise is to stand naked in front of the mirror and notice your thoughts, the things you say to yourself about yourself, your face, your body. Then begin to replace all your criticisms with kindness, with tender, loving words that invoke love into all your cells. Do this every day until you have fallen in love with your body and your beautiful self!
See you in the group, and see you back in your inbox tomorrow!
All blessings,
Junie
PS — If you have any questions, please tag me in the Facebook group.