Why We Self-Sabotage

Let's start by settling into a comfortable posture. This could be sitting, lying down or standing. If it feels okay to do so, you can close your eyes. And we'll take one deep breath together as a way to further settle in. Breathing in through the nose.

And out through the mouth. You can invite the jaw to relax. As well as any muscles in the face that may be tense. Let your shoulders be at ease. As well as your hands and belly.

In this moment, there's no place else you need to be, nothing you need to fix. See if you can give yourself the permission to actually be here. Letting the breath settle into its natural rhythm. And we'll take a few moments to center our attention on our breathing. As the mind wanders, future, past, ideas, whatever, doesn't matter, we just observe it and gently redirect back to this breath and this moment.

In this meditation, we're working with our tendency to self-sabotage. Since a lot of this often happens out of cycles of self-hatred and not feeling comfortable in our own skin or feeling like we need to fill a void in some way, cultivating a more compassionate relationship with yourself can actually be quite powerful and liberating for some of the negative patterns we get sucked into over and over. So we're going to practice a loving kindness meditation. I invite you to place one hand on your heart, maybe the right hand, and then the left hand on your belly. If you feel some resistance to doing this, all the more reason to do it, especially if it feels uncomfortable.

That's often when we need it the most. And we'll just take a deep breath into our hands. Breathing in. And breathing out. Feeling the lungs breathing with our hand on the belly and our heart beating with our hand on our heart.

And in your own mind, you can repeat these phrases after me. The first one is, may I be happy. So just say that in your own mind. May I be happy. And then, may I be safe.

May I be healthy. And may I find what I most need in this life. May I be happy. May I be safe. May I be healthy.

May I find what I most need in this life. Let's do one more round, really feeling the words. May I be happy. May I be safe. May I be healthy.

And may I find what I most need in this life. Take one more deep breath, taking it all in. And when you're ready, you can open your eyes again. Great job. The more we practice loving kindness, the more we're becoming our own best friends it's a journey, but I can't think of any journey that's more worthwhile.

Thank you for your practice. And until we talk again, take care.