Accepting Myself (audio)

Maggie Dent:

Hello and welcome to accepting myself. This creative relaxation will bring you to a place where you feel comfortable to be yourself, no matter who you are, no matter where you are, and no matter what has happened before in your life. Being able to totally accept ourself can bring us to a place of comfort, both within and without.

And now to begin, take three long, slow, deep breaths, inward through your nose, and outward through your mouth.

Then take one more deep breath inward and if you can, hold it for a few seconds before you breathe out, and as you breathe out from this deep breath, begin to feel the body relaxing. Give permission for your feet, and your legs, and your back, and your shoulders to relax.

As you continue to breathe in and out gently, allow your head to become quieter and more relaxed. Allow thoughts to just flow in and flow out and don't hold them. Allow your mind to become quieter while still focusing your attention on the words I am saying.

And now I'd like you to imagine that you are either sitting or lying in a place in nature where you feel safe and comfortable. This may be a familiar place for you or it may be a place that you need to create now. Wherever you are in this safe and comfortable place in nature, imagine a ray of sunshine just gentle sunshine coming down upon you. And imagine that golden light coming right into the body from the tip of your head, very bright, golden light, cleansing. Cleansing the mind, and from the head down into the shoulders, down into your chest, down into your stomach. Beautiful, warm golden sunshine cleansing the body of worries, tension, fear, and doubt.

Allow this beautiful, gentle sunshine to flow all the way through your body right down to the tips of your toes. Then I'd like you to take just one more deep breath and as you let that breath out, let it come out with a sigh.

I now want you to imagine that you can see a large, white screen in front of your eyes, the kind that you would show a video on, or maybe a DVD. And the video is a video of yourself and I want you to see yourself as you would really like to be. A real smile on your face, and a real sparkle in your eyes. And as this video of you plays, I want you to see yourself as a really good and loyal friend, to see yourself surrounded by your friends, or just one of your special friends, or maybe someone in your family who you see as a friend as well. See yourself as being caring, helping to make them laugh when they're sad, doing things for them. See this as being really for you.

Most importantly, as you watch this video of yourself, notice how easy it is for you to like who you are, to enjoy doing whatever you were doing at school, no matter how good you are at it. See yourself participating and having a go. Whatever it is, see yourself having fun doing things that you enjoy doing, whether it's skating, or playing sport, surfing, or swimming. Maybe you like dancing. Maybe you enjoy spending quiet time in your room just chilling out, resting, and being you.

As you watch this video of yourself, let it become real. And I want you to imagine that you can step inside the video and become that person who really likes to be you. Different from other people. Just simply unique and yourself. There is absolutely no one else on this planet who is like you. You are one of a kind. How incredibly special is that? And at any moment, you can choose to feel better about yourself and more positive about yourself, it just takes a thought.

When we really accept ourself for who we are, we have nothing to prove, we have nothing to show off about, we can just be ourselves. And if you remember that you're unique and that you're different and the way you see the world is just how see the world, you will also know that's how it is for everyone else. Your friends, other classmates or schoolmates, even your teachers. We are all unique and different.

Let your body feel completely comfortable being you, knowing that somewhere deep inside you is a calling for you to make our world a better place in some way. For some of you, you may play elite sport, for some of you, you just might end up being the best motorbike rider there is. For others, you just might be the most caring, considerate, and kind human being who has ever walked our earth. Some of you will find it hard to believe that you are here to make the world a better place. But you are.

So bring back with you, in a few moments this place of accepting yourself, liking who you are, and knowing that you're here because your life has value. The very fact that you're here on our earth makes it a better place without you doing anything other than breathing.

I want you to remember the warmth of that sunshine, the comfort that comes from accepting who I am, and I want you to bring those feelings back with you as we bring you back from that place in your imagination, back into the real world.

So imagine that screen with your video on disappearing and feel yourself sitting or lying wherever you are, and I want you to bring your awareness back into the present time, into this moment. Give yourself permission to avoid comparing yourself to others. Give yourself permission to avoid judging yourself harshly. Give yourself permission to accept yourself as that unique and amazing human being who you really are.

I want you to take a nice deep breath, bring your awareness back into your body, and on the second deep breath, wriggle your toes and your fingers, and on the third deep breath, before you bring yourself back to full awareness, I would like you to stretch a little, maybe if you're laying down, you will roll to stretch, if you're sitting, you just raise your arms and stretch. And then when you are ready, open your eyes, and be fully present, and just remember always to be the best person that you can be.