Struggling With the Mirror? Body Acceptance Meditation

0:01Hi, I'm Steven Webb.

0:03Welcome to this meditation for body image.

0:07This meditation is for anyone who has a hard time with the body they live in every day, and sometimes

0:14when looking in the mirror can be a little bit difficult.

0:17This time, no mirror, no undressing, no pretending to love something that is sometimes difficult.

0:26You can sit or lie down, whatever lets your body be at ease.

0:34You don't need to do anything with your breath.

0:38Just become aware of this moment.

0:42I always say your body knows how to breathe.

0:46Your body also knows how to rest.

0:51We just allow these things to happen.

0:58So invite your body to soften.

1:02You can invite your face, it's almost like giving it permission, you can relax now.

1:11And your neck and your shoulders, your arms and your hands, all the way down through your body, your belly

1:23and your legs.

1:27Just breathing in calm, breathing out, relax.

1:39And while you settle, just one thing to say.

1:43This isn't about love.

1:45You don't have to love your body tonight.

1:48We're just asking for a little peace.

1:52For now there's no battle, there's no war, just a little acceptance.

2:01Now notice your body as it is.

2:06Not as it was, not as it should be, just as it is.

2:17Whether sat on the floor, in the chair or lying in the bed.

2:29The weight of it, the warmth of it, the feeling of it.

2:41And you may hear a voice come up when you do these things, the one that has opinions about your body.

2:50It's been talking for a long time.

2:54We don't need to argue with it.

2:56We don't need to win.

2:59We just hear it, the way we hear traffic outside.

3:07For me, I'm paralysed just below the neck, and very often when I go past a mirror in a superstore or anywhere,

3:14I just see this body in a wheelchair.

3:17It's not the one I thought I would ever have.

3:21And yeah, I'm at battle with it sometimes, but sometimes I just go, well, you're here and we're in this

3:27together, and you've done good.

3:44And now we do something quieter.

3:49While that voice was talking, something else was working.

3:56Your heart, beating all day without being asked.

4:01Not once did it check how you looked.

4:04Your lungs, breathing in and breathing out, doing it now, while you just listen.

4:22Your ears, hearing these words.

4:28Your skin, keeping the weather out.

4:33Your feet, who carried you here.

4:38All these quiet workers, and we often forget to thank them.

4:46So let's thank them now, and silently, in your own words.

4:59If you're a little stuck, just: thank you hands for doing the holding, thank you heart for beating and

5:09doing the feelings and pushing the blood around.

5:31Now the harder part.

5:34There may be places that hurt, places that don't work the way they used to, places we'd rather not look

5:42at or think about.

5:45We don't have to fix them.

5:48We don't have to like them.

5:58Awareness can reach them anyway.

6:01Just a gentle attention, like a hand resting on the shoulder or a hand resting on your heart.

6:09And if one place comes to mind, just let it, let it be included.

6:19Nothing to change, just not left out.

6:44Now let's have a different way of looking.

6:48Imagine someone who loves you, someone who has always been there by your side.

6:57Picture them looking at you now.

7:01Not on the flaws, but at you.

7:06What do they see?

7:09They see someone who has been trying, someone who has carried a lot, someone tired perhaps, someone that

7:19is still here.

7:26And let yourself be looked at that way, through the lens of love and acceptance.

7:43And if it feels too much, just go back to your breath.

7:46That's fine too.

7:49We're not forcing anything.

7:50And just before we finish, let's do three small wishes.

7:58We'll just do them slowly.

8:00We say them inside.

8:02May I be at peace with this body for tonight.

8:07May I be at peace with this body for tonight.

8:19May I be kind to it even when I don't feel kind.

8:24May I be kind to it even when I don't feel kind.

8:37May I be gentle with myself as I would be with a friend.

8:44May I be gentle with myself as I would be with a friend.

8:58You don't have to love your body, not tonight, maybe not even ever.

9:05We can put down the fight, just for now, just for this evening.

9:11For now, no war, no questioning everything.

9:17Just, ah, here I am.

9:28And when you go back today, whether it's the morning or the evening, take that with you.

9:34The next time the mirror catches you, when the voice starts up, you don't have to answer it.

9:40Just acknowledge, thank you.

9:44Then just breathe.

9:46Let the body be here, in this moment.

9:57And let's just come back to your awareness now.

10:01Five, become aware of the room.

10:03Four, just gently open your eyes if they're closed.

10:06Three, shake out your arms and your fingers and perhaps your toes.

10:13Two, just look around.

10:14And one, just take a deeper breath.

10:20Yeah, you know, sometimes it's difficult to just all out love our bodies.

10:25I don't know about you, I find that a bit difficult, so I avoid doing it.

10:30But we can accept our bodies.

10:31We can do the deeper, profound kind of love.

10:36Thank you for doing this meditation with me today, because I don't think there's enough of us that love

10:40our body in a healthy, grateful way.

10:44That's the only one we have.

10:46And just you sitting does mean a lot.

10:49And all these meditations have no adverts, and they will always have no adverts, because of people that

10:55kindly donate a coffee.

10:57And if you'd like to support, or find out about my other podcast or my Weekly Calm, please head over to

11:03stevenwebb.uk.

11:05Take care, and thank you.