Transcript of the audio / excerpt from the forthcoming book Liberator of Temptational Bonds.
By guiding you through inner processes that promote awareness of your various inner parts, this meditation empowers you to make choices that are aligned with both physical health and emotional well-being.
You can listen to this guided meditation on our donor rewards page.
Welcome, dear soul, to this guided journey, designed to improve your relationship with food and create a harmonious balance within. Your willingness to be here is already a beautiful testament to your inner strength and the LOVE you have for yourself. Let’s begin.
Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down. Give yourself permission to fully engage in this experience, free from any judgement or expectation.
Gently close your eyes and turn your attention inward to the rich inner world that lies within your heart and soul.
Breathe in deeply and lovingly through your nose, allowing the air to fill your lungs completely. Hold for a moment and then exhale slowly through your mouth.
(…)
Repeat the inhalation through the nose and exhalation through the mouth a few times, imagining that each inhalation is cleansing you, removing any stagnant energies, any uncertainties and any hesitations.
As you continue to breathe deeply, visualise a soft, radiant light in your heart centre. This light embodies the pure LOVE and care you have for yourself.
As you breathe in, imagine this light slowly expanding and enveloping your entire being in a warm, tender embrace.
Now feel how this light causes every muscle to relax completely. Feel where it touches, all tension melting away in the warmth of self-LOVE, starting from the top of your head, … through your face, … neck, … chest, … arms, … stomach, … hips, … legs, … and down to your toes.
With each inhale this light expands further within you, creating a safe space that will hold you throughout this journey.
With each exhale let go of all barriers, all judgements, all obstacles. You are now in a space of full acceptance.
Let’s count down from five to one. With each number you will find yourself sinking deeper into this nourishing space of self-LOVE and openness.
Five … sinking deeper. Four … feeling LOVE washing over you. Three … letting go of all reservations. Two … almost there, embracing serenity. One …
You are now in a perfect state of relaxation and openness, ready to explore and improve your relationship with food.
As you continue to bask in this cocoon of warmth and LOVE, your heart opens, ready to explore your deepest feelings and beliefs about food.
The nourishment you seek from the world often takes many forms, some of which are edible and some of which nourish your soul. Today we journey within to understand how these aspects intersect in your life.
Allow your attention to drift inward to the space within your heart. Imagine this space as a serene and comfortable room.
There is a round table in the middle of the room and the atmosphere is welcoming and calm, giving a feeling of safety and acceptance.
Visualise the table being covered with different kinds of food that you are used to eat in your daily life – healthy, unhealthy, whatever you see is right and good.
These are not just any foods; they symbolise your emotional and psychological attachments to what you consume. Take a moment to observe what you see and let your intuition guide you.
(…)
Now imagine that the different foods on the table slowly begin to divide themselves into two halves. On one side of the table are the foods that give you real support and nourishment – foods that respect your body and soul.
On the other side are the foods that have become emotional crutches, giving you some satisfaction but leaving you hollow and unbalanced in the end.
(…)
Now let’s invite the different ‘parts’ of yourself to sit at this table. Allow these parts to materialise as they wish – perhaps as a character, a shape, a colour or even a symbolic object.
There may be a part of you that loves quick and easy comfort food … There may also be a part of you that craves artificially sweetened foods when you are stressed or unfulfilled. Is anyone else coming? Let them all have a place at your table.
Then there may be a part of you that longs for a wholesome and truly satisfying meal, perhaps vegetables or fresh fruit. And perhaps there is even a part of you that would enjoy fasting for its spiritual benefits.
Now that everyone is seated, let’s begin a gentle discussion. Turn first to the part of you that is most vocal about wanting unhealthy food.
Ask this part, very softly and gently, “Why do you crave what you crave?”
Pause here and allow this part to speak its truth. Listen without judgement, absorbing the emotional reasoning that fuels the choices of this particular part of yourself. Perhaps it is looking for an emotional nourishment that has nothing to do with food?
(…)
Remember, every part within you has a role, a purpose. What is the purpose of this part? Is it to protect you? To comfort you? To help you avoid something?
Listen carefully and empathically, as you may be able to better fulfil that part’s wishes and needs in the future.
(…)
Once you’ve heard this part, turn to another aspect of yourself that you want to understand. Perhaps it’s the part that seeks nourishment and health. Ask this part, “What do you need to feel truly fulfilled?”
Again, pause and listen. Give this part the time it needs to express itself. It may be that this part is looking for nourishment for physical well-being only, or perhaps it’s also looking for real caring and self-LOVE.
Again, listen carefully and empathically as you may be able to meet this part’s wishes and needs better in the future.
(…)
Continue this open dialogue, encouraging the different aspects of you to communicate with each other.
Perhaps the part that craves unhealthy food will find some wisdom in what the part that desires nourishment has to share?
There may be some form of inner dialogue, or perhaps simply an appreciation and understanding of each other. Anything that comes up intuitively is good.
(…)
Let the understanding deepen and notice if there’s a shift, a meeting in the middle, or perhaps a recognition of each other’s needs?
(…)
Now thank each part for its contribution. Acknowledge that each has a role to play in making you who you are, even if adjustments are needed to create a more harmonious relationship with food.
Allow the insights and understanding from this internal roundtable to fully integrate into your being. Feel a sense of wholeness and oneness with your various inner parts as you prepare to move on to the next stage of this journey.
As you continue in this state of stillness, feeling the unity and shared intention of your inner parts, turn your focus to the centre of the round table.
Imagine a bowl filled with a mixture of nourishing foods, perhaps fresh vegetables, quinoa and seeds, or other wholesome ingredients.
(…)
Inhale and breathe in the imaginary smells of these nutritious foods. Now take a virtual spoonful of food from the bowl. Before eating, pause to admire all the colours, textures and smells. Take a moment to express your gratitude for the nourishment this food provides.
(…)
As you take a virtual bite, chew slowly and enjoy every aspect of the experience. Notice the texture, the taste, the sensations that flow through your body.
Feel how the act of eating can be a ceremony, an act of LOVE for yourself.
(…)
Now that you’re fully immersed in this imagined mindful eating, anchor these feelings. Visualise placing one hand over your heart centre and the other over your stomach. Say to yourself:
“Eating in this way nourishes me, my body, my mind and my soul … I am grateful for balanced, loving nourishment.”
“Eating in this way nourishes me, my body, my mind and my soul … I am grateful for balanced, loving nourishment.”
“Eating in this way nourishes me, my body, my mind and my soul … I am grateful for balanced, loving nourishment.”
Feel a wave of joy, peace and gratitude wash over you.
Visualise these positive emotions as a radiant light emanating from your hands and flowing through your entire being. Imagine this light creating a sphere of LOVE around you, making it easier to make balanced food choices, filled with the same LOVE and respect you’ve cultivated here.
(…)
Allow your affirmations and the glowing light to crystallise as your new inner landscape. You’ll be laying the groundwork for a renewed and balanced relationship with food, one that goes beyond mere sustainment to a form of spiritual and emotional nourishment.
Take a moment now to connect with yourself and your surroundings. Feel the surface you are sitting or lying on, listen to the sounds in your environment.
Before you go on with your day, let’s seal in the emotional shifts and learnings of this session. Feel into your heart centre and say this affirmation to yourself:
“I am the loving guardian and caretaker of my own nourishment.”
“I am the loving guardian and caretaker of my own nourishment.”
“I am the loving guardian and caretaker of my own nourishment.”
Now breathe in the unity and harmony that this inner journey has brought. Feel ready to move on, to re-emerge into the world with this new-found understanding and LOVE for yourself and your eating habits.
Begin by focusing on your breath again. Feel your breath moving in and out of your body, bringing you back into the present moment and reality.
I will now count from five to one. With each number you will feel yourself becoming more awake, more alert and more aware of your surroundings.
Five – Feel a wave of fresh energy gently caressing the soles of your feet as your physical body begins to awaken.
Four – The fresh, vibrant energy rises up your legs and into your body, revitalising your muscles.
Three – The energy continues to rise, reaching your heart and spreading out into your arms, making you more awake and alert.
Two – Feel the fresh energy reach the top of your head, illuminating your entire being. You’re almost back to being fully awake.
One – Perfectly awake, fully alert, open your eyes and feel refreshed and revitalised.
You can take as much time as you need before fully resuming your day, knowing that this experience was only the beginning of your new, harmonious relationship with food.