If you had a tool (the Love Wrap) that could help you rise above anxiety, fear, and all sorts of negative emotions… If you had a tool that created an inner state of calm… If you had a tool that could help you listen more easily to that inner voice of love… Would you use it? If all it took was 5 minutes or less?

Today on I Love Me The Podcast, I share with you my number 1 tool for cultivating self-love.

 

I just want you to imagine for a moment, that this is you…

You wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and grateful to be alive.

You bounce out of bed, and walk to your meditation corner, sitting down to connect in through your morning meditation practice.

As you close your eyes, love fills your body, and you instantly feel at home.

At peace.

Inner joy radiating throughout your entire being.

As you bask in this loving feeling, being completely present to who you truely are, your inner voice whispers words of encouragement and insight… and minutes later when you open your eyes, you feel a deep inner trust that today will be a great day, regardless of what twists and turns you’re taken on.

As your day unfolds, you experience ease and flow, and when you notice yourself being triggered by a person or situation, or find yourself losing centre, you simply fill yourself back up with love – the way you did in this morning’s meditation practice, only in a fraction of the time – which gives you the confidence and understanding to approach what had seemed like a challenging situation, with love and compassion.

This clarity – that could only have been found through taking a gentle approach to the situation, prompted by love – instantly rectifies the problem, and saves you hours upon hours of spending the rest of the day putting out proverbial fires.

Your day continues on with ease.

And each time you notice a little unease set in, you fill yourself back up with love, which nourishes your entire being, and allows you to continue on in the most productive and calm manner.

By the end of your day, you feel grounded, and grateful for the lessons learned and growth experienced, and happy that you made this commitment to yourself to spend the day being your own best friend.

You feel empowered that you have the tools to rise above negativity in your life, so instead of sitting stuck in a problem, you can easily take an objective view, and see the solution.

Life is as it should be.

You feel at home in yourself.

You feel connected to who you truely are.

And this, makes you smile.

Feeling a deep sense of purpose and contentment, you head to bed and enjoy a restorative night’s sleep.

This is what life looks like when you make friends with yourself.

And when you commit to that relationship with yourself.

Today I’d like to introduce you to a practice that I created and now do daily – often many times a day – and something I teach to ALL of my clients.

Because for most people self-love can feel a little elusive.

But with this simple, yet powerful practice up our self-loving sleeve, self-love can feel much more achievable.

More accessible.

More available to you.

So the practice I’d like to share with you today is called The Love Wrap.

Which as the name suggests, we wrap ourselves up in love.

And we do this through a mini meditation or visualisation.

In The Way of Self-Love program that I run through my school, I teach a longer version of this meditation, which can be really helpful in cementing in our ability to access our loving centre.

But today I’m going to teach you a more succinct version, so that you can start practising this immediately, with minimal time investment.

Because when we’re starting a self-love practice, it’s very easy to put it in the too hard basket, if it requires a lot of our precious resources, such as time.

My intention with sharing the Love Wrap with you, is to give you a really simple, but powerful way, of bringing yourself back into balance.

Back to a place of love.

And what I LOVE most about this practice, is that you can use it in ALL situations that don’t feel good.

So instead of having one practice for clearing anxiety, and another for helping you get clarity on a situation, and another for releasing some pent up emotions, you can use this one exercise for everything.

Anything that is not loving – that takes you away from feeling good – the Love Wrap is your go-to tool!

So, let me talk you through it now.

If you’re driving, please come back to this later, as you will need to close your eyes.

Otherwise, if you can come into a comfortable position, a posture that feels calming and supportive for you, simply do that now….

This may be sitting tall or lying down… perhaps with a bolster or three…

Simply find a position that feels restful and expansive for you…

And as you arrive into this loving posture, allow your eyes to gently close, let your jaw release, your tongue soften, and eyebrows completely let go…. as you allow your focus to rest on your breath…

Feeling the oxygen naturally enter your body on the inhalation… then leave on the exhalation..

Now send your awareness to your feet.

Imagine your feet now, firmly planted on the rich earth.

And simply notice how grounded you feel.

So grounded, there are roots – like the roots at the base of a big, strong tree – and these roots are growing from the soles of your feet; these roots are growing deep into the earth, so deep, they extend right down into the core of the earth.

And at the centre of the Earth is an expansive pool of unconditional love.

Notice now how your feet naturally start to drink from this abundant pool of love.

The unconditional love travelling up through this root system, right up in through the soles of your feet.

As the love enters your feet, welcome it in, and allow it to travel up through the trunk of your body, noticing how your body starts to smile and relax as the love moves through it.

Love moving up through the length of your legs…. into your pelvis… all the way up through your torso to your shoulders, where it spills down your arms, moving through your elbows and all the way to your thumbs and fingertips…

The love still in your shoulders, rises up through your neck – your neck releasing and letting go – as the love spreads into your face now…

Your whole face filling with love.

And notice how as the love enters, it lifts the corners of your mouth into a gentle smile.

Let that smile be felt throughout your entire being, as the love is drawn all the way up to the crown of your head.

With your body now full of this unconditional love from the core of the Earth, simply take a moment now, to notice how it feels to have this love enlivening each and every cell, so you can feel yourself more fully.

Now simply imagine that you’re being wrapped in a blanket of love.

Love wrapping you up all the way from your feet, all the way up to the crown of your head, helping you feel safe and supported, loved and at ease…

Let this blanket of love seal in the love within…

Now simply place your awareness on your heart.

Notice your heart beat within you…

And lovingly invite your heart to blossom open like a gorgeous flower.

As your heart opens, feel the deep presence that lies within your heart, awakening now.

And simply listen…

You may hear a whisper or maybe you’ll simply be greeted with a calm presence.

Accept what is offered to you now, as you allow yourself the time and space to listen to your heart…

And when you feel ready, simply say to yourself:

I love you.

Thankyou

And with this loving energy coursing through you, simply allow yourself to come back into the moment…

Take a full breathe in through your nose, a cleansing breath out through your mouth…

And flutter your eyes open.

Welcome back.

That was a simple version of the Love Wrap I share in all of the programs in my school, because when practised regularly, this tool, or meditation, becomes an alley.

Just as a muscle gets stronger the more you exercise, it’s the same with the Love Wrap.

The more you use it, the more effective it becomes in helping you shift back into a loving space.

So, if you first try it, and it seems a little weak, that’s normal.

It just means you need to practise it, and then practise it some more.

In fact, I tell my clients to practise it numerous times a day.

20… 30 times a day… more…

As soon you feel triggered or off-centre, anxious, angry; anytime you feel ‘less than’, or disempowered, use the Love Wrap.

It’s simple.

You can do it anywhere.

You don’t have to close your eyes.

Just visualise the love filling you up and wrapping you into a delicious cocoon…

My recommendation is to close your eyes when you practice it in the safety of your home, as that does help you connect with it more deeply, but then take it out into your world.

Use it in the office, use it when your partner or children say something that triggers you, and simply let it be your way of helping you reconnect with your inner well of love, anytime you lose that connection.

Because let’s be honest, life can be a jungle of emotions and adventurous experiences sometimes.

And we can form habits, habits where we are too hard on ourselves.

Where we speak negative thoughts to ourself.

Yet, the habit of negative self-talk can be broken.

And practising the Love Wrap every time you notice it at play, will help you break that habit.

Why?

Because it creates an interruption in the being-hard-on-yourself pattern.

Being hard on yourself, for most people, is deeply ingrained.

So while filling yourself up with love once or twice won’t undo years and years of training.

It’s not a quick fix in that way.

It’s a lifestyle adjustment, that allows you to deepen your ability to heal, if you continue to practise it.

This’s why self-love is a journey.

It’s a path we walk.

A path that includes filling yourself up with love anytime you feel your Love Tank is running low.

Anytime, things don’t feel good.

So when do you use the Love Wrap?

My recommendation is that you practice it for 5 minutes every morning at the start of your day.

Get up, wee, have a drink of water, then do your 5 minute practice.

This may not work for everyone, but find one time in your day, where you can consistently sit down to practice your Love Wrap, just for 5 minutes.

This will help you build your love muscle.

What I mean by that, is it will allow you an undisturbed space where you can practise cultivating love.

And like I’ve said, the more you do it, the more love you’ll start to feel.

Then… once you’ve established a good 5-minute practice each day, you want to take this practice out into your life.

Whenever you notice any negative mind chatter set in, fill yourself up with love.

Whenever someone triggers you, fill yourself up with love.

When things just don’t go your way, fill yourself up with love.

You don’t need to take a full 5 minutes.

If you’ve been practising it at home each day, then you’ll start to naturally be able to fill yourself up with love in under a minute.

Fill yourself up with love, and once you’re in that calm space, then respond to the situation at hand.

The Love Wrap will help you come back to centre, so you can respond to life, from a more loving space, as opposed to reacting to people and situations from a place of emotion or fear or negativity.

So in this way, your Love Wrap is your life jacket, helping you stay afloat amid this crazy beautiful life.

Ok, you’ve got it.

My number 1 tool for self-love.

The Love Wrap

Use it.

Play with it.

Let it support and nourish you.

And next week, I’ll share how you can use this very tool, to open up the lines of communication with your inner voice, or as I like to call it, your True Self.

Until then, let the magic of the Love Wrap infuse it’s way into all corners of your life.