Deep Unwind: Practicing Self Acceptance 💚

Deep Unwind: Practicing Self Acceptance 💚

What if you accept yourself ... as you are?

In this Deep Unwind, you'll follow a quiet path through the woods, at the edge of a moonlit lake, to a hammock suspended between two maple trees. Wrapped in a warm blanket beneath the stars, you'll settle deeper and deeper as the waves whisper against the shore.

Beginning with the physical body, you'll practice simply being present with each part of yourself, from your face... all the way down to your feet. Then you'll turn toward your emotional world—experiencing feelings as they arrive in their own shapes, textures and rhythms, while your awareness becomes wider and calmer.

Finally, you'll look upward into a sky filled with stars and connect with the steady inner being that witnesses every thought, feeling and story—the deepest part of yourself, peaceful and expansive, resting within the larger world around you.

This Unwind includes:

Guided hypnosis, self-acceptance, body acceptance, self-compassion, deep relaxation, nervous system regulation, parasympathetic relaxation, guided visualization, inner peace, and subconscious relaxation.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:01

My name is Jessica Porter, and you're listening to Unwind, a podcast where we come home to our settles, so we can explore relaxation and ask the question: what do we find when we unwind? How is that question working for you as you practice unwinding? I'm curious. And thank you so much for being here. We're new into this experiment in a couple of months. I've loved doing this. Connecting with people over my website, Instagram, over Patreon, and on the podcast apps. And I just wanted to give a shut up to some new Patreon members. Sophie, Janet, Rachel, Marilyn, Andy, Jennifer, and many more. Thank you for joining us there. And thank you everyone for listening, spreading the word, leaving reviews on Apple Podcasts from Steph. The title of her review is I'm listening to Jessica. That's what she says to her husband if he tries to speak to her after she's pres playing on Unwind. Um Emmy is really glad to have found Unwind. Noel says I speak to a part of his mind and soul that really needed. Thank you, Noel. And Kate says unwind is like a glass of wine with a good friend. You know, it's funny when I'm in the booth recording, I feel that way too. Like we're just relaxing and connecting together. From the island where I go with my extended family every year. It is always a very peaceful place. Just a couple of cabins in the woods on the lake. And at the same time, a loud, uproarious place. Filled with water fights, spirited conversations around the dinner table, and card games played long into the night. I mean, I really love the connecting, but I also crave my own time in order to integrate all the activity and emotions that come up. And being up there altogether, basically trapped on an island, it forces me to practice acceptance. The truth is, I love acceptance. Because it's not love or affection or even liking something. It's simply being with the reality of the situation or the person or the event. Acceptance opens my mind just to appear to push beyond my inner limits and welcome that next stage of change because everything is always changing, and acceptance needs to be applied internally as well. I am changing. An inner being underneath it all, experiencing the whole ride. So tonight we'll be going to my favorite hammock in the world. It's the only island in the woods, right near all the family activity, but just far enough away. And we're going there tonight to practice acceptance. So get yourself into a safe and comfortable position. And let's unwind. Just allow your eyes to close gently, easily. Bring your awareness to your breath. Ah, your breath. This lovely rhythm in your body. It changes sometimes. It's slower, sometimes it's faster. But it's always here.

SPEAKER_05 5:05

Always a rhythm.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

And by bringing your awareness to your breath, you're focusing. Focusing your mind, which wants to run around and go all sorts of places. Some interesting places, some like what places? But by bringing the awareness back to the breath, it begins to slow down and settle. Good. Now I'd like you to bring your awareness up into your eyes. And imagine that your eyelids are feeling heavy. Heavy, sleepy. Imagine all the muscles around your eyes relaxing, softening as your eyelids get heavier and even heavier. And now I'd like you to imagine that your eyelids are so relaxed that they will not open. And of course, you know you could open your eyes if you want to, and you can. But we're imagining now. And we're aligning with your imagination, letting it win like a kid playing pretend in a game. So now I'd like you to test your eyelids to make sure they won't open by wiggling your eyebrows. Just give them a little tug while your eyes remain closed. Good. Good. Now this lovely, wonderful relaxation, this heaviness, this sleepiness around your eyes, this is the same quality of relaxation you will soon have throughout your entire body. As you go deeper and deeper, and your head is feeling heavy against the pillow or the couch. Good. Imagine it is late in the evening, and you are barefoot, walking slowly along a narrow path in the woods, between a cabin and a lake. The soil beneath your feet feels soft and cool. You smell the rich scents of the forest and the sweetness that comes as summer leans into autumn. You look through the trees and see the lake. It is still like a silver mirror, reflecting the rising moon. You stop and relax, opening your hearing. You hear the lapping of the waves against the shore. It's faint and gentle. Almost like the lake is quieting everything down. You take a nice deep breath. Feel the cool air against your face. Just ahead, two large maple trees stand in the forest, right off the path. Between them hangs a hammock, gently moving in the evening breeze, and there's a soft blanket inside it. You walk over to the hammock and place one hand on its woven fabric. You sit down slowly, gently, as the hammock welcomes your weight gently, lowering beneath you. You swing your legs inside, pull the blanket over yourself, and settle your head into the soft curve of the fabric. As you go deeper and deeper, you feel the hammock supporting your whole body. Your head, your back, your legs. A hammock is gently shaping itself around you, holding you, cocooning you, as you settle a little deeper into its embrace. As the sounds going on around you are taking you deeper and deeper. The hammock is rocking almost imperceptibly between the two trees. You hear the subtle creaking of the rope. You hear the whisper of the leaves above you brushing against one another. You look up into the gap between the trees and see the stars above you. Some are shining brightly, others faintly as you breathe, and the cool evening air fills your lungs. Nurturing. As you breathe, you are exchanging energy with the forest. You are becoming one with it. It feels so good. You bring your awareness now to the places where your body is making contact with the hammock, the back of your head, your shoulders. Each point of contact, allowing your awareness to simply rest on that point. As everything is slowing down. Feel your upper back against the fabric. Your lower back.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

And deeper.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

No matter what feelings you may have had about your own face or image in the past, right now, as you relax, you are accepting your face as it is as you bring your awareness to the quiet movement of your breath in your chest. And the movement of your breath down in your belly. And for the women and forms. No matter how you felt about them at other times in your life. Right now, as you relax, you're simply accepting your arms. Your awareness returns.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

Gently rising and falling as your heart continues its steady rhythm, and your belly rises.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

And fold like the waves reaching the shoreline as your hips feel nice and heavy in the hammock, you are accepting your torso. No matter how you may have felt about it in the past, as you relax, going deeper and deeper, you are accepting your torso as it is as your thighs are relaxing into the hammock, letting go, your knees resting comfortably, lovely soft relaxation moving down your calves into your ankles, into your feet, down to your toes. No matter how you may have felt about them in the past, as you relax right now, you are accepting your legs as they are. It has continued. The earth is supporting the trees. So you unwind going deeper and deeper. Your feelings have rhythms too. Some arrive quietly. Others arrive with more force. Some feelings stay for a while. Others simply pass through. Perhaps you're feeling peace inside or joy. Maybe there's some sadness or uncertainty. Simply notice whatever is going on inside of you as you accept your feelings like the waves against the shore. Some feel light. Some feel warm. Some feel spacious. And you rest here, and you are accepting your feelings. No matter what you might have thought about them in the past, here as you go deeper and deeper, and your awareness widens. Some so bright, some faint as you gaze upon the stars, your breath is getting deeper, dropping into your belly.

SPEAKER_05 36:09

Gently back and forth back and forth back and forth.

SPEAKER_00 36:39

And the stars are steady.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

After night, season after season, generation after generation.

SPEAKER_02 37:29

And they will be here long after this evening is a memory.

SPEAKER_00 38:05

Like the stars eternal present.