00:00Hello, my name is Dr. Adia Gooden. I am a licensed clinical psychologist, and I'm really excited to be here with you today to share a practice that will help you connect your unconditional self-worth.
00:16As Black women and Black people, we receive so many harsh messages and so much harsh treatment, really. We experience discrimination, microaggression, sexism, racism. We experience racial trauma, intimate partner violence.
00:35There are so many things that we endure as Black women, and sometimes we can start to harden ourselves in order to try to protect ourselves, and we can also end up internalizing these negative messages and becoming harsh and critical with ourselves.
00:54And so I want to challenge these negative messages today, and I want to remind you that you are worthy of love and care. You are worthy of kindness and compassion and gentleness. You are worthy of safety and protection and taking up space.
01:17And you are worthy of these things, not because you might have achieved highly or accomplished all of your goals. You are worthy of these things just because you are human.
01:29So I want you to start by taking a few slow, deep breaths. Really notice the breath flowing in and out of your lungs.
01:47Notice how your body is feeling. Notice how your body is feeling in this moment.
01:56And if you notice any places of pain or tension, just see if you can send some breath into that part of your body and maybe send some love along with it.
02:11And if your mind wanders during this exercise, that's okay. It's perfectly normal.
02:17Just see if you can notice when your mind wanders and bring your attention back to my voice.
02:27Now I want you to place your attention on your head and notice any physical sensations that are present in your head.
02:37And then I want you to reflect on your brain that allows you to think, that keeps you alive on your eyes, that give you sight, allow you to see the world and all the beauty within it.
03:02Your nose, your nose, that allows you to smell and breathe, your mouth, that allows you to eat and speak and smile and sing.
03:19And I want you to take a moment to offer all of these parts of your head gratitude for the way they support you in your daily life, the way they serve you.
03:37And see if you can send some love to your head, to your face, you might even place your hand on top of your head or on your cheek or on your forehead and offer yourself some love and gratitude.
03:56And now I want you to move your attention down into your chest and reflect on your lungs that allow you to breathe and get oxygen in your body.
04:15Your heart that pumps blood through your body and allows you to stay alive, your ribs and chest cavity and how they protect you.
04:30And I want you to offer gratitude to these parts of your body for how they serve you.
04:40And place one or both hands gently over your chest and send some love to everything that's contained within your chest.
04:53And take a deep breath.
04:55And moving your attention down to your stomach and your abdomen, I want you to reflect on your stomach that allows you to eat and digest and process nutrients.
05:12Your large and small intestines that keep you alive and nourished.
05:20Your pelvis and all that's contained within that.
05:26And see if you can connect with some gratitude for your digestive system, for your pelvis, for how it serves you.
05:39And place a hand over your stomach and send some love and appreciation to this part of your body.
05:50And place a hand over your body.
05:51And place a hand over your body.
05:52And place a hand over your body.
05:53And place a hand over your body.
05:54Take another deep breath.
05:55And then I want you to move your attention down to your legs and feet.
06:04And reflect on how your legs and feet carry you through this world.
06:11Allow you to sit, stand, walk, run, dance.
06:20Place your hands on your thighs.
06:24And send some love to your legs.
06:27Send some gratitude for the power that is contained within them and how they carry you.
06:39And taking another deep breath, I want you to show some love and gratitude to your entire body for keeping you alive, for keeping you safe, for being a source of power in your life.
06:58See if you can connect to the feeling of aliveness in your body.
07:05And now taking a step back from your body, I want you to reflect on all that you are.
07:17And all that you have done for yourself, for your friends and loved ones and community.
07:24And I want you to offer yourself gratitude for all of this.
07:30For the love you've shown, for the care you've given, for the time and energy you've dedicated, for how you've grown.
07:42Send yourself some love.
07:45Offer yourself some gratitude for how you've continued to show up in this life.
07:53How you've continued to show up for yourself.
08:04And I want to offer a couple of affirmations as we prepare to close this out.
08:09And I just encourage you to allow these to wash over you and sink in.
08:15And if there are words that resonate with you more deeply, offer those to yourself.
08:22I affirm that you are worthy unconditionally.
08:31You can even repeat after me.
08:35I affirm that you are worthy of love.
08:40That you deserve to be cared for.
08:45I affirm that you are worthy of peace and joy.
08:51I affirm that you are worthy just as you are in this moment.
09:02You are worthy unconditionally.
09:09So take another deep breath as we close out this practice.
09:15Notice again what your body is feeling like in this moment.
09:22Notice any sounds that you hear.
09:27And bringing your attention back into the space where you are right now.
09:31Open your eyes and look around.
09:35And I want you to just take a moment for yourself to notice how you're feeling.
09:40How are you feeling physically?
09:42Do you feel more energy?
09:44Do you feel joyful?
09:45Do you feel lighter?
09:47What is it like to engage in this practice?
09:50And to take it a step further, you could write out and journal some of the things that came up for you in this exercise and some of the affirmations that I shared.
10:01And I encourage you to come back to this as often as would feel helpful.
10:05Thank you for showing up for yourself today.
10:09And I really hope that this helped you connect to your unconditional self-worth.
10:14Dr.
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