Beloved sister… do you know how exquisitely worthy you are?

In the breaths that follow betrayal, dishonor, harm, abuse, rejection, neglect, or abandonment from our own selves and others, it is no wonder that we may freeze, dissociate from our bodies, compartmentalize our wholeness, and distract ourselves from the sensual experience that is the gift of being alive.

As women devoted to awakening through the wild magic of our humanity, it is sacred work to choose to melt through the icebergs and return to whole bodied love, no matter what we have survived.

This process cannot be hurried, forced, or rushed. We must patiently meet ourselves in our fear, our hesitation, our frozenness, and our distrust and devote ourselves to taking the time to open in whatever pace our innocence most deems appropriate. The body knows the way.

Shamanic tradition has long understood the importance of retrieving lost and fragmented pieces of our bodies, stories, experiences, and souls.

This process gained the attention of renowned psychotherapist Peter Levine, father of Somatic Experiencing, a revolutionary approach for healing in the wake of trauma through the wild intelligence of the physical organism. Like in the ancient shamanic way, Somatic Experiencing calls the soul, the consciousness, back into the physical body so that we can fully live.

Tracing all the way back to the Priestesses of Isis in the temples of Egypt, women have been practicing this sacred art of reclaiming and remembering the body as holy for eons. In circle, in pairs, and individually, women once ritually honored the flesh as a physical manifestation of the divine.

In healing my own layers of complex post traumatic stress and the many ways it began to appear in my own life, I intuitively began guiding myself through this very simple body blessing that mirrors time and tested trauma healing techniques within the field of modern psychotherapy, shamanic soul retrieval practices, and the ancient Priestess rituals of my own ancestors of Avalon.

Today I’d like to share with you this gentle, loving ritual and prayer for calling ourselves back in and re-membering the beauty and the wholeness of all our parts.

This practice restores our original innocence through acknowledging the presence of the divine, of the soul, within the material of our physical beings. Personally I have found it to be utterly transformative to simply pause and recognize the majesty that is my own body temple. I share this ritual on our women’s retreats and also in my course Whole Woman, so you may recognize it if you have practiced with us before.

As always, trust yourself. If you are guided to explore this practice in a different way, listen to your inner voice and see what comes. If you are not used to this type of practice, it may feel awkward or inauthentic in the beginning. Do try to stay with it and notice what arises for you as you explore yourself in this way.

In the future you may wish to share this practice in women’s circles, with your partner, or with your sisters one on one, but first explore the experience at least a few times with yourself.

Please read the whole ritual one time through, so that you can close your eyes and drop into presence without needing to look back at the next step. Trust your intuition and how you are guided once you begin.

To begin, bring yourself somewhere quiet, private, and safe where you can be with yourself and your own process.

As you drop into presence, close your eyes and offer your awareness to your breath. Notice your whole body. The sensation of your seat in connection with the ground. The way the air touches your form. Relax into the comfort of this gentle sensation.

Bring your right hand to rest gently on your womb and your left hand to rest gently on your heart. Breathe in and out through these mystical centers. Here, set the intention for radical self love.

When you’re ready to begin the prayer, bring your palms to the top of your head, to your crown.

At your crown, repeat aloud or silently, Bless my crown, my crown is sacred. Full inhale and full exhale to receive the blessing.

Now bring your palms to touch your face. Bless my face, my face is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Gently touch the lids of your closed eyes. Bless my eyes, my eyes are sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Continue with your hands to each part of your body, with slow, present, patient, reverence as if you are approaching a Goddess… which you are. Feel free to linger anywhere that may be wishing for more presence.

Bless my ears, my ears are sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless my nose, my nose is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless my lips, my lips are sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless my word, my word is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Move down to the gentle dip at the base of your throat just above your collarbone.

Bless my throat, my throat is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless my voice, my voice is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Continue journeying down through your body temple with touch, presence, and breath.

Bless my breasts, my breasts are sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless my heart, my heart is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless my arms, my arms are sacred. Sweep your palms lovingly down your arms. Inhale, exhale.

Bless my hands, my hands are sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bring your hands now onto your belly, Bless my belly, my belly is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless my womb, my womb is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless my creations, my creations are sacred. Inhale, exhale.

If it feels safe for you, bring your hands to your public triangle or down to your pelvic floor to gently rest on your vulva.

Bless my yoni, my yoni is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless my sexuality, my sexuality is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Hands to your hips, Bless my hips, my hips are sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless my thighs, my thighs are sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless my knees, my knees are sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless my legs, my legs are sacred. Inhale, exhale and touch your legs with long sweeping caresses.

Bless my feet, my feet are sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Still at your feet, Bless my body, my body is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless my whole body, my whole body is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Touch your whole body as you sweep up from your feet, up your legs, across your womb, up your belly, across your breasts, down your arms, up to your face, digging your fingers into your scalp and massaging your head.

Bring your hands back to your heart and your womb as we began.

Bless my being, my being is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless all parts of me, all parts of me are sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless my life, my life is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

If you’d like, you can now offer and extend this prayer out beyond yourself and into the world at large.

Bless our sisters, our sisters are sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless our brothers, our brothers are sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless our elders, our elders are sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless our children, our children are sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless our humanity, our humanity is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless our Earth, our Earth is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

Bless all life, all life is sacred. Inhale, exhale.

You may wish to explore this blessing with your eyes open while looking into a mirror, as a blessing you offer to a loved one, as an anointing ritual with an essential oil, and as a self care practice whenever you are needing more love, regulation, and support.

Your blessing may move differently, visit the body differently, use different words. That is all perfect. Trust your intuition in how your body most wants to be remembered with the light of your soul.

May all beings everywhere be blessed with the knowing that all that they are, ever have been, and ever will be is absolutely worthy, is absolutely valid, is absolutely sacred, is absolutely whole.