Sit upright in a comfortable position with your feet flat on the ground and under your knees. Take a slow deep breath in and a long slow breath out. Continue to breathe deeply and notice how the body relaxes and becomes heavy.

Bring your attention to your feet and feel the earth supporting the weight of your feet. Reflect on how your feet support the rest of your body. Send a mental message of loving appreciation to your feet as you exhale. You might imagine the light of love in your heart being sent down to your feet. Let it be an internal hug from your breath. Continue sending this loving appreciation for a few more breaths. 

Move your attention to your legs. Think of your shins, calves, knees, and thighs and reflect on how they allow you to walk and move about in your day-to-day life. With the feeling of appreciation for your legs, send a message of loving appreciation to all the parts of your legs. 

As you move through your body, notice if there is a part of your body that you might not feel a full experience of love and appreciation. In today’s society it is common to be unhappy with how some parts of your body look or function. If there is a part that you don’t like, than have compassion for it and honor it as much as you can. Try to think of one thing that it does well and honor that.

Next bring your focus to your buttocks and hips. As you exhale send loving light to your buttocks and hips. With the next few breaths, continue honoring this part of your body that allows for the rotational quality of the legs.

Bring your focus to your abdomen and all the internal organs of elimination and procreation. As you contemplate the importance of a working elimination system and reproductive system and how they have served you over the years, send loving light to your abdomen. 

Move your attention to your chest and/or breasts. Honor the strength of your chest and your breasts if you are a woman. Send the light of love and appreciation to this part of your body.

Next, focus on your arms and hands. Reflect on how this part of your body touches the world and all the people around you. Send the light of appreciation to your arms and hands as you exhale.

Focus on the head and the senses. Honor the power of the mind to think and remember and send some loving appreciation to your mind. Reflect on the eyes and all the beauty that they see, send a loving exhale of light to your eyes. Next, your ears and all they hear, the nose and the wonderful smells they smell, and the tongue and the experience of taste. Send each of these senses loving appreciation. Finally, reflect on the skin and the sense of touch that can be so sensual, imagine that you could hug your skin with your breath as you breathe in and then send it loving appreciation as you breathe out.

Start to consciously move back down the body and into each location where you didn’t feel an authentic feeling of loving appreciation. Go back to each location and speak to yourself. “Even though I don’t completely love this part of my body, I deeply and completely accept myself.” Honor your resistance in this way and as you continue to do this meditation your loving appreciation will expand.