Prayer of Self-tending
This prayer turns the care you offer outward back toward yourself ; for the moments before rest, movement, stillness, or any act of intentional nourishment.
May I remember that I, too, am worthy of the care I give so freely to others. That this body, the one that teaches, holds, moves, and tends, deserves to be met with the same gentleness I would offer anyone who came to me in need.
May I be present to myself in this moment. Not the version of me that is useful or productive or needed, but the one that simply is, breathing, sensing, alive.
May I receive rest without earning it, stillness without justifying it, and pleasure without shrinking from it. May I trust that tending to myself is not a withdrawal from the world, but a return to it; fuller, softer, more wholly here.
What I give to myself, I give to everyone I touch.
I receive this moment with immense gratitude.