book meditations
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Raising LGBTQ Allies:
A Parent's Guide to Changing the Messages from the Playground
by Chris Tompkins
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I personally prefer listening to guided meditations, so to help you best utilize Raising LGBTQ Allies,
I've recorded the book's meditations as bonus material.
Another suggestion for you to get the most benefit from the meditations is to record yourself reading them on your phone (i.e., using Voice Memos).
Then you can sit back, relax, and enjoy a Raising LGBTQ Allies guided meditation anytime you’d like from your own phone.
You’ll also be able to easily share them with anyone you think they could benefit.
Chapter 1:
Messages from the Playground Proclamation
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I am willing to change my beliefs. I am willing to change my thinking. It is easy for me to embrace new beliefs, and I welcome a new way of thinking.
My new thoughts and my new beliefs are supportive and loving. I view all children as deserving and worthy of love, and it’s up to me to let them know. I forgive myself for unloving thoughts and unsupportive beliefs.
I am willing to forgive myself for any beliefs I have that may cause a young person harm. I now choose to think in a new way.
My new beliefs make me feel good about myself and others. I feel free. My mind is free. My heart is free. I am open and accepting. I have an open mind. I am open to new possibilities.
I help create new playgrounds for new generations. I choose to pass on love and acceptance. I am continuing to grow. I bless the past and honor the future. I create a new world with my new thoughts. I create new playgrounds with my new beliefs.
All children are safe and supported in the new world I hold in my heart.
It is safe for me to create change.
And so it is.
Chapter 3:
Messages from the Playground Visualization
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Get into a comfortable position. Close your eyes and take a deep breath . . . now gently exhale. Imagine you’re in an open field lying under a tree. The view is of a hillside overlooking an ocean. This is a calm and peaceful place. A place that is safe and welcoming.
Take another deep breath in . . . now gently exhale.
You can come here anytime you want to collect your thoughts and to feel at peace. Begin now to visualize yourself relaxing. You can feel the warmth of the sun gently embracing your skin. You can hear the waves of the ocean in the distance softly lapping the sand. You can feel a smooth breeze brush against your face, making you feel even more relaxed and calm.
You are completely alone and feel completely open. You allow any tension in your body to melt away. All cares and worries of your day are gradually melting away.
Take a slow deep breath in and gently exhale.
Visualize in your mind any place you may be holding tension in your body, any aches or pains, gradually softening and releasing.
You are completely open. You feel completely serene and at peace under this tree. I want you to notice a shiny green envelope that is lying next to you. You reach down and pick up the envelope. As you hold the envelope in your hand, you notice there is a note inside. You open the shiny green envelope and reach in with your fingers to pull out the piece of paper.
You unfold the paper and read written in blue ink the word: gay.
What immediately comes to mind?
Is there a feeling or a sensation in your body you experience when seeing the word?
Take a slow deep breath in and gently exhale.
You notice another piece of paper in the envelope. You pull it out and written on the paper in the same blue ink is a question, “What have you heard about being gay?”
What words come to mind? Any feeling or sensation in your body?
Take another slow deep breath in . . . and gently exhale.
What messages did you hear growing up about boys? What messages did you hear growing up about girls?
Take a slow deep breath in and gently exhale.
When you hear the word homophobia, what comes to mind? Notice any feeling or sensation in your body.
What is the first memory you have of knowing about someone gay? What’s the first thing that comes to mind?
Take a slow deep breath in and gently exhale.
I’d like you to imagine you’re on a playground. You may see yourself as a young child or you might just be observing a group of kids playing. You’re aware that one of the kids in the group is transgender. What do you see? What is the image you have? What words do you hear? How do you react?
How do the other children act?
Become aware of your thoughts. It’s safe to be honest and okay to share.
It is now time to leave this visualization. When you feel ready, gently bring your awareness back to your body and to the room.
Begin to feel where your hands are placed and become aware of your feet planted on the ground.
You can give your fingers and toes a wiggle, and when you’re ready, gently open your eyes.
Chapter 8:
Building a New Playground Meditation
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Go ahead and get into a comfortable position.
Slowly breathe in to the count of five and exhale to the count of six.
Do this three times. Breathe in 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and breathe out 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Repeat twice more.
Continue to breathe in and out slowly and deeply.
Consciously tell yourself:
I am relaxed, my scalp is relaxed, my forehead is relaxed, my face and jaw are relaxed.
I relax my shoulders, my chest, my arms, my abdomen, my hands, and my palms.
My upper body is completely relaxed and I feel grounded where I sit.
I relax my upper thighs, my hips, my legs, and my feet.
My feet are connected to the ground and I am safe. I bring to my mind’s eye somewhere I love to be.
Maybe I’ve been there before, maybe it’s a place I’ve always wanted to go. I feel safe here.
I feel relaxed and at ease.
I understand that not all my beliefs are my own.
Some of my thoughts and some of my beliefs I learned and that’s completely okay.
I am willing to realize my thoughts and beliefs are ever-changing.
Each thought I think and each belief I have can change.
I can choose what I want to think and what I want to believe.
It’s safe for me to change my thoughts and safe for me to change my beliefs.
I am open and accepting of new thoughts and new beliefs and I welcome change.
I believe all children are the future and that each and every human life matters.
I believe the world is connected and all children deserve to be loved and are lovable.
If I can help inspire, uplift, and empower a young person to be exactly who they are,
I can help create a more peaceful planet.
Building new playgrounds begins with me and I have the strength, capacity, support,
and motivation to help inspire change.
Where there was once fear, I now stand for love.
Where there was once hatred, I now actively embrace true acceptance.
The privilege of a lifetime is for me to fully embrace, love, and accept myself exactly as I am.
If I know this for myself, I am willing to believe it’s also true for every child on the planet.
I embrace myself and therefore embrace each and every child I know.
I am willing to open my heart and it’s safe for me to embrace my new thoughts and my new beliefs.
I am excited to see, speak, and listen through my heart. I share peace, love, and acceptance wherever I go.
I believe in love, I believe in the human spirit, and I believe in change.
I will do what I can to help create new and safe playgrounds for each and every child, regardless of background, race, culture, religion, gender, or sexuality.
I am helping to build new playgrounds with each and every thought I think.
It is my joy to build new playgrounds.
Building new playgrounds begins with me and what I believe and I am safe.
I look around and I see new playgrounds.
I see all children laughing and smiling.
I see what’s possible when I embrace and accept all children.
A peaceful planet begins with peaceful playgrounds.
My new mantra and my new belief is:
A peaceful planet begins with peaceful playgrounds.
And so it is.
Chapter 10:
Rule of Expectations Visualization
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Go ahead and get into a comfortable position. Close your eyes and take a deep breath in through your nose to the count of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Now gently exhale through your nose.
Repeat this two more times.
See in your mind’s eye a classroom full of students. Maybe it’s one of the classrooms you were in as a young person. As you look around, you see all the students talking to one another and smiling. You notice the room feels light and free. Everyone is in a good mood.
The sunlight is bright and shines through a big window. You look up at the front of the room and see a teacher with their back to the class. You notice they’re writing on the board.
The bell rings and they begin to write: Who you are matters.
When they turn around you see their face and realize it’s you. You’re the teacher and the classroom is your life. Each person you interact with every day is someone sitting in your classroom—smiling, happy, and free. You realize that how you feel impacts everyone around you, especially young people. You begin to notice how your heart feels in the middle of your chest. It feels full of loving energy.
You remember how good it feels to be able to share something positive with someone and so you begin to smile at each person in the classroom.
You see youth of all backgrounds standing in a big circle in the middle of the classroom holding hands. You see their faces and notice the warmth of their smiles.
You see them achieving their dreams, you see them laughing, you see them capable, you see them free, you see them enjoying life, you see them making a positive contribution to the planet.
You hold each student’s smiling face in your heart and you look them in their eyes and say:
“Who you are matters. Your life matters. You have potential and are capable of achieving anything your heart desires. You deserve to be happy, healthy, and free. May you be blessed and may you know peace.”
Because you know this for each student in your classroom, you know this for all youth around the world. You hold a vision in your mind’s eye of a planet full of playgrounds where all children are laughing and free.
You now carry this vision with you everywhere you go.
And so it is.