The Welcoming Prayer
It All Belongs in LOVE
1. What the Welcoming Prayer Means
The Welcoming Prayer is a gentle, embodied way of meeting difficult emotions, memories, and sensations with compassion instead of resistance. Rather than pushing pain away or trying to control it, we turn toward what is happening inside us and say, in essence, “You are allowed to be here, and you can be held in Love.”
This prayer rests on three movements: feeling, welcoming, and letting go. We feel what is present in the body, we welcome the experience as part of our healing, and we gently release our need to control or fix it. In this way, the Welcoming Prayer becomes a doorway into presence, trust, and openness to Love.
Feeling
The first movement is to notice and feel what is happening in the body. This might include tightness in the chest, a knot in the stomach, heat in the face, trembling, heaviness, or a sense of numbness or freeze. Instead of analyzing the story, we simply feel the raw sensation. The body often holds emotions long before the mind understands them, so feeling the body is a way to meet the truth of the moment directly.
There is no need to label anything as good or bad. We are simply noticing: “Something is here.”
Welcoming
The second movement is welcoming. Here we gently say things like, “Welcome, fear,” “Welcome, anger,” or “Welcome, sadness.” We are not welcoming suffering as a permanent state, nor are we asking for more pain. We are welcoming the part of us that is already hurting, the truth that is already present. To welcome is to say, “You are not being rejected. You can be seen and held.”
Welcoming breaks the cycle of resistance. Instead of tightening and pushing away, we soften and allow. This softening is often the beginning of healing.
Letting Go
The third movement is letting go. This is not collapse or giving up, but a gentle surrender of our need to control the moment. We might say quietly, “I let go into Love,” or “I let this be held in Love,” or “I let go of my need to fix this right now.”
Letting go tells the nervous system that it no longer has to fight or brace. The experience can move through us instead of staying locked inside. We trust that something larger than our fear or control is holding us.
2. How the Welcoming Prayer Balances Despair, Anger, and Anxiety
Despair, anger, and anxiety often show up as strong bodily states: heaviness and collapse, heat and tension, racing thoughts and tightening breath. The Welcoming Prayer works with these states at the level of sensation, tone, and nervous system response.
When we feel and welcome what is happening in the body, we interrupt the habits of fighting, fleeing, or freezing. We are teaching the body that it is safe enough to feel and that we are not alone in the experience.
Despair
Despair can feel like collapse, hopelessness, or a sense that nothing will ever change. In the body, it may appear as heaviness, numbness, or a lack of energy. When we use the Welcoming Prayer with despair, we first feel the heaviness, then gently say, “Welcome, despair,” or “Welcome, heaviness,” and finally, “I let this be held in Love.”
By welcoming despair, we are no longer abandoning ourselves in that state. We are offering companionship. Over time, the frozen quality of despair begins to thaw, making room for tenderness, honesty, and small movements of hope.
Anger
Anger often protects deeper wounds of hurt, fear, or feeling unseen. In the body, anger may show up as heat, pressure, clenching, or a desire to push away. When we practice the Welcoming Prayer with anger, we notice the heat or tension, say, “Welcome, anger,” and then, “I let this be held in Love.”
This does not mean we act out anger or approve harmful behavior. It means we allow the inner energy of anger to be felt and soothed, rather than suppressed or exploded. Welcoming anger helps it shift from raw reactivity into information about our needs and boundaries.
Anxiety
Anxiety is often a form of inner bracing: the body and mind preparing for something bad that might happen. It can appear as a tight chest, rapid heartbeat, shallow breathing, or restlessness. With the Welcoming Prayer, we feel these sensations, say, “Welcome, anxiety,” or “Welcome, tightness,” and then gently, “I let this be held in Love.”
As we welcome anxiety instead of fighting it, the nervous system receives a message of safety: “You do not have to work so hard to protect me. We are allowed to feel this.” This often allows the breath to deepen and the body to slowly relax.
3. The Welcoming Prayer and “It all belongs in LOVE”
Your phrase “It all belongs in LOVE” is a natural companion to the Welcoming Prayer. Welcoming is the act of letting experience belong. Love is the space that receives what is welcomed.
When we say, “Welcome, fear,” or “Welcome, grief,” we are opening the door. When we add, “It all belongs in LOVE,” we are affirming that even this painful experience has a home in something larger, kinder, and more spacious than our personal struggle.
In practice, this might sound like: “Welcome, fear. Welcome, tightness in my chest. It all belongs in LOVE.” Or: “Welcome, anger. Welcome, sadness underneath. It all belongs in LOVE. I let this be held.”
This integration teaches the heart that nothing inside us has to be exiled. Every feeling, sensation, and memory can be brought into the field of Love and gently transformed there.
4. Practicing the Welcoming Prayer Deeply in Body and Mind
To practice the Welcoming Prayer deeply, we work with both the body and the mind. We feel sensations directly while repeating the words slowly and sincerely. The body receives attention; the mind receives a new pattern of response.
Here is a simple step-by-step way to practice:
Step 1: Notice and Feel
When a difficult emotion arises, pause and turn toward your body. Ask gently, “Where do I feel this?” It may be in the throat, chest, stomach, face, or somewhere else. Spend a little time simply feeling the sensation, without trying to change it.
Step 2: Soften
Invite a small softening around the sensation. Relax the jaw, soften the shoulders, let the belly be less tight. You are not forcing anything, just encouraging a little more space around what you feel.
Step 3: Welcome
Begin to say quietly in your mind: “Welcome, fear,” “Welcome, sadness,” or whatever is present. If it feels right, you can say, “Welcome, my dear one,” addressing the part of you that is struggling. Say the words slowly, as if you are speaking to a child who needs reassurance.
Step 4: Belonging in Love
Now add your heart-phrase: “It all belongs in LOVE.” You might say, “Welcome, anger. It all belongs in LOVE.” or “Welcome, grief. You belong in LOVE.” Let the words be an invitation, not a demand. You are letting the experience know that there is a place for it in Love.
Step 5: Letting Go
Gently say something like, “I let this be held in Love,” or “I let go into Love,” or “I let go of trying to fix this right now.” This is a quiet act of trust. You are not making the feeling disappear by force; you are entrusting it to something larger than your effort.
Step 6: Resting
Finally, rest for a few moments in the space that opens up. Notice any softening in the body, any ease in the breath, or a sense of being less alone. Even if the emotion has not fully lifted, the way you are relating to it has changed. You are now meeting it with presence and Love, instead of fear and resistance.
5. A 7-Day Welcoming Prayer Practice
The Welcoming Prayer becomes more natural and effective when it is practiced regularly. The following 7-day outline offers a simple way to deepen your experience of feeling, welcoming, and letting go, all within the field of “It all belongs in LOVE.”
Day 1: Learning to Feel the Body
For 10–15 minutes, sit quietly and simply notice sensations in your body. When any discomfort or emotion appears, place your attention on where it lives in the body. Practice saying: “Here is tightness,” “Here is heaviness,” without judgment. Do not yet add the Welcoming words; just strengthen your capacity to feel.
Day 2: Saying “Welcome”
Today, when a difficult sensation or emotion arises, feel it in the body and then add the word “Welcome.” For example: “Welcome, fear in my chest,” or “Welcome, heaviness in my stomach.” Spend a few minutes repeating this gently. Notice how the body responds when you stop fighting the experience.
Day 3: Adding “It all belongs in LOVE”
Continue feeling and welcoming what arises, and now add your heart-phrase: “It all belongs in LOVE.” You might say, “Welcome, sadness. It all belongs in LOVE,” or “Welcome, anger. You belong in LOVE.” Let the words reassure the part of you that feels alone or rejected.
Day 4: Working with Anxiety
On this day, focus specifically on moments of anxiety. When you notice racing thoughts, tight breathing, or restlessness, pause and feel the sensations in your body. Say: “Welcome, anxiety,” or “Welcome, tightness.” Then, “It all belongs in LOVE. I let this be held.” Practice staying with the feelings long enough to sense even a small softening.
Day 5: Working with Anger
Today, bring the Welcoming Prayer to any anger or irritation that appears. Notice where anger lives in the body—perhaps heat in the face, pressure in the chest, or clenching in the hands. Say: “Welcome, anger. Welcome, heat. It all belongs in LOVE.” Then add: “I let this be held in Love.” Observe how the energy of anger shifts when you stop pushing it away.
Day 6: Working with Despair or Sadness
On this day, gently welcome any sadness, grief, or despair that you are carrying. Feel the heaviness or emptiness in the body. Say softly: “Welcome, sadness.” “Welcome, despair.” Then: “It all belongs in LOVE. I let this be held.” Allow yourself to sense that even your heaviest feelings are not outside the reach of Love.
Day 7: Integrating the Practice
For your seventh day, spend 15–20 minutes moving through the full Welcoming Prayer process with whatever arises: feeling the body, softening, saying “Welcome,” adding “It all belongs in LOVE,” letting go into Love, and resting. You can also end by thanking yourself for your courage: “Thank you for feeling.” “Thank you for welcoming.” “Thank you for trusting that it all belongs in LOVE.”
Self Love is Everything — G. Ross Clark