Welcome.
I invite you to join me in this self compassion break,
Which helps us to connect to a felt sense of the three components of self compassion.
As we start the meditation or the practice.
I invite you to find a comfortable position.
That can be seated or lying down,
Or even astronauts pose.
As you move into your comfortable position.
See if it's possible to close your eyes.
Or at least let them fall into a nice soft gaze.
Taking a moment or two now to settle into your space.
Sometimes it can feel nice to place the hands on the body.
In loving connected awareness.
Creating that container of support through soothing touch.
Just allowing your hands to come to a place that feels comfortable for you,
Maybe the chest.
The belly,
The heart.
And I want you to think of a situation in your life.
That is difficult.
That is causing you stress right now.
It can be a health problem,
A problem in an important relationship.
Something at work,
Or maybe it's something that's happened related to bias or discrimination.
Please choose a very specific problem in the mild to moderate range,
Not something too big.
You can check in with your body to know if you're in the right zone.
Do you feel safe,
Too safe,
A little bit challenged?
Or is this pushing you into a place that feels overwhelmed?
We can't learn much if we're too overwhelmed.
Let me just take a moment or two now to find that problem.
And please allow yourself to drop into the situation.
And recall how it feels or remember how you felt at that time.
Notice how distress feels in your body.
Now see if you can discover where in your body the sensation of stress is most evident.
Allowing your experience to be just as it is.
Perhaps making just a little more room than usual for the experience of discomfort in your body.
Try labeling the experience for yourself in a gentle and kind way.
This is uncomfortable.
This hurts.
This is stressful.
This is a moment of suffering.
You are validating your experience as you might for a good friend.
And knowing that what you are experiencing right now is part of the human experience.
You are not alone.
Others would feel just as you do or did in the same situation.
Suffering is part of being human.
Now let's see if we can respond to distress in a new way.
Can you give yourself some kindness simply because you're having a moment of discomfort?
If you like,
See if it's possible to place a hand onto a part of your body that's feeling the stress.
And now,
See if you can send kindness through your fingers into that part of your body that's holding stress for you.
Maybe gently massaging that part of your body.
And now consider for a moment what you would most like to hear in a moment like this.
Perhaps words of comfort or support.
Just what you need to hear.
For example.
I'm here for you.
I love you.
You are a good person.
What might those words be for you?
Can you repeat those words for yourself,
In your own mind,
In your own way?
Take a moment and offer yourself kindness.
In a way that feels just right for you.
Savoring,
Compassionate touch.
Or offering yourself words of kindness,
Just because you feel distress,
Not trying to make it go away.
And now we slowly begin to settle back down and in,
Releasing the practice.
Allowing yourself to feel just as you do right now.
Letting the exercise be just as it was.
And allowing yourself,
If only for this moment,
To be just as you are.
And when you're ready.
.
.
We move back into awareness.
And slowly open the eyes.
