Self-Compassion In Times Of Illness

This is a self-compassion meditation track with the intention of encouraging more flow and ease in the body. The term illness is used broadly here and is meant to address any form of discomfort in the body.

Transcript

Welcome to this meditative self-compassion session to help encourage more dynamic energy throughout the body. For this practice, Ensure that you're comfortably seated or lying down in a way that allows the spine to be long, If that's accessible to you. You'll have a couple of minutes to settle into that position. Whether you're dealing with a chronic or an acute illness, There will be ebbs and flows to navigate. Your capacity to move, To act, To be productive, To be kind, Are all vulnerable to forces acting within and outside the body. Sometimes we just know what to do and we're able to get through our day despite the discomfort, And other times we have no choice but to stop. As the world is bustling about you, It can be difficult to be okay with our experience of illness. It can be lonely, Painful, Ugly, And oh-so-draining. If you're here, You're probably someone who works hard to support yourself, And sometimes that self-care looks like thriving, While other times it just looks like surviving. Addressing illness through lifestyle practices, Therapies, And paying attention to what we eat are important ways of controlling our health and well-being. It is so empowering to feel agency in our health. But the flip side of this is that those of us who do the work of self-improvement also tend to take on a lot of guilt when things take a negative turn. A setback in our health can have us scrutinizing our behaviors and this can easily spiral into feeling that there is a side of us that is self-sabotaging. We may also feel a sense of failure and that our efforts were useless. In these moments, It's important to remember that there are so many variables out of our control and that the best way to take care of ourselves in these moments is to have self-compassion. Wouldn't it be wonderful if love alone could make us healthy? And maybe in some dimension it can, But for now we can just work at having a loving attitude that opens us up to healthier outcomes. Feelings of regret, Guilt, Self-hate do nothing for our health except add more resistance to a body that has seized up. Buddhism teaches us that suffering comes from attachment and we are particularly attached to the concept of self. When we're feeling unwell, It is especially hard to allow the body to open up to a broader sense of oneness. When we're in the body and all the energy seems stuck within the confounds of the tissues, We can work from where we're at. We can surrender to the reality of what is and try to silence the negative self-talk, Judgments, Feelings of injustice just for a few moments and we can try to get curious about what is happening in the body. Suffering in the body can be seen as a disruption to the natural flow of an intricate system. The biochemist May Wan Ho describes a static holding pattern where living systems will freeze rather than flow through experience. Right now there's an experience happening within us and we have some degree of control here where we can metabolize the pain, Discomfort or dullness rather than resist it. I invite you now to close the eyes and start to pay attention to how you're breathing right now in this moment. Where is the inhale landing? See if you can start to bring the breath lower into the lungs, Feeling the movement of the body as you do that. And when you found a comfortable quiet rhythm, Start to scan the body starting from the head moving down. See if you can notice particular areas of discomfort. Keeping a slow, Deep and gentle breathing pattern, Notice areas that feel neutral or comfortable and then notice the differences between these areas. Where do they end? How much space are they taking up? And now we'll move our attention to one particular area that is calling to us, An area where you're experiencing discomfort and see if on each exhale you can soften a little bit. Making a little more space, Letting go, Allowing for more suppleness and flow and finally offering loving kindness to that part of the body. We will end with some self-compassion statements that you can repeat to yourself. You can start by placing the hands, Either one hand or both hands onto the heart and repeat these words, I am deserving of care. I am deserving of care. I am deserving of care. Next, May I be kind to myself as I flow through this experience of suffering. May I be kind to myself as I flow through this experience of suffering. May I be kind to myself as I flow through this experience of suffering. Next, In accepting that I have limitations right now, I am being kind and courageous In accepting that I have limitations right now, I am being kind and courageous In accepting that I have limitations right now, I am being kind and courageous And finally, I am always worthy of love. I am always worthy of love. I am always worthy of love. If you feel ready, You can open the eyes, Place the arms around yourself in a loving embrace, Give yourself a good squeeze and then let that go. I wish you to be as well as you can be in this moment and that you will soon feel a sense of ease.