Welcome.
So I wanted to offer a practice on self-compassion.
And we spend a lot of times beating ourselves up,
Treating ourselves poorly,
Talking to ourselves in ways that we would never speak to another person,
Right?
So,
This is a practice that just allows us to turn inward and offer ourselves some kindness,
Care,
And compassion.
Okay,
So as we begin,
Go ahead and find a comfortable position.
Take a moment to move your body around if needed,
And go ahead and start to turn inward by closing your eyes or lowering your gaze.
And start to notice breath coming in and out of your body,
Just paying attention to what it feels like to breathe.
Noticing if there's areas during the process of breath coming in and out that are constricted or tight,
And seeing if you can relax and soften any areas of tension or places that you're holding to allow the breath to be more fluid.
And not straining,
Not efforting,
Just allowing,
Removing any obstacles for breath to become fluid in your body,
Coming in and out.
And now imagine that you're breathing in and out of your heart area.
So,
If it's helpful to think about air coming in through your lungs,
You can start there.
But ultimately,
See if you can allow your breath to come in and out of your heart,
Whatever that means for you.
Now imagine that your heart is a bubbling fountain.
It's a bubbling fountain that is constantly regenerating itself.
Right?
But it's not just pumping blood.
It's the energetic space that holds your love,
Your care,
Your warmth,
Your compassion.
And if it's helpful,
You can imagine somebody that you care deeply about,
That love comes easily,
And could be your pet,
Could be a friend,
Could be a partner,
Could be a parent.
Just want to connect to the feeling of love,
Warmth,
And care that you might want to offer this person or this thing.
And take a moment and just notice how deep does this feeling of love go?
If it's helpful,
You could imagine a well or a spring that goes all the way down into the earth.
That's the depth of your love and your care and your compassion.
Then you can offer it to this person,
Towards this person,
Or this thing,
And just see what it feels like when you connect with that.
The feeling of offering love,
Warmth,
Care,
Compassion.
Now go ahead and let that person dissolve.
Coming back,
The awareness of your heart is a bubbling fountain.
And this deep well of love,
Care,
And compassion.
And notice what it feels like as this fountain moves into your body.
So imagine this bubbling fountain of love and care and warmth moving through your whole body.
You could imagine it literally like it's moving through your circulatory system,
Your veins,
Moving all the way through your body.
You could imagine it as a color,
Coating every cell,
Every part of your body from head to toe,
Fingertips,
Ears,
All the way.
Nothing is left.
You could imagine it like a ball or a soothing ointment or like molasses moving through your whole system and coating it.
And it's being coated with love and care and compassion from your bubbling heart,
From this well of love that's always available to you,
And it's moving through your system.
And just see what that feels like as it moves through the system.
Notice if there are any places that don't want it,
That hopes that it will be forgotten about.
Or if there's any resistance.
Just take a moment and just allow,
Allow that love and care and compassion to soothe all parts of you.
And when it feels like everything has been coated,
Maybe do a couple more rounds.
You can rest back into your heart,
Into your bubbling heart.
And now,
Once you've already coated that care and kindness,
Now you can offer it out.
Radiating from your heart.
To anyone that you'd like.
And now just rest in the space of knowing that this well,
This spring,
This fountain is always available to you.
It's just a matter of remembering that you can always access it.
It's always available.
And it's unending.
When you're ready,
You can bring your attention back into the room,
To your external environment,
And to open your eyes.
