And we're going to be practicing a self-compassion meditation,
Which is a beautiful meditation that I personally really,
Really have come to fall in love with.
Before we do that,
I wanted to remind you about one benefit.
So another benefit of practicing mindfulness and meditation is that the studies have shown that there have been beneficial structural changes in our brain,
And those changes have been connected to memory improvement,
More self-awareness,
And also compassion,
Which is what we're going to be practicing right now.
So even if this is the first time for you,
It's okay.
I'm going to be guiding it.
So just find a comfortable position.
So both feet on the ground,
Hands on your lap,
Taking a deep breath through the nose,
Exhaling through the nose slowly as we close our eyes and relax our gaze.
So connecting with our breath just for a few seconds to allow our awareness of the mind of the mind and the heart and the body to be in the same place.
So just connecting with the breath as we inhale and exhale.
Inhaling,
You notice,
Exhaling.
So I'm going to invite you right now to bring to mind a recent difficult situation,
Something that is manageable.
So if this is the first time that you're practicing self-compassion,
So finding that recent opportunity when some difficult emotions were present,
What happened,
And bring in as much detail that you can to your mind at this moment,
How you felt,
And just staying with that for a second.
It's difficult experience.
Acknowledging how difficult was this moment for us,
How difficult it felt to feel this pain,
And perhaps we can introduce a few phrases to help us.
This was hard.
I'm struggling with this,
Whatever is it that you're struggling with.
Identifying this phrase that defines what is happening for you.
This is a moment of sadness or distress.
So to work through this emotion difficult moment,
We're going to connect with compassion.
In compassion,
We remember that suffering is part of life,
That it is normal to feel what we feel,
That many others have experienced or are experiencing similar things.
Hardship is part of life and is part of being human,
So it's okay to feel this way.
We may say to ourselves,
Many others may be experiencing this at this time or at some point in their life.
Hardship is part of the human experience.
To help with coping with this emotion,
We may bring both of our hands to our heart,
Put one on top of the other,
As we bring support to ourselves,
As we were our best friend.
And in this supportive way,
As a gesture of kindness,
We put this warmth on our body.
Sometimes it makes it better to put the hands on the belly too,
Whatever feels comfortable,
Whatever feels supported.
We may repeat phrases like this to help us cope with this difficult time.
Everything will be fine.
Everything will be fine.
I am here for me.
You fear that every word.
I'm here for me.
I care about me.
Everything will be okay.
I care about me.
Everything will be okay.
Continue providing the support to yourself at times you may draw a circle on your heart or your belly to allow the support,
To feel the support that everything will be fine,
That you care,
That you love yourself,
That you're here for you.
And we stay with the support and repeating phrases of support to ourselves just for a few more seconds.
Even if you need to,
Gentle circles on the belly or the heart,
Drawing them to help us cope with this difficult situation.
Good.
Distracted by a noise or thoughts or a strong emotion,
Continue supporting ourselves.
You say,
Oh everything will be all right,
Everything will be fine.
I care about me or I'm here for me.
Allowing,
Taking in that support that we give sometimes to others,
We forget to give to ourselves.
Allowing that to come,
Feel less safety.
Slowly shifting our attention to the breath,
Bringing back our hands to our lap.
Just focusing on the breath and allowing whatever emotion,
Thought,
Or experience that we brought here to go by bringing the attention to the breath.
We connect with this present moment,
Our body here sitting.
And seeing every inhalation and every exhalation.
As you hear the bell,
You're still lonely,
Start to return your attention back to where you are.
