I'm Amy Finlay-Jones,
And this is a practice for meeting suffering with stability and tenderness.
So many of us are trying to remain compassionate during times that often feel heavy,
Confronting or unjust.
We're exposed to suffering,
Our own and others,
Often without enough space to integrate what we're carrying.
When this happens,
Compassion becomes harder to sustain,
Because the body loses its sense of support and stability.
We tend to brace ourselves in the front of the body to protect ourselves from suffering,
While also losing our ground or our stability in the back,
Feeling fear or overwhelm.
This practice supports us to sustain compassion by working directly with the body.
By cultivating steadiness and openness together,
It helps create the conditions in which care can remain present over time,
Without overwhelming us or burning us out.
So let's begin by allowing the body to settle into a position that feels supported and awake.
You might be seated,
Standing or lying down.
Choose a posture you can remain with comfortably for the next 10 to 15 minutes.
If it feels comfortable for you,
Allow your eyes to close or soften your gaze.
Take a moment to arrive.
Bring your attention to the places where your body meets what supports it.
The chair,
The floor,
The ground beneath you.
Allow yourself to feel that support.
You don't need to do anything to make it happen.
Just notice where you are already held,
By whatever it is you are sitting,
Standing or lying on.
And allow the breath to deepen gradually,
Moving into the belly,
The ribs and the back of the body.
For the next few breaths,
Noticing how the breath nourishes the body on the in-breath and relaxes the body on the out-breath.
This is part of resourcing ourselves to stay with suffering.
Noticing where we are already held,
Nourished and supported.
Now bring your attention to the back of the body and begin to sense into a feeling of strong back.
Noticing the spine and the sense of inner support it offers.
A feeling of length and steadiness.
Strong back carries firmness alongside flexibility.
Like bamboo blowing in the wind,
It can respond and adapt while remaining rooted.
So let the back of the body register this groundedness.
This steadiness.
A sense of being supported enough to stay present with whatever is here.
Strong back.
Now bring the attention to the front of the body.
The chest.
The belly.
The throat.
Invite a gentle softening here.
A receptivity to whatever is present.
Soft front allows experience to be felt as it arises and met with tenderness and responsiveness.
Let the front of the body register this openness.
Soft front.
Now feeling into both the sense of strong back and soft front.
Notice how steadiness and openness support one another.
Together they create a posture that supports compassion in the body.
If it feels appropriate,
Bring to mind something that feels difficult right now.
Notice how this experience shows up in the body.
Notice any tendency to brace in the front.
Notice any fear.
Any sense of weakness in the back.
And as you stay with it,
Seeing if you can reaffirm the sense of steadiness in the back.
And a soft,
Tender,
Open-heartedness of the front.
To support yourself in this practice,
You might offer yourself a few quiet phrases.
Allowing them to settle into the body.
May I meet this with steadiness.
May I meet this with tenderness.
May I stay present with what is here.
And if at any point the practice feels too intense,
You can return your attention to the support beneath you.
Feel the contact with the ground.
Reconnect with the steadiness of the back.
Breathe in to the softness of the front.
This is part of caring for your capacity to remain present.
Strong back.
Soft front.
Before we close,
Reconnect with what it feels like to hold both steadiness and openness at the same time.
Sense this posture in the body.
This is something you can return to in moments of difficulty,
In the presence of suffering,
In your everyday life.
Strong back.
When you're ready,
Begin to bring the practice to a close.
Start to notice the sounds in the room around you.
The breath moving naturally in and out of the body.
The body as a whole.
Strong back.
A way of meeting the world with stability and tenderness.
Www.
Mooji.
Org
