Find your personal comfortable position.
Now either you're sitting or you're lying down.
And once you found your comfy position I invite you to close your eyes and take a few deep relaxing breathings.
And for a moment now place your hand over your heart or any other place in your body where that feels soothing and supportive now.
Just for a few moments to remind yourself that you are here in your room and that you are worthy of kindness.
It's feeling the warmth of your hand and the support.
And you can leave your hand there or bring it back.
And now please let yourself recall a mild to moderately difficult situation that you are facing in your life right now.
So that difficult situation could be in a personal relationship that you have,
Could be in your professional life.
Perhaps you made a mistake somewhere or you're worried about accomplishing a task or you just feel very stressed about something.
And please do not choose the most difficult problem,
Neither a trivial problem.
So it should be really a problem that can generate a little stress in your body when you think about it.
And once you found that situation,
Clearly visualize it.
Who was there and what was said?
What happened?
What might happen?
And as you relive this situation,
Notice if any emotions arise within you.
And if so,
Then see if you can label an emotion that comes up,
A name for it.
So for example,
It could be anger,
Fear,
Jealousy,
Sadness,
Frustration,
Confusion,
Guilt,
Or simply discomfort.
If you are having many emotions,
Seeing if you have a name for the strongest emotion associated with the situation.
And now repeating the name of the emotion to yourself in a gentle and understanding voice,
As if you were validating for a friend what he or she was feeling.
So for example,
Oh,
That's longing.
Oh,
That's sadness.
That's anger.
Okay.
And now expanding your awareness to your body as a whole.
Just seeing if you can feel that emotion in your body somewhere.
Scanning your body for where you feel it most easily.
So if you wanted to you could really do a little body scan.
Scan your body from the crown of your head down to your fingertips your toes.
Just to become aware of where you feel that emotion the strongest.
So it can be that you become aware of a bit of tension somewhere tightness pain.
Just discomfort.
So just try to feel what is feelable for you in your own body right now.
And if you can then please choose that single location in your body where the feeling expresses itself most strongly.
So maybe that's point of muscle tension or a heartache.
Or an achy feeling somewhere.
And in your mind very gently inclined toward that spot.
Move closer and closer and closer with your attention.
In a warm and loving way.
In the sense of curiosity.
And see if you can now soften into that location in your body.
Allowing the muscles to soften letting them relax as if in warm water.
As if you were bathing them in warm water softening and softening.
And just know that we are really not trying to change the way we feel in any way.
We're just trying to hold ourselves and that emotion in our body in a loving way with a sense of tenderness and warmth.
And if that's challenging you can see if you can simply soften a little bit around the edges of that spot in your body.
If it feels too much at some point you can also simply bring your attention to another place in your body for a moment.
Maybe to your breath or the soles of your feet that's totally fine.
And then gently returning.
Now soothing yourself because of this difficult situation.
So if you wish maybe you've already done it.
Placing your hand over the part of your body that feels so uncomfortable.
And just feeling the warmth and the gentle touch of your hand.
Perhaps imagining warmth and kindness are flowing through your hand into your body.
Soothing yourself.
Soothing.
That's challenging.
Maybe it's helpful to think of your body as if it were the body of a beloved being and then allowing the kindness and warmth to flow.
And are there some comforting words that you might want to hear,
Need to hear right now?
And if so then please imagine you had a friend who was struggling in the same way.
What would you say to your friend?
Maybe it's something like I'm so sorry you feel this way.
I care deeply about you.
See if you can offer yourself a similar message.
Something like it's so hard to feel this.
May I be kind to myself.
May I give myself what I need.
So just see if there's some words that spontaneously arise from your kind self.
All of your compassion for yourself.
And offer them to yourself.
And again take really good care of yourself.
If you want to open your eyes for a moment that's totally fine.
Even if you want to let go of the exercise completely,
If that's the most compassionate thing to do for you,
Please go ahead.
Now finally simply allowing whatever discomfort is there right now,
Allowing it to simply be there.
Making room for it.
Releasing the need to make it go away.
Allowing yourself to be just as you are,
Exactly as you are in this moment.
Allowing how you feel.
Allowing the sensations in your body.
Just like this,
Even if only for a moment.
Softening into that place in your body.
Soothing yourself by offering supportive touch,
By offering kind and friendly words to yourself.
By allowing yourself to feel what you're feeling.
Softening,
Soothing,
Allowing.
And now letting go of the practice,
Focusing on your body as a whole for a moment.
Just noticing,
Just noticing how you feel,
What's there in your experience.
Letting everything be as it is.
You're leaving it as it is.
And soon I will be ringing the singing bowl.
And when I do so,
That's your cue to slowly and gently open your eyes,
Attend to your body,
Maybe stretch a little bit,
Massage yourself a little bit.
Just doing whatever feels good.
