Breathing Compassion Through The Body | Ven Canda

See the body through eyes of kindness and fully embody the quality of compassion, by evoking the presence of someone who represents compassion to you during this guided practice. A Buddhist nun since 2006, Ven Canda emphasises kindness and letting go as a way to deepen stillness and wisdom, and her teachings are richly informed by the compassion and pragmatism of the Early Buddhist Texts.

Transcript

So relaxing into your body,

Into the space.

Watching how it feels to transition from being active,

Extroverted.

Perhaps going from a lot of import or busyness.

So simply coming to rest within yourself.

The eyes closed.

Just only impressions of the sights,

Even the sounds,

The words you've heard.

Noticing how they're all just memories.

And letting them fade away off the screen of your awareness as you come in contact with your body.

And with your breath.

Sometimes it can help at the beginning to just take a few slightly deeper breaths than you usually take.

And as you breathe in,

Noticing a sense of energy coming into the body.

And as you breathe out,

Releasing tension.

So breathing out all those tensions into the ground.

You might notice how on the out breath your shoulders relax,

Drop slightly,

Freeing up the area around the neck.

Maybe widening them slightly to free up the upper back,

The collarbone.

Just letting your arms hang in the sockets,

The shoulder joints.

And taking this time while you're still settling to check through on your breath.

And see if there's anything that is slightly pressed or tight.

Maybe imbalanced in terms of the weight,

Distribution.

And just make any adjustment that you need to.

You might even want to just rock slightly or sway from side to side,

Back to front.

In the middle of your sitting bones.

Central point of gravity connected to the earth.

And gently lengthen,

Very gently,

Part by part through the spine.

Not compromising the relaxation for the alertness but finding a balance between the two.

And I'd like to invite you to evoke the presence or maybe the image of someone who represents compassion to you.

Maybe the Buddha himself or a religious figure,

Deity,

Such as Kuan Yin,

The goddess of compassion.

It could be a teacher or benefactor,

Someone who's really helped you and who you feel a feeling of gratitude towards.

Or maybe a parent or a close friend who you admire for their open heart,

Their compassion and non-judgment.

And who you feel very safe and relaxed around.

If you find it difficult to have that sense of safety and relaxation around another being.

We don't particularly feel a connection to any historical figure or deity.

You could even choose a place,

Perhaps a place where you're alone,

By a river or under a tree.

See if you can regard the nature,

If that's what you've chosen.

Almost as a sentient being,

A presence looking over you.

With loving benevolent eyes of compassion.

And see if you can get a felt sense in the body of how it feels to be with this being,

To be in this place.

Imagining their gaze.

Imagining your body.

Looking right into your body.

And suffusing every cell with warmth,

Friendship and care.

As though they were accompanying you on your journey,

On your inner journey through each part of the body.

So with this feeling we're going to start by doing a little journey starting from the tips of the toes.

And we're going to combine it with the breathing.

See if you can notice your breathing.

The energy of inspiration.

The energy of the expiration.

And as though you were holding hands with the breath.

Bring that breathing into your feet.

Using all the sensations in the feet.

And using the breath to open your awareness.

To keep you connected to those sensations.

Using each toe and the padded part of the foot.

The middle part and the heel.

Staying connected to your breathing.

Moving up through the calves.

You might notice the way the legs are folded,

Feelings of the legs against each other.

Or against the floor.

Moving right around the shin.

And all the way deep inside to the bones.

Imagining your breath washing through the whole shin area.

Breathing energy into the lower legs.

With the expiration,

Relaxing them a little bit more.

Coming to the knees.

Where there might be more sensations happening.

If anything is uncomfortable,

See if you can notice the difference between something which may harm or hurt the body and something which you can perhaps just gently open up with your breathing.

So holding hands with the breath and taking it into those tight areas.

Adjusting your posture if need be.

Allowing that breath to just soothe away tensions,

Aches.

Continuing up through the thighs.

Really large areas of the body with big muscles.

Exploring the entire area.

Maybe noticing weight,

Heaviness,

Pressure.

Perhaps throbbing or tingling sensations,

Whatever arises for you.

See if the breath can help you to meet those feelings.

Stay present.

Breathing energy into the lower legs.

Bringing your attention,

Your awareness to the area of the buttocks.

Sitting on the ground.

Understanding if there's more pressure or weight in one side than in the other.

Perhaps feelings of hardness or softness.

And experiencing these sensations with the soothing energy of the breathing.

Helping you stay connected.

And with your experience as it unfolds.

Coming into the pelvic region.

And the area of the lower abdomen.

You may start to sense movement,

Very gentle,

Wave-like sensation of the breath in this area.

Realizing the subtle arising and falling of that breath.

Changing sensations in your lower abdomen.

Perhaps moving deeper inside.

All the way through to the lower back.

And gradually moving up.

All around the waist area.

Realizing how the breathing affects the sensations in this area.

Perhaps gently expanding the belly.

Gently expanding the lower back.

Realizing that breath carry away any tensions as it leaves the body.

Realizing if your breathing is changing,

Maybe deepening or lengthening.

Or perhaps becoming shorter,

Subtler.

However it is,

Just allow the breath to be.

Allow the body to be breathed.

Gently moving up to the area of the ribs,

The lower ribs,

Diaphragm.

Where the breathing might be very clear.

Imagine that you're breathing in and out from this area.

So that the whole rib cage,

Along with the diaphragm and the lungs,

Receiving the oxygen from outside,

Bringing in energy,

Inspiration,

Nourishment.

And as the breath leaves,

Relaxing the entire chest and abdomen area.

Realizing if there's a pause between the breaths.

Gently moving up to the upper chest.

Including the back of the upper chest.

Right round the body into the armpits.

Realizing how the upper chest connects to the collarbone.

How the shoulder blades become involved in the movement of the breath.

Circling in,

Moving through.

Realizing this area,

Allowing tensions to relax.

Realizing if your shoulders are involved in the movement of the breath.

Breathing into your shoulder area.

Allowing the breath to move along any lines of tension.

Maybe the tendons,

Into the joints.

Just allowing the shoulders to passively follow the movement of the breath,

Which might be very subtle.

Allowing you to explore the entire shoulder region.

Top of the shoulders,

The insides,

All the way down to the armpits.

To where the shoulders meet the collarbone and neck.

And here moving down into the arms,

Still accompanied by the breathing.

See if you can even sense sensations of the in-breath in the arms.

Because there's a difference between the sensations of the in-breath and the out-breath.

Tingling as the breath moves through the arm area,

Into the elbow,

The lower arm.

The wrists and the hands.

The upper hands,

The knuckles.

And every finger and fingertip.

Bringing that beautiful,

Soothing,

Nurturing energy of your awareness and of the breathing into your hands.

And gently,

Lightly,

Bringing your awareness back up through the arms into the shoulders again.

And the area of the neck.

Noticing if you've developed any tension between the shoulder blades or in the lower neck.

Noticing that space at the bottom of the neck,

Between the neck and each vertebrae leading up to the base of the skull.

See if you can breathe in to that space at the bottom of the skull.

Noticing any sensations of the breathing going through into the throat area.

Noticing the throat muscles.

Relaxing the jaw.

If you find your teeth are clenched,

Just relaxing,

Releasing the teeth,

Releasing the tongue.

Noticing the breathing humming through the throat.

Keep touching the palate.

Noticing this awareness to the cheeks,

To the ears,

Around the back of the skull,

The head,

To the nose,

The eyes,

The eyelids.

Allowing the eyes to just hang in their sockets as they're suspended in space.

Noticing your temples.

Imagine yourself breathing through your temples.

Noticing the tension around there and around the brow.

Moving up to the skull,

To the top of the head.

Finding that soft part of the skull at the very top.

The name of which I forget.

The bone is very soft as a newborn baby.

Imagine the breath coming in and being released through the top of the head.

As it comes in it may move down the spine.

Perhaps even through the whole body.

So that you're able to feel the whole body breathing as one.

In unity connected.

One complete and perfect entity.

The breath connecting the outer world with the inner world.

If you wish to stay with this perception,

Just carry on breathing.

Noticing the expansion of the body on the in-breath.

And slight contraction and relaxation on the out-breath.

For those who wish and feel comfort with the breathing,

I'd like to invite you to notice in particular the area of the chest.

It could be the entire area from the shoulders all the way down through the ribs to the abdomen,

The pelvic area.

You may want to focus or lightly hold your attention over the heart area.

Very softly,

Tenderly and gently.

So there's a warm hand just hovering near that area.

And as you breathe into the heart area,

Breathing in comfort,

Ease and peace.

Perhaps warmth and friendship.

Whatever would nourish your heart.

Just imagining those qualities as a beautiful energy.

That you're breathing into the heart.

Allowing it to open very softly.

With each out-breath,

Breathing out suffering,

Dis-ease,

Discomfort or stress.

Just staying with this perception with great tenderness.

Breathing in comfort,

Peace.

Breathing out stress.

Staying with that gentle rocking sensation.

And as you stay with that feeling,

The rhythm of the breath in the heart.

Getting aware again of sitting in the presence of this compassionate being or this very safe place.

Just smiling into the eyes of this person who's still gazing upon you with warmth,

With loving care.

And from this place of safety and ease,

Allowing thoughts and wishes of compassion to spread out to the world.

May all beings be free from suffering,

Free from oppression,

Hatred,

Delusion and greed.

May all beings know comfort,

Both physically,

Mentally and emotionally.

May all beings be safe,

At ease and at peace.

Smiling the bell three times.

You might be able to notice the sensations of that ringing of the bell in your own body.

Once again smiling within and smiling outside before you open your eyes.

Exit to the bell as soon as possible.

Reviews

An absolutely beautiful meditation. Fantastic for bringing you back and connecting you to your body. Thank you 🙏

Another gently led practice. Excellent body scan with lovely cues. Really quite nice and supporting my unguided silent practice. Thank you. ☮💖🙏

Sadhu. It was very helpful. Thank you 🙏