12:04

Self-Soothing For Your Mental Health

by John Siddique

Rated
4.8
Type
guided
Activity
Meditation
Suitable for
Everyone
Plays
22.9k

When you chose the path of your own life, you slowly learn that it's not about pushing your humanness away, but rather it's more about embracing it. In this gentle and loving practice, John guides you into loving presence while sharing two self-soothing holds that you can use with yourself on those days that need a bit more love. He also shares a short nourishing text for your kind reflection.

Self SoothingMental HealthBody ScanSelf CompassionMindfulnessAwarenessEye FocusGratitudeMindfulness And EmotionsBreathing AwarenessHeart Center

Transcript

Aum.

Allow yourself to settle down,

Either lying down or sitting.

And just tuning in to the feeling of your body in the room that you're in.

So allowing yourself to be here.

And allowing the space of the room to be supportive of you.

You can feel your feet against the floor.

You're aware of your legs.

Aware of your hips and your buttocks.

And your spine rising up.

Aware of your shoulders dropping.

Allowing your arms to be heavy.

Your hands on your knees or in your lap.

Being aware of the feeling of your head,

Particularly the crown of your head.

And the third eye center in the middle of your forehead.

Eyes soft,

Either closed or if you do have some fear or difficulty going on.

Or you tend to get lost very easily.

Just keep your eyes lightly open.

Aware of your throat.

Just checking in with your throat.

It's here that we get a lot of our anxiety and difficult feelings.

Things that need expressing or moving.

Being aware of your chest area,

But particularly your heart.

And your abdomen.

Your whole body.

Felt from within just with your felt sense.

Letting go of any attempt to achieve a shift in state.

But just meeting yourself with kindness and curiosity.

Give yourself this time.

Give yourself into the space of this moment.

And as you meet your natural breath,

Just coming and going.

Notice where that is in the body for you.

It may be the abdomen,

Maybe a little higher up.

Not trying to change the breath in any way.

Simply noticing that you're just breathing.

And so I'd like to offer you two self-soothing holds within this practice.

So I invite you to place one hand on your heart.

And just feeling that gentle contact with your heart.

That physical touch.

And we're not seeking anything.

We're just feeling how this feels for us.

And your other hand you place on your forehead.

Your palm against your forehead.

And let's just remain like this for a moment.

And just notice what you feel in your body.

Notice if there's any shifts.

Gentle attention on the breath.

The feeling of your whole body from within.

The space of the room around you.

And then I invite you to take the hand from your forehead and to place it on your abdomen.

So we keep the hand on the heart.

And again just feeling that kindness towards ourself.

You can feel your mind energy.

Just notice that you notice your mind energy.

Not trying to change your mind.

But just noticing with kindness how your mind feels.

And you allow yourself to feel your emotions.

The energy of your emotion rather than the story of them.

Whatever they are just meet them with kindness.

And as we sit here for just another moment.

I want to offer you some words that I wrote earlier this week.

Just let them drop into your practice.

As if the words were little stones that you were dropping into a clear lake of water.

And you could see them falling to the bottom.

The path has never been about the loss of your human-ness.

Nor has it ever been about overcoming ourselves.

Rather the true path is the realization of your humanity.

And the meeting of even this part of your journey with love and grace.

Discovering and revealing the light of who you really are and have always been.

Meet every part of your life.

Frailties,

Strengths.

All of it with gratitude.

It is the path itself.

And so you can continue sitting like this should you choose to.

Or you can take your hands down onto your knees or onto your lap.

Just aware of your breath.

Aware of that sense of witnessing and wholeness that is really who you are.

That comes first before all the experience.

Recognizing your true beauty at this level.

Feeling your body from within.

Feeling the space of the room around you.

Your sounds from inside and outside of the room.

Your feeling of presence.

And with that,

With all the blessings of my heart,

I want to say thank you to you for your practice this day.

And I will now call this meditation to a close.

Meet your Teacher

John SiddiqueUnited Kingdom

4.8 (2 229)

Recent Reviews

Ahimsa

February 18, 2025

Very attentive and supportive! Much appreciated, ahimsa www.compassioncourse.org

Paul

February 1, 2025

As always John leads us to the heart of all that is; through the heart and with the heart. A simple, elegant and profound practice. Thank you John. 😊

Jim

July 23, 2024

That was nice. Gentle guidance and felt more relaxed afterwards by not striving for any particular outcome πŸ™

Claire

June 19, 2024

Beautifully crafted, thank you. Placing the hand on the forehead was new to me, and so soothing! I will return to this meditation.πŸ™

Jay

June 2, 2024

I disdain self hugging as pathetic but decided to give this a try. I liked how i didn t have to change my breath or myself and found comfort in the touch. Thevpoem was perfect for me this morning. Thank you

Aat

November 2, 2023

It was a soothing and calming meditation. Thank you!πŸ™

Diane

October 14, 2023

Wonderful way to begin my day. Very soothing and joyful at the same time. Feeling very centered and calm. Thank you, thank you

Sherrie

August 30, 2023

Thank you for this kind and gentle offering. Your words and voice are comforting. πŸ™πŸΌπŸͺ·

Chris

June 16, 2023

Loved this - perfect timing for me. Appreciated observing the energy (vs. the story) of emotions and the words you recently wrote that you shared.

Fee

May 16, 2023

The words you wrote are very helpful and beautiful

Spackmann

April 30, 2023

Wonderful! Appreciate: no music, comforting voice and sound. πŸ™

Naami

March 31, 2023

Thank you so much. Grounding and nurturing. Lovely.

Yo-Zon

March 11, 2023

You have been such a positive and wonderful addition to my spirit. Thank you

Margann

December 1, 2022

Exceptional! Thank you for this soothing and helpful meditation - namaste.

SusieM

October 31, 2022

Your voice and pacing is very conducive to meditation. Hand, one or both, on my heart is a very powerful centering and calming gesture for me. I will add this meditation to my favorites list. Thank you.

Erica

October 10, 2022

I feel as if I’ve been wrapped in a warm blanket. Thank you πŸ’•πŸ™πŸ’•

Holly

October 7, 2022

I love the gentle, compassionate kindness of this meditation. One of my favorites! πŸ’•

Debbie

September 28, 2022

Love the words at the end. I need to write them down πŸ’—βœ¨

Anders

September 8, 2022

Peaceful and not to much talk and no music - suited me good!

Laurelea

September 7, 2022

I am in a hospital recovering from a surgery. This was perfect….. thank you

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Β© 2026 John Siddique. All rights reserved. All copyright in this work remains with the original creator. No part of this material may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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