Hi,
This is Julie Pateker from the Balanced Mind Meditation Center.
This guided meditation is especially helpful for anyone in a caretaking role.
It's called giving and receiving compassion with equanimity.
You could be a professional caregiver or you could be an accidental caregiver.
It could be somebody in your circle of love,
Your family,
Your friends that you're helping to take care of.
And I find this meditation from the mindful self-compassion curriculum especially helpful to help counteract the burnout that people can experience compassion fatigue when caring for sick individuals.
So for this meditation,
I'm going to ask you to call to mind an individual that you're taking care of and I'm going to suggest that you not use a child of yours if it's the situation that you choose someone else because caring for a sick child is a more complicated dynamic.
So we're going to start this meditation like we start all meditations by finding a comfortable position.
It could be sitting in a chair or sitting on the floor,
Lying down but finding a comfortable position.
And then we're going to take three nourishing breaths together in through our nose and out through our mouth.
Letting this one out with a sigh.
Now let your breathing find its natural rhythm.
And let's relax systematically.
Relaxing our eyebrows.
Relaxing our eyes.
Relaxing our jaws.
Try to imagine a slight smile at the outside corners of your lips.
Dropping that smile down now into your throat,
Relax your throat and your neck.
Letting your shoulder blades melt down your back.
Dropping down into your chest and your heart center.
Relaxing the liveness there.
Your heart beating.
Dropping down into your abs and really letting your belly go.
Relax your hips into the floor,
The cushion,
The bed,
The chair,
Wherever your hips are.
Let them go.
Relaxing your thighs and your knees.
Relaxing your calves and your ankles.
Relaxing your feet.
And now softening your hands.
And as we often do,
Placing your hand or hands where you find them soothing just as a reminder,
Especially in a meditation such as this one,
That you're sending loving awareness to yourself.
Not merely awareness,
But loving awareness.
Relaxing your hands when you feel like it onto your lap,
Your thighs.
They could be face up or face down.
It doesn't matter.
Relaxing your body breathing.
Where do you notice it most easily?
Is it the tip of your nostrils where breathing in is a little cooler than breathing out?
It might be the rise and fall of your chest or the rise and fall of your belly.
But wherever you notice your breathing most easily,
Focus your attention on that for a few moments.
Relaxing your body breathing in and seeing your body breathing out.
So you're feeling it and you're seeing it.
Now bring to mind someone for whom you are caring,
Who can exhaust or frustrate you,
Or someone who suffers for whom you feel sympathy.
Visualize yourself in the presence of this person,
Seeing them clearly.
And see if you can feel the struggle in your own body when you feel frustration or fatigue.
It's an embodied presence and if you can find it in your body,
As I've said before,
You can work with it in your body.
Is there a heaviness or a constriction?
Now please listen carefully to these words and let them gently roll through your mind.
Everyone is on his or her own life journey.
I am not the cause of this person's suffering,
Nor is it entirely within my power to make it go away,
Even though I wish I could.
Moments like this are difficult to bear,
Yet I may still try to help if I can.
Now aware of the stress that you're holding in your body.
Inhale fully and deeply,
Drawing compassion inside your body and filling every cell in your body with compassion.
Let yourself be soothed by inhaling deeply and by giving yourself the compassion you need when you experience discomfort.
On your exhale,
Send compassion out to the other person who's associated with your discomfort.
Exhaling compassion to this person or to all living beings in general.
Continue breathing compassion in and compassion out,
Letting your body gradually find a natural relaxed breathing rhythm.
Breathing in for yourself and out for the other,
One for me,
One for you.
Next time your mind wanders,
Scan your inner landscape for a moment and re-relax anywhere that you've found tightening,
Anywhere that you've found constriction or a heaviness,
Re-relax.
Breathing in compassion for yourself,
Breathing out compassion for the person who needs it.
One for me,
One for you.
You're nourishing your body on the in-breath,
Releasing compassion on the out-breath.
Breathing in and out for the person who needs it.
Dress.
You you Bringing your attention back if it's wandered you're breathing in compassion for yourself and Compassion for the other one for me one for you Imagining the waves flowing in and flowing out on an ocean of compassion a Limitless ocean that embraces all suffering One for me one for you you Everyone is on his or her own life journey I am NOT the cause of this person suffering Nor is it entirely within my power to make it go away?
Even though I wish I could Moments like this are difficult to bear Yet I may still try to help if I can breathing in for me breathing out for the other you you you It might feel good to move your body a little slightly swaying the last couple moments of this meditation one for me one for you You wiggle your fingers and wiggle your toes you Letting your torso move you and letting the phrase go the one for me one for you go and staying in the meditation for a few moments and thinking about your self-care your list of what brings you joy And if you don't have a list I recommend making a list of the things that bring you joy Not necessarily traveling up the Amazon because you might not be able to do that this week,
But things that you can do Some of the items on my joy list are taking a bath walking in nature talking to a friend So remembering to have that list handy And check off a few items each day So that you balance out all the compassion and empathy that you have pouring out of you with things that can fill you back up reading a good book exercising eating nourishing food connecting with other primates because we're wired to connect family and friends community Trying to appreciate and savor things that give us joy Now I'm gonna ring the bell come back quietly into your space Quietly into your space Congratulate yourself for giving yourself this time this gift this space and Have a very balanced Rest of your day or evening.
This has been Julie Pottaker from the balanced mind meditation center Thank you for your practice
