Hello,
And welcome.
This practice is called a fresh start with self-compassion.
And it's a practice of starting fresh,
Of beginning anew,
With compassion and with resolve.
This is a practice of renewal.
And as human beings,
Beginning anew and renewal are very important things for everything that we do,
Especially everything that matters,
Everything that requires our focus and our energy,
Everything that's worth doing.
And it's a practice of starting fresh,
With self-compassion.
And as human beings,
Beginning anew and renewal are very important things for everything that matters,
Everything that requires our focus and our energy,
Everything that's worth doing,
Sometimes needs to be renewed.
In this practice,
We're nourishing comforting and supportive yin energies of self-compassion,
And the firm,
Determined,
Resolute energy of yang self-compassion.
So just taking a few moments to begin to arrive,
Allowing your eyes to close gently,
Or if you prefer having them open with a soft and unfocused gaze,
And taking a few breaths,
Perhaps taking a moment to greet yourself,
Visualizing yourself sitting here in your mind's eye.
And then,
Just taking a few moments to greet yourself,
Visualizing yourself sitting here in your mind's eye,
Saying hello to yourself with a smile.
Perhaps beginning to feel the contact with the seat that's so generously holding you here.
Noticing any energy that's present for you right now,
Any sensations,
Any emotions.
And whatever you notice,
Seeing if you could just let it be like this,
Just for these few moments.
And then,
Just taking a few breaths,
And just letting it be like this,
Just for these few moments.
Taking a moment to perhaps place one or both hands over your heart space,
Or anywhere else where the touch of a hand feels connected and encouraging to you.
Just taking a moment to feel this contact,
Remembering that the person feeling this contact is a human being,
A human being who does the best they can,
And like all human beings,
Isn't perfect,
And whose life is not perfect,
Who faces challenges.
A human being who needs and deserves kindness and compassion,
As all human beings do.
Recognizing this,
Take a moment to let this be a space where you can give yourself some of what you need.
Now you can let your hands rest gently at your side,
Or anywhere that's comfortable.
Now,
Bringing into your mind the element or the situation in your life that you would like to approach with a fresh start.
This might be a challenge that you're facing that you've been having difficulty with.
This might be a relationship.
Perhaps it's something that's important to you,
And lately you've been feeling like you don't have the energy to engage with it.
Just taking a moment to ask yourself what it is you'd like to approach with a fresh start.
Now as you do this,
If any difficulty comes up,
If any self-blame or criticism,
If any pains come up,
Seeing if perhaps you could meet them with some kindness,
And even perhaps stop the practice if it feels like too much right now.
Really being kind to yourself and taking good care of yourself as you do this.
If a number of different things come up in your mind,
Giving yourself permission to just choose one for the practice right now.
Later on,
You could change your mind and do it again with something else.
Once you've brought into your mind what you would like to approach with a fresh start,
Seeing if you could formulate in your mind how you would like to approach this thing that matters to you,
What quality of action would you like to bring to this fresh start?
If there's a challenge that you need to re-engage with,
How would you like to re-engage with it?
If this is a difficult relationship,
What would you like to bring to this?
How would you like to face it?
If this is something about taking care of yourself or standing up for yourself,
What quality will help you do that?
And if many qualities come up in your mind,
Qualities like courage or understanding,
Kindness,
Creativity,
Seeing if you can just choose one or two and make them into a wish in making this fresh start,
May I be guided by courage.
In making this fresh start,
May I be guided by kindness.
Or perhaps I wish to approach this challenge with determination.
Whatever words make sense for you to focus the energy of your intention,
May I start again as I learn how to be kind to myself.
Or any other words that make sense for you.
Almost like kind of making a promise to yourself,
A promise that conveys your intention.
And then whenever you feel ready,
Making one of your hands into a fist,
A gentle fist and placing it over your chest with the knuckles down as a symbol of strength and power.
Just taking a moment to feel the firm energy,
The determination of this gesture.
And then beginning to repeat your fresh start promise to yourself.
Breathing in and out one time,
Repeating this promise,
This wish,
This intention to yourself one time as if bending over and whispering it in your own ear.
Remembering that you're not trying to be perfect.
You're not saying you'll never make any mistakes.
You're just expressing a wish and an intention that feel important to you.
If it feels right,
As you continue to repeat your fresh start promise to yourself.
Perhaps beginning to imagine this promise as a kind of friend.
Perhaps visualizing the face of this friend.
If your promise has a face,
That face is smiling at you.
It's not frowning at you.
It's not shaking a finger at you.
Your fresh start promise believes in you.
Your fresh start promise knows the truth.
The truth that anything that happened in the past,
Anything that happened last year or last month or last week or yesterday doesn't matter anymore.
That the past is unchangeable.
But that this moment and today are open for possibility.
And that when you give yourself permission to make a fresh start,
You can be free.
The face of your fresh start promise is smiling to you.
Your promise believes in you because it knows what you're capable of when you give yourself a fresh start.
Taking a moment to place your other hand gently on gently over the fist to tenderly wrap and hold the fist with your other hand.
To feel the caring force of your promise believing in you.
And remembering your promise does not expect you to be perfect.
And that you can make a fresh start anytime you want.
And now letting go of that practice and just taking a moment to rest quietly in your own body.
Noticing any energy that's present for you.
Savoring any positive feelings or energies you like.
And seeing if you could give yourself permission to this practice to be however it's been for you.
Seeing if you could give yourself permission to be just as you are right now.
Just like this.
So you
