This is a meditation for opening to receive self-compassion,
Allowing whatever is present to have some space.
So we'll begin by finding a comfortable position for meditation.
You can be sitting,
Lying down,
Or standing.
Something that feels both dignified and also at ease.
You can close your eyes,
You can also keep them open,
And if you do,
You might find a soft gaze about a foot in front of you.
And taking a breath to gather your attention.
Letting it out slowly to let something release.
You might sense your body making contact with your seat or the floor,
Seeing if you might let it release into its support.
You might sense into gravity holding you steady,
Being held.
In this moment,
There's no one to be and there's nothing to fix.
Now turning toward the body,
Bringing a gentle and loving attention to this body.
Not to assess or fix it,
But to be with it for a moment.
What is your body carrying right now?
What has it been holding today,
This week,
This season of your life?
And now you might ask yourself gently,
What would it feel like to be a little more compassionate toward my body right now?
Not forcing an answer,
But letting the question be there and noticing what comes back.
So what would it feel like to open in your body a little bit more to self-compassion?
We're not working with the idea of compassion,
But the felt sense of it.
For some of us,
It might help to change our vocabulary about how we talk to ourselves.
You might tune into the words or phrases that you usually use to address yourself.
And if it's not something gentle,
You might play around with shifting it to something your body recognizes as kind,
Such as,
It's okay to be kind to yourself.
It's okay,
Sweetheart.
You'll know you've hit it when you feel relief in your body,
Which is a letting go of sorts.
Now,
If self-compassion feels distant or difficult right now,
We might bring in some respect for that as its own wisdom.
Can you allow those feelings of difficulty to be here without judgment?
Can we bring compassion to them and the wisdom of our bodies that carry so much?
For so many of us,
Especially those who have experienced trauma or learned early that we were not enough,
Self-compassion doesn't come easy.
This is not a failure,
But a moment of tender awareness.
So if self-compassion feels challenging for you,
You might instead try setting your intention in that direction.
The following phrases don't ask you to feel what you don't feel,
Only to wish it for yourself.
So you might offer yourself,
May I wish to be kind to myself.
May I wish to offer myself gentleness.
May I wish to be at ease.
And if it feels comfortable,
You might now place a hand on your heart and the other on your belly to let compassion arrive,
Not just as a thought,
But as a felt experience in the body.
What would that feel like for you?
A softening somewhere inside.
The warmth of a hand held by another.
A hand resting gently on your cheek.
Being held.
You might see if your body could explore what it would feel like to receive this care.
You might even try wrapping your arms around yourself or placing a hand on your face,
Letting your body find its own gesture of kindness.
And now noticing,
Has anything shifted?
Even slightly.
If something has opened,
However small,
Place your attention there so you can receive it.
And if nothing has opened,
Letting that be okay too.
The willingness to be here is itself an act of self-compassion.
Something has been planted,
Even when we can't feel it yet.
And as we come to the end of this meditation,
You might rest in the stillness of whatever self-compassion has arisen.
It is how we begin and how we keep going.
May you hold yourself gently.
May you feel met and accepted just as you are.
And may you rest here.
And whenever you're ready,
You can begin returning into your space.
Or if you'd like to stay here,
You're welcome to continue meditating for as long as you'd like.
