Hi,
And welcome to this Loving Yourself When Life Gets Hard,
A self-compassion meditation.
The truth is,
We all suffer.
I know I do.
Millions of people are suffering right now,
And suffering is relative.
There are those who are grieving the loss of a loved one,
Those suffering with the stress of sickness or physical pain,
Those with emotional pain,
Like depression and anxiety and whatnot.
Suffering sounds like such a heavy word.
It wasn't until I learned about and practiced self-compassion that I was able to respond to my suffering in a much healthier way.
In this meditation,
I will be taking you through a self-compassion process to help you when your life gets hard and you are suffering for any reason.
So,
Make yourself comfortable,
Sitting,
Lying down,
Whatever works best for you.
And let's transition with three deep,
Long breaths in and out.
Breathing in a sense of peace,
Calm,
And relaxation.
Breathing out all that does not serve you.
And after your third exhale,
Return to your natural breath.
Notice the breath coming in and going out.
Notice where your breath shows up in your body.
Give your body permission to let go of any tension it's holding onto,
Starting with your neck and shoulders.
Let your arms drop heavy,
Sinking down,
Releasing any tension in your back,
Your hips,
Your buttocks,
The backs of your legs,
Down to your heels and the bottoms of your feet.
And bringing your awareness to your face as you release the tension there,
Starting with your forehead,
Allowing your eyes to sink heavy down down into their sockets,
Softening your cheeks and your jaw,
Relaxing your lips,
Your tongue,
Your throat,
Bringing your awareness down to your chest as you release any tension there,
And softening your heart.
Bring that softness down into your stomach,
Into your lower belly and pelvis,
Softening your thighs,
Your knees down,
Your shins to your ankles,
The tops of your feet,
Toes,
And the bottoms of your feet,
All letting go.
Now,
Once again,
Take notice of your breath,
Breathing in and breathing out.
I'd like for you now to think of a difficult situation or a challenging situation you may be going through right now,
Or something from the past,
And bring in the details of that situation and really get in touch with it.
And as you bring this situation to mind,
Notice what feelings are coming up for you.
Could be a mixture of feelings or one strong feeling,
Just notice what's happening as you think about this challenging situation.
And as you notice your feelings,
See if you can identify the strongest feeling that's coming up for you.
And even if you can't identify the feeling,
Either way,
Notice where this feeling shows up in your body.
And once you do,
Place one or both of your hands where you feel this in your body,
And bring in a sense of comfort with your touch.
As if you were comforting a child or maybe an elderly person who is ill,
Bring that sense of comfort with your touch.
And with the comfort of your touch,
Talk to yourself,
Either out loud or in your mind,
Saying something like,
I'm so sorry you're going through this right now.
I'm so sorry this is so hard for you.
Anything that you would want someone to say to you to make you feel supported,
Say it to yourself.
And with the comfort of those words and the comfort of your touch,
Notice what's happening to that part of your body where you feel this suffering.
Is it fading,
Getting worse,
Or is it still the same?
And if it's the same or getting worse,
Keep breathing and stay with it until it starts to fade,
Offering your comfort of touch and the comfort of your words.
Even if it starts to fade just a little bit,
I invite you to bring your hands to your heart if you haven't already done so.
And this time,
I'd like for you to get a sense of your whole body,
The energy that's in your body that lets you know that you are here in this moment right now.
And bring in that sense of comfort of your touch to your whole body.
And this time,
I invite you to say the following words to yourself as I say them out loud.
I'll give you space to do so.
May I be safe.
May I be peaceful.
May I be gentle with myself.
And may I love and accept myself just as I am right now.
May I be safe.
May I be peaceful.
May I be gentle with myself.
And may I love and accept myself just as I am right now.
And this time,
I invite you to say,
I am safe.
I am peaceful.
I am being gentle with myself.
And I love and accept myself just as I am right now.
I invite you now to take a deep,
Slow breath in and out.
And with your eyes still closed,
I invite you to open up to the truth.
And that truth is,
We all suffer.
And millions of people are suffering right now.
So you are not alone in your suffering.
Yet,
Even though we suffer,
There is still room for peace and calm in our hearts.
Now,
Take another deep breath in and out.
I'm going to ask you to take another deep breath.
But before you do,
On the inhale,
I'd like for you to bring in a sense of compassion for yourself,
For all that you've been through,
And all that you go through each and every day.
And on the exhale,
Imagine sending compassion out to others,
Because we all need compassion,
And especially those who are challenging.
So now take that deep breath in for you.
And on the exhale,
Breathing it out to others,
Releasing your hands from your heart.
And relax as you keep your eyes closed.
And as I start to bring this meditation to an end,
I invite you to bring to mind just one thing you are grateful for in this moment.
It can be anything at all,
Big or small or in between,
It doesn't matter.
Bringing in a sense of gratitude.
Allowing that gratitude into your heart.
Taking one last deep,
Slow breath in and out.
And when you feel like it's time,
Slowly,
Gently,
Let your eyes open up.
And once you do,
Take a look around,
Take in what you see.
Moving your fingers,
Toes,
Stretch if you need to,
Bringing your body's awareness back into this moment.
Thank you for taking some time out for yourself to practice this meditation.
Namaste.
