Hello and welcome to a meditation on cultivating compassion.
To begin this meditation I invite you to find a comfortable seat.
Whether that seat be up against a wall or some sort of support,
Free-standing in the middle of the room,
Or even lying down,
Allow yourself to sink into that seat in a way that allows you to find comfort.
We can from there begin to take a few deep breaths,
Closing the eyes or directing the gaze downward.
We can inhale,
Filling up all the way down to the diaphragm,
Into the lungs,
And even filling up the space within the throat.
At the top of that inhale try to sip in just a little more breath,
Allowing for a little more expansion,
And then open the mouth to exhale fully.
Let's do one more cycle of this very intentional cleansing breath,
Inhaling all the way down to the diaphragm,
Through the lungs,
And even into the throat,
And then exhaling through the mouth to release.
As with any intention in our lives,
Compassion starts with the relationship we have with ourselves.
I invite you to picture in your mind a version of yourself that you can easily love.
Maybe that's four-year-old you,
Maybe that is 20 years from now you,
Maybe it's you exactly as you exist right now,
But allow that person to become visible in your mind's eye and include in that imagery some sort of action.
Maybe you are wandering along a mountain trail,
Eyes lifted toward a beautiful view,
Maybe you're playing with your dog,
But allow yourself to be doing something that you admire,
Something that makes it even easier to love you for having done.
As you picture this version of yourself,
Feel on every inhale a swelling of your heart,
Of your chest,
With this compassion.
In every exhale,
Feel that energy flowing from you to this version of you,
A little love note of sorts.
Inhaling compassion,
Exhaling to offer that compassion toward this version of you.
Take the next couple of breaths to just repeat this cycle,
Feeling the sort of circle that's created here in giving and in receiving.
With your next breath,
Inhale fully,
But again on the exhale we might even part the lips to let the breath come through the mouth.
Allow yourself to gently release this image of yourself and in its place,
Invite in an image of somebody else in your life,
Somebody for whom you feel an easy sense of love and care.
That might be a child,
A friend,
A partner,
A relative.
It might be a teacher or a coach of sorts.
Just as you did with yourself,
Picture this person doing something that allows the love to form more easily within you.
Again,
This can be simple.
You might bring to mind the image of them walking through freshly fallen snow,
Simply looking around in wonder or maybe it's something more specific than that.
But again on every inhale,
Feel the love and compassion that exists within you swell and as this feeling expands within your body,
We have even more to give.
So on the exhale,
Imagine that sensation,
That feeling as a sort of offering for this person.
These cycles of breath again create a sort of cycle between you and this imagery,
The swelling,
The creation of compassionate feelings and then the exhale with the offering of those feelings.
On your next inhale,
Again let that breath feel fully through the lungs.
Exhale through the mouth to let that go and to gently release the image of this person.
And in our third and final round of imagery here,
I invite you to hold within your mind the image of a person for whom it is not easy for you to feel compassion and love and care.
It might be a person you feel simply neutral toward or if it feels accessible in this moment,
You might even bring to mind the image of a person that you really struggle to feel anything positive toward.
A person who invites contention into your internal landscape.
Notice how it feels first of all,
Just the visceral reaction of picturing this person in the mind's eye.
And then again allow this person in your mind to engage in some sort of action that prompts you to feel more kindness toward them.
This doesn't need to be an action that you've witnessed them doing before.
This can simply be something that allows you to see their humanity,
To see beneath all of the behaviors,
And to see that little bit of divinity that connects us all.
As you witness this person doing whatever it is you have them doing at this point,
Let every inhale be a cultivation of those feelings of kindness,
Of love,
Of compassion,
And let every exhale be an offering,
An extension of that love and compassion toward this person.
Continue to cycle through the breath in this way,
Every inhale and expansion,
A moment of creation,
Every exhale,
An offering.
Allow yourself one more deep inhale,
This one very intentionally filling up from the diaphragm all the way to the throat.
Exhale through parted lips to release that breath.
Let's do one more of those signaling to the body that we're about to end this moment of stillness.
Inhale fully,
Maybe sip in a little more air at the top of that breath,
And exhale through the mouth.
Take a moment here simply to thank yourself for having engaged in this practice,
To note what those feelings of compassion felt like within you as you contemplated first yourself,
Second a loved one,
And third a person that you either feel neutral toward or maybe even have challenges with.
Note that that cultivation of kindness,
Of love that starts within,
And anytime we choose to sit within those feelings we allow it to ripple out into all of our actions,
Into all of our interactions.
Begin to crack the eyes open,
Allowing some light to gently enter.
From here you might introduce any small wiggles or movements that feel good as you reawaken and prepare to step out into your day maybe feeling a little lighter and a little more loving.
Thank you.
