Compassion Practice

This is a guided compassion meditation. Compassion, one of the "Four Immeasurables" of Buddhist teaching, involves wishing oneself and others to be free of suffering, while contempt and pity constitute the near enemies of this Immeasurable. This meditation will surely help to open your heart and reconnect with the beautiful energy of love that is always present within. I developed this meditation as part of my research study for my MSc where I found that cultivating the Four Immeasurables (Loving-Kindess, Compassion, Empathetic Joy and Equanimity) for four weeks had a positive impact on fear of the unknown, authenticity and hope. You can find the other three meditations under my profile! Please comment regarding your experience and if any blockages come up; I am happy to provide guidance and hold space for the exploration of uncomfortable emotions.

Transcript

Become comfortable in your chair or cushion sitting with a relaxed but straight posture relax your shoulders and pull them back slightly this position allows you to expand your rib cage in all directions when you breathe creating more spaciousness around your heart rest your hands comfortably in your lap gently close your eyes take a deep breath and release for a few moments just focus on your breath and clear your mind of worries notice when you're breathing in and out observe the wave-like movements of the belly settling into awareness of the body and the breath become present and observe whatever might come up with openness and non-judgment in this practice we'll be cultivating compassion the opposite of compassion is pity true compassion on the other hand is the ability to keep our hearts open and sit with the pain of another person we fear our pain and the pain of others so true compassion requires courage essentially in this practice we will be embracing the fear of feeling i would like you to think of someone that you are close to and feel a great amount of love notice how this love feels in your heart now think of a time when this person was suffering maybe they experienced an illness an injury or difficulties in a relationship continue to visualize this person as you breathe imagine that you are extending a golden light from your heart to them and that the golden light is easing their suffering extend this light out to them during your exhalation with a strong heartfelt wish that they be free from their suffering i'll be offering as guidance the phrases that i've chosen to use in my own practice you're invited to alter these phrases and choose whatever words express your wishes of compassion and that you are not alone in this practice you may be free from suffering and the root of suffering may you live your life with ease may you be free from suffering and the root of suffering may you live your life with ease now continue at your own pace sending wishes to your heart now continue at your own pace sending wishes of compassion to this loved one you so moving forward i would like you to do the same but this time extending wishes of compassion to yourself you might want to think of a current difficulty you're experiencing and give yourself the wish that you be freed from the suffering again you are invited to alter these phrases and choose whatever words express your wishes of compassion at this moment may i be free from suffering and the root of suffering may i live my life with ease may i be free from suffering and the root of suffering may i live my life with ease may i live my life with ease now continue at your own pace sending wishes of compassion to yourself you you moving on i would like you to visualize a difficult person someone whom you dislike please do not select someone that you associate trauma with but more a subject that might challenge or frustrate you again feel free to adapt the wishes according to what feels right at the moment may you be free from suffering and the root of suffering may you live your life with ease may you be free from suffering and the root of suffering may you live your life with ease now continue at your own pace sending wishes of compassion to this difficult person you you finally during this last stage of the meditation i would like you to evoke that warm feeling in your heart and gradually bring to mind all your friends and family as a group now also welcome in all the people with whom you share a connection even remote connections and extend wishes of compassion to all of them visualize the hardship that is evidence in the world and extend this light out to them during your exhalation with a strong heartfelt wish that they be free from their suffering may you all be free from suffering and the root of suffering may you all live with ease may you all be free from suffering and the root of suffering may you all live with ease now continue at your own pace sending wishes of compassion to this extended group of people you you come back to your breath now and sit here for a while experiencing the energy of compassion that has been generated during this practice notice how your body feels if any emotions are surfacing notice the expansive feeling of love and compassion radiating with your presence you

Reviews

Powerful & perfectly selected for today. Thank you.

Lovely and what I needed. Thanks

Very nice meditation! It really sparked a cord with me. Thank you!

Thank you. I enjoyed the meditation

simple & effective thank you ☀️🙏✨