Nurture Yourself Through Suffering

This practice is a lifeline in times of deep suffering, encircling you in your own loving embrace. Catherine guides you into deep relaxation and facilitates an intimate encounter with your own heart, where you will take refuge in the love that is always within you. You will learn a new way of holding yourself in profound self-compassion, giving you an anchor whenever you find yourself amidst the waves of suffering.

Transcript

This is a gentle and powerful practice to help you rest in the comfort of your own tender nurturing in times of deep suffering.

I'm Kathryn Liggett.

To begin,

Find a place where you can sit or lie down and be completely comfortable.

Somewhere where you have privacy and can let go.

When you arrive in this place,

Do a body scan to make sure that you are as comfortable as you possibly can be,

That you feel supported.

Making those small adjustments to your body.

When you're there,

Begin now to notice your breath without any intention of changing it.

Where is your body breathing you right now?

Notice if there is any tension associated with your breath,

Perhaps in the abdomen,

At the throat,

Or around the heart.

If this is so,

Soften those areas of your body,

Allowing softening.

Breathing now into those soft spaces.

Allowing the breath now to slow just a little bit.

And be just a little bit deeper in the body than before.

Again,

Not forcing,

Not trying,

Simply allowing,

If it feels comfortable in your body.

And as you breathe now,

With every exhale,

Feel your body sinking into the surface that supports you just a little bit.

Noticing any areas of unnecessary tension in the body,

Shoulders,

Neck,

Anywhere else.

And releasing those places down,

Down,

Down,

With each exhale.

Deeper and deeper relaxed.

With every exhale,

Deeper and deeper relaxed.

In this space of stillness,

An inward presence,

Ask yourself a very powerful question.

What am I trying not to feel?

What am I trying not to feel?

Go ahead and place your hands on your own tender body,

Either on the heart space,

On the belly,

Or one on the heart and one on the belly.

Whatever feels nurturing and tender,

Or perhaps it just feels like going through the motions,

And that's okay too.

When we contact our own body with our hands,

It can be a very potent way to hold ourselves,

And our feelings tend to come out.

Like a shy creature comes out of the forest if you are still and present.

So placing your hands on your body with a spirit of tenderness,

Ask yourself again,

Sweetheart,

What are you trying not to feel?

Allowing your breath now to bring the waves of whatever this is closer to the surface of you.

Naming it in your mind,

Naming the feeling.

Is it fear,

Sorrow,

Rage,

Something else?

Naming,

Breathing,

Allowing it now to be in your body.

Giving it a gentle invitation to expand and be as big as it needs to be.

And with your hands on your body in tender support,

Say now to the innermost self that's here,

Who's feeling these things,

I am here for you.

I am here for you.

I am listening.

I am listening.

On the wings of these words to yourself,

Breathing deeply now,

Softening,

Allowing the effect of this love toward yourself to ripple through the body.

Not trying,

Not forcing anything to happen,

Simply giving open spaciousness,

Witnessing to whatever arises,

Including if nothing seems to arise,

Simply repeating,

I am here for you.

I am listening.

Tender hands holding you,

As you are now the holder and the held.

Softening further in this space of being held in your own precious embrace.

Say lovingly to yourself now,

I care about this suffering.

I care about you,

About your pain,

And I'm here.

I care about this suffering.

I care about you.

Speaking with great love to the one deep inside your chest who feels everything.

That part of you abandoned long ago,

Now held,

Now seen,

Now embraced.

I care about you.

Noticing if there's anywhere in your body or mind that resists this tender holding of yourself,

Of this one deep inside your chest.

And if you notice any resistance,

Simply breathe softness and repeat this process,

Telling it,

I am here for you.

I am listening.

I care about you.

All aspects of us deserve and need our love and embrace.

And this is how we heal.

This is the heart of it all.

What it feels like to love yourself.

Whenever this feels complete for right now,

Knowing of course that you can return at any time to this space of wonderful loving tenderness toward yourself.

And I highly recommend doing this many times a day.

I probably do this 20 times a day.

Just simply place my hands on my heart and repeat,

I'm here for you.

I'm listening.

I care about you.

Knowing that this may well become simply a natural part of how you relate to yourself.

Very slowly now begin to bring yourself back,

Perhaps giving your body tender pressure where your hands have been just to say,

I love you.

I'll be back.

Perhaps a smile comes to your mouth.

Noticing how you feel,

How the suffering that you experience has shifted as you have held yourself here.

Bringing yourself back now all the way,

Opening eyes if they were closed.

Taking a deep breath.

And moving now into the rest of your day with renewed spirit,

Renewed love.

I wish you a beautiful rest of your day.

Thank you very much,

So much for your commitment to loving yourself.

Reviews

I hope to use this in my practice regularly- such a useful reminder to take care pof the small,vulnerable me!

I find this very helpful in treating PTSD. Thank you. 🙏🏽

I'm truly grateful for this meditation you are my new favourite person. Thank you for helping me through this time

This was a beautiful meditation. I'm going to use it as our meditation for a Recovery Dharma meeting that I co-host on Wednesday nights.

Thank you so much for this healing practice just when I needed it 🙏❤️‍🩹🦋🌈❤️‍🩹🙏

It was Amazing.
Thank you for helping me.

All the Blessings for you.

wow! thank you. this was very nurturing and healing. makes me feel much calmer now

So nice and greatly needed during my time of grief. Thank you!

What happens when I do this? Is it good for me as an overstimulated hsp with cfs? Is this part of the trauma release that I need? If so, I can see if that I’m brimming with it. My crying starts almost immediately. if this what i need, it makes me realize there must be so much tension and trauma to let out that it’s overwhelming. And my current circumstances keep me in constant fear and anxiety. So does this *contribute to that? Or is it a release of that? I think this must be the same Issue that is addressed in lesson eight, only I still have confusion sometimes about whether or not I’m helping myself by lying down and giving into the pain and just crying. I feel completely drained by the end of this, but maybe it’s better than just crying and continuing to feel the fear. At least this practice involves caretaking. thank you for this practice. And thank you for your advice. I am working now with a new therapist.

This guided experience is so touching not only because of its loving content/practice, but because your voice and the timing of the music were also beautiful “cradles”, holding the space. I am on Day 3 of listening. XOX

Thank you. That sweet inner child needed to be loved and heard and cared for. Very soothing. Namaste

Beautiful! I will certainly listen again and take your advice thank you 🙏💕

This is what I needed this morning. I am dealing with heart arrhythmias and have become afraid, frustrated and sometimes angry with my unpredictable heart. So many meditations focus on the heart but for those of us who can't ttust our heart to beat in a regular rhythm, that is especially difficult. I am committed to healing and hearing whatever my heart is trying to tell me.

Found this in a great time of need after too long a break from meditation. This brought up a lot of emotion, and felt raw at times, but overall a very soothing practice. Defo feel calmer afterwards and ready for a rest. Thank you so much for helping me to hold space for myself, looking forward to trying your other content ❤️‍🩹

Just beautiful and what I needed going through a very difficult time . I will come back to this often as my tool kit to start loving myself again . Funny how easily you can love unconditionally your family but when it comes to yourself you can’t do it . Thank you so much .

I keep coming back to this meditation, it’s sooo soothing🥰 Thank you so much Catherin for sharing your gift with us

So healing, And I have a ways to go💕Thank you from my heart

Deeply moving. Still struggling with childhood wounds. I have been surprised by the words that came up. Solitude. And deprivation. Looks like a never ending story in fact. Anyway deep gratitude for your work. Blessings.

I love this. Thank you for this soothing,wonderful session

This is a meditation I will be doing daily. Finally found the one that works best. Absolutely beautiful visualization. 🙏❤️🙏