Go ahead and find a comfortable position for this meditation,
And we'll begin by simply tuning into the breath.
Wherever you can most easily sense the breath in your body,
Perhaps the movement of air through your nostrils,
Maybe the rise and fall of your chest or your belly,
Just become present to the sensations of each inhale and each exhale,
Surrendering to that rhythm,
Nothing you need to do.
Your body knows exactly how to breathe.
You might feel your body getting a little bit heavier,
Or just releasing some tension.
Notice if you can allow your face to be a little softer,
Your shoulders to drop a tiny bit,
Letting your belly be soft so that breath can fill the belly,
Relaxing all the little muscles of the pelvis,
Just letting the legs and the arms just rest heavily wherever they are.
And still that steady rhythm of the breath continues,
With no effort from you,
And breathing out at your body's own pace and rhythm.
I'd like you to imagine someone that you deeply,
Deeply love,
Whether it's a human or maybe an animal that's close to you,
Someone in your life that you deeply,
Deeply cherish,
That you love unconditionally.
Imagine that person is directly in front of you.
Just picture their face,
And notice if your face is responding to that imagined image,
Maybe with a smile or a little softening.
Just really feel your love towards this person.
Notice how this love appears to you.
Is it a sensation in your body?
Is it a color?
Maybe even a sound?
Just noticing.
And then imagine for a moment that this person in front of you that you dearly love is going through a hard time.
They've got some challenge that they're dealing with.
Maybe they're just not feeling well.
Maybe they're just having a bad day.
And notice,
How does that love feel now?
Did it get smaller?
Or did it get bigger?
Is there some flavor to it?
Some color of empathy that perhaps we could name as compassion.
And just notice if anything in your experience as you consider this beloved person who's having a hard time,
If you can experience something that you would call compassion,
And again,
Notice where do you feel this in your body?
Up in your head or your chest?
Is it down in your belly or your legs?
Where do you feel it?
Maybe it's around your body.
Maybe it's deep inside.
And what does it feel like?
Is it warm or cold?
Is it soft or hard?
You might pose the question,
If this compassion were a sensation,
Where would I feel it?
What would it feel like?
Remembering that there's no right or wrong answer.
This is just a chance to observe.
To really understand your experience of compassion.
To truly embody it.
So when you've found that sensory experience of compassion,
I'd like you to breathe into it.
Breathe into that place in your body.
Let it get a little bit bigger.
Let it get a little bit stronger.
You might start to notice other things,
Like perhaps there's a color to it.
Or a texture.
Maybe a smell or a sound.
Just continuing to observe as you breathe into this space.
And let this sensation of compassion get bigger.
And bigger.
Maybe you can fill your whole body with this energy,
This emotion of love and compassion.
Until you're fully surrounded by,
Enveloped in,
This energy of love and compassion.
And as you once again imagine that person in front of you,
Something changes.
And instead of that person,
Now just in front of you,
You see a mirror.
A mirror that is reflecting back your own face.
The face of someone who is very close to you.
Who you deeply love.
Who's going through a hard time right now.
I want you to send some of this embodied energy of compassion into that mirror.
And feel it bouncing back and coming right back to you.
So that as you send it out,
It gets reflected and amplified and returned to you.
In this endless loop of love and compassion that's just washing over you.
Like waves,
Like a cleansing rain.
Like a soothing,
Warm ray of sunshine.
However it feels,
However it appears to you is exactly right.
Feeling that compassion as it flows out,
As it bounces off that mirror and returns right back to you.
This beautiful energy of compassion enveloping you,
Surrounding you,
Supporting you and seeping in all the way down into your cells,
Into your bones,
Into all the little parts of you that you might be afraid to show people.
That you might be afraid aren't lovable.
Those parts that are maybe having a hard time.
Let them receive this energy.
Let it just wash over them.
Breathe it in.
Nice deep breath into the belly.
And softly letting it out.
Every breath is a breath of love and compassion.
We're just going to breathe in this cycle.
Compassion and love flowing in all the way down.
Compassion and love flowing out and all around.
We'll take three more breaths in this way.
Breathing in love and compassion and breathing it out.
And then letting that energy settle.
Letting it sink in.
It's a part of you now.
And let anything extra that feels like it's more than you need just float out on a breath and send it to someone who needs it.
Maybe someone that you know.
Maybe that person you were imagining.
Or maybe just generally to whoever might need this energy today.
Noticing that breath again.
Noticing the surface beneath you.
Maybe noticing the sounds that you can hear.
And then just gently opening your eyes when you feel ready.
