Welcome to meditation number 11 for mindful growth.
This is a meditation on self-compassion.
This meditation will help you to reduce self-critical habits,
Help you to reduce stress,
And increase your ability to be at peace with yourself.
To get started,
Let's assume a comfortable meditation posture.
The straight back,
Eyes gently closed,
Hands resting in your lap with thumbs touching.
We can begin by drawing our mental awareness inwards,
Feeling our mind gathering and eventually settling on the breath.
Just finding that familiar sensation of our breath entering and leaving our body.
Trying to see if we can remain settled on the breath without distraction.
As our mind wanders away,
We simply notice and return it to the sensation of our breath.
Now spending a few moments scanning through our bodies,
Beginning with the soles of our feet,
And moving upwards,
Connecting with our hips and lower back,
Digestive system,
Feeling all the tension melt away,
And continuing up into the neck and shoulders,
Arms and fingers,
Feeling everything release with the power of your attention.
And then finally continuing up through the jaw,
Face,
And then arriving at the crown of the head,
Feeling a completely comfortable and relaxed body as we begin our meditation on self-compassion.
First we will bring to mind the difficulties that we're facing in our life right now.
We can choose one in particular,
Or a collection if we choose,
Situations that we're struggling with,
Causing us stress,
Maybe causing us to be self-critical.
Noticing those feelings,
Perhaps some sadness or anxiety,
Feeling inadequate,
Wishing we were better.
Just hang with those feelings in your body,
Acknowledging that they're there,
Not trying to suppress them,
But simply observing them non-judgmentally.
And now we contemplate that difficulties are an inevitable part of life.
In addition,
We all make mistakes,
Are flawed,
And feel like we could do better.
This is a common experience we have as humans.
We can also acknowledge that the things that we're facing are difficult,
They're challenging,
We're doing our best.
Realizing that difficulties are normal,
And that we all make mistakes,
Wish we could be better,
And that the things that we're facing are challenging,
We're doing our best.
We arrive at a feeling of kindness towards ourselves,
A feeling of acceptance towards ourselves,
Embracing how we're responding to our difficulties,
A feeling of self-compassion.
Once we arrive at this feeling towards ourselves,
We try to stop our contemplation and hold that feeling in placement meditation.
We try to stop our contemplation and hold that feeling in placement meditation.
Letting go of any distracting thoughts that arise,
Trying to return to this feeling of self-compassion.
If the feeling fades away,
We return to our contemplation,
Remembering the difficulties that we're facing,
Realizing that this is part of life,
And that we all make mistakes,
It's part of being human,
Acknowledging that what we're facing is difficult,
That we're doing our best,
And feeling a sense of kindness,
Acceptance,
Compassion towards ourselves,
And again holding it once it arises.
And then trying to hold this feeling for the final two minutes of our meditation.
Letting go of any distracting thoughts that arise,
Trying to return to this feeling of self-compassion.
Letting go of any distracting thoughts that arise,
Trying to return to this feeling of self-compassion.
Letting go of any distracting thoughts that arise,
Trying to return to this feeling of self-compassion.
Letting go of any distracting thoughts that arise,
Trying to return to this feeling of self-compassion.
And then without forgetting that feeling of self-compassion,
Gradually relax your attention,
Allow yourself to arise from your meditation,
And that concludes meditation number 11 for mindful growth.
Thank you.
