The following meditation is called Affectionate Breathing and it is part of the program Mindful Self Compassion which was developed by Christopher Goma and Kristin Neff.
Please find a comfortable position,
Ideally sitting upright,
Maybe on a meditation cushion or bench or on a chair.
So sitting with your back straight,
Letting your shoulders drop down and back,
Your chin gently tucked in towards your chest and your eyes either fully or partially closed.
Making sure that there is a sense of alertness in your body but also a sense of being grounded and at ease.
And then starting by taking three deep and relaxing breaths.
Letting go of any tension that you might be holding from the day on the out-breath.
And I invite you to place a hand on your heart,
On your heart region for a moment or another part of your body where you've experienced touches soothing or supportive.
And to give yourself some time to feel the gentle touch on your body.
And to remind yourself through that gesture to bring loving awareness to your experience and to yourself throughout this practice the best you can.
And you can keep the hand there or you can return to it at any time during the meditation should you wish to refresh this intention of bringing kind and friendly awareness to yourself and your experience.
So beginning by feeling your body sitting here right now.
Sensing your posture and the contact of your body with the floor,
With the chair.
Feeling held and supported,
Unconditionally by the ground beneath you.
Nowhere to go,
Nothing to do.
Allowing yourself to come to rest.
And now bringing your attention inside your body.
Taking time to feel all the sensations and vibrations that are there right now.
Imagining that you're wanting to fully inhabit your body,
Your home,
With your awareness.
The best you can.
Coming home to yourself,
To your body right now.
Sensing what you can sense.
And whatever you find there,
See if you can allow it to be there,
Just as it is,
Just for now.
And you'll notice that your mind will wander off,
So we'll support it with an anchor.
So see where you can notice the sensations of breathing most easily in your body right now.
Maybe the rising and falling of your belly or of your chest,
Or the air coming in and out of your nostrils.
And then deciding on one place and letting your attention come to rest there.
Being gently moved,
The sensations,
The natural sensations of breathing in and out.
Letting your body breathe you.
Trusting your body to do that naturally for you,
No need to control anything.
Just letting the breath do its thing.
All the while simply resting your awareness on the natural movement of breathing.
Like a boat that is being carried by the waves of the ocean,
Gently in and out,
Up and down.
Feeling gently rocked.
Gently rocked by your breathing.
Bringing yourself over a little more to this natural movement,
Letting your body breathe you.
And whenever your mind wanders off and you notice it,
Simply know that this is perfectly natural.
And then gently return your attention to your breathing as if you were picking up a baby that has crawled away,
Or a puppy dog that has wandered off.
With great kindness and patience,
Again and again.
And as you're being rocked by this gentle movement of breathing,
Something that happens quite on its own,
You might become aware of how your in-breath nourishes you and how your out-breath gently relaxes you.
The breath that seemingly arises,
Out of nowhere,
To nourish and sustain us.
In some way it's like our closest and most loyal companion.
And our breathing offers us refuge when we maybe feel distressed,
But simply come to rest on this soothing rhythm of breathing.
Always available.
Allowing yourself to be breathed.
Bring yourself over a little bit more to breathing.
Feeling soothed,
Maybe even internally caressed by your breath.
And if you like,
Inclining towards your breath with the same tenderness with which you would be watching a beloved child or pet breathe,
While it's sleeping.
Can you incline towards your own breath with the same tenderness?
Being gently rocked.
By the natural movement of breathing.
Feeling your whole body being breathed.
Letting your breathing be all there is,
Just for now.
Becoming the breath.
In and out.
Just breathing.
And then gently letting go of the focus on your breathing.
And simply resting in your experience as it is.
Not really savouring any feelings of warmth or tenderness or openness.
And then gently opening your eyes again.
