Compassionate Presence & Inquiry

The Compassionate Presence and Inquiry practice combines principles of compassion with principles of mindfulness, all of which are aimed at cultivating and strengthening our ability to be present with our experience directly. This is in contrast to what we normally do, which is analyze, assume, judge, rationalize or try to ignore our experience completely. This practice acts as a pathway towards meeting suffering, which helps lead us to a compassionate response.

Transcript

Welcome to this practice of compassionate presence.

Begin by closing your eyes or casting your gaze downward.

Bring to mind an issue you would like to explore.

Try to bring up something moderate when beginning this practice,

Not something overwhelmingly difficult.

Once you've chosen an issue,

Use some of these questions to practice returning to the direct experience and staying present in the body.

What is the actual felt experience of the emotion you're feeling?

You may be feeling sadness,

Anger,

Grief,

Fear,

Worthlessness,

Resistance,

Doubt,

Hopelessness,

Loss,

Loss of sense,

Etc.

Where are you experiencing this emotion in the body right now?

Where are the strongest sensations arising for you?

What are the physical sensations you are experiencing?

How does it feel to place your kind attention on these sensations?

What happens when you breathe into these sensations and allow them to be there?

What else do you notice as you rest with your experience?

Now let's bring self-compassion into this experience.

How does it feel to bring your hand to that specific area as an additional compassionate presence?

How can you internally communicate to yourself that your feelings are allowed and accepted as they are?

Here are some examples.

I'm here for you.

I'm here with you.

I support you.

You belong.

I'm listening.

To complete this practice,

We bring awareness to the sense of compassion that is already present whenever we meet suffering.

Allowing oneself to feel this experience is a great act of compassion in itself.

Take a few minutes to rest in this presence of compassion as a way to end this practice.

Namaste.

You you you

Reviews

I absolutely love this practice, and have been looking for a guided compassionate inquiry practice to use. I would have liked a lot more time at the beginning inquiry portion to consider the questions and feel into my body. Thank you!