Welcome to this practice of self-compassion.
In this meditation,
You will cultivate compassion for your own stress,
Difficulties,
Insecurities,
And suffering.
Begin by finding a comfortable,
Upright position.
You can practice in any position that allows you to feel supported and at ease,
While also staying alert and awake.
I invite you to close your eyes or gently cast your gaze downward.
Now let's take a few deep breaths.
Inhale through your nose.
And exhale through your mouth,
Releasing the breath fully.
Take a few more breaths in this way.
Inhale through the nose.
And exhale through the mouth.
Now inhale and exhale through your nose only.
Let your breath settle into its own natural pace.
Feel the relaxation in your forehead,
Your eyes,
Your jaw,
And the rest of your face.
Feel the relaxation and release of your neck,
Your shoulders,
And your abdomen.
Let the body and mind settle into this peaceful experience of breathing in and breathing out.
When you notice your mind wandering,
Gently bring it back to the breath.
There are a few ways you can focus on your breath.
The first involves labeling the breath.
As you inhale,
Say in your own mind,
Inhale.
As you exhale,
Say in your own mind,
Exhale.
The second approach is to focus your attention on the sensations of the breath.
Notice the flow of the breath in and out of your nose or the rise and fall of your belly.
Gently bring awareness to how the experiences of breathing feels in the body.
Another approach is to count your breathing cycles.
Each time you exhale,
That counts as one cycle.
So with your exhalation,
You will mentally count one,
Two,
And so on.
Continue counting until you reach ten and then begin again at one.
If your mind wanders and you lose your count,
Simply begin again at one.
Feel free to use any of these methods while we take a few minutes to settle into the breath.
We will be with the breath for around three minutes total.
.
You if you notice your mind has wandered I invite you to gently bring your mind back to the breath when you bring your mind back to the breath do so without judgment or criticism thoughts coming and going is a normal human experience you you you now bring to mind someone you care about picture this friend or loved one perhaps imagine being with them or recall a favorite memory you experienced with them notice how you feel when you think of this person you notice any positive thoughts or feelings of gratitude affection or warmth that thinking of this person evokes you now remember or imagine a time when this person was suffering in some way notice how you feel when you think of this person suffering you choose to focus your attention on any feelings of tenderness or desire to help alleviate their suffering and silently recite the following phrases for your friend or loved one may you be free from suffering may you know your worth may you know peace and joy then return your awareness to the natural rhythm of your breath now imagine yourself as a very young child or if picturing yourself as a child is difficult imagine an older wiser version of yourself imagine seeing this child or older wiser version of yourself if this version of yourself were in pain or suffering wouldn't you feel instinctively protective towards them if this version of yourself were in pain or suffering wouldn't you relate to them with tenderness and care let this feeling of compassion towards this version of yourself towards you fill your heart and then silently repeat these phrases for this version of yourself may you be free from suffering may you know your worth may you know peace and joy now think of a time in your life when you were suffering in some way perhaps you were sick or in pain perhaps you experienced some disappointment or loss perhaps you experienced burnout or self-doubt notice how you feel when you remember this experience just as you responded to the suffering of a loved one and your childhood or older self with concern tenderness and the urge to help you can offer yourself the same compassion so with feelings of warmth and caring toward yourself silently repeat these phrases may I be free from suffering may I know my worth may I know peace and joy now create in your mind a compassionate image that represents qualities of wisdom strength acceptance and care it could be the image of a wise person you deeply respect a religious figure or a symbol that represents compassion it could be an image from nature such as an expansive and deep blue ocean or an ancient and firmly rooted tree reaching into the sky or the Sun which shines its light and warmth on all beings without discrimination you now imagine yourself in the presence of this source of compassion imagine yourself as a recipient of its unconditional compassion feel that in the presence of this compassionate image you can be completely yourself there is no judgment only total acceptance allow yourself to rest in the feeling of unconditional compassion and acceptance you imagine that as you say in the presence of this compassionate image that it awakens within you your own source of strength acceptance and compassion renewed by this connection to your own deep source of compassion recite in your own mind one more time for yourself may I be free from suffering may I know my worth may I know peace and joy you now bring your awareness to the area around your physical heart notice how this area gently expands or fills when you breathe in and how it relaxes when you breathe out for a few breaths imagine you could inhale directly into the center of your chest expanding the chest lungs and heart imagine you could exhale directly from the center of your chest inhaling into the heart exhaling out from the heart now bring to mind something that is creating some stress pain or suffering for you at this time in your life try to bring up something moderate not something overwhelmingly difficult notice how you feel when you think about this now consider the possibility that this source of pain or suffering does not isolate you from others and is part of the experience of being human just like you countless other people know what it's like to feel this pain or grief or self-doubt shame or fear as you inhale imagine that you could breathe in all of the feelings this experience brings up for you imagine opening your heart to this experience and allowing yourself to be touched by it as you exhale imagine you could breathe out compassion for yourself and for all the countless other people on this planet who may be suffering in the same way at the moment as you inhale open your heart to this experience as you exhale send out compassion for yourself and for all others who are also suffering now silently recite in your own mind may we all be free from suffering may we all know our worth maybe all find peace and joy as this session draws to a close begin to wiggle your fingers and your toes and at your own pace gently allow your eyes to open let your heart be touched by a feeling of warmth tenderness and caring for yourself and your needs as you go about the rest of your day
