Pandemic Burnout Compassion

This global pandemic has brought so much difficulty to lives the world over - to find ourselves in a place of burnout, of struggle is so, so normal. These are extraordinary times that call for extraordinary self-compassion. Allow me to guide you to a place of softness, of tender self-acceptance, meeting the tight places within our being with grace and love. This will pass. It's tough right now, but it won't be forever. Hang in there, my friend, brighter days are ahead.

Transcript

Hi friends,

Welcome.

These are some incredibly difficult times that we're living through.

I don't know exactly where you are in the world,

But most of us have been in some degree of lockdown for over a year now.

That's a long time for a species wired for social connection to be cut off,

To be separated and isolated.

So finding ourselves in a place of struggle right now is a normal and adaptive response to abnormal demands.

It makes so much sense.

How could we not be struggling,

Right?

And when we meet pressure or a challenge from the outside,

Our beautiful self-protective systems do what they can and what they need to do in order for us to feel safe and to feel some degree of connection.

And the reality is,

This isn't always going to be through ways that our society recognizes us healthy,

So we might have the ability and capacity to self-sue through meditation and exercise and all those other good things,

And we might not.

Maybe we're eating or drinking or scrolling or raging our way through this pandemic in a desperate attempt to manage the emotional overwhelm.

When we can do better,

We do.

So if you're struggling with keeping up habits and practices that you know are beneficial to you,

I'm asking you to please not add to your suffering by going hard on yourself.

By self-attacking with judgment and criticism,

There's enough pain already here.

Okay?

There's enough pain already here.

We don't need to add to it.

Shaming yourself about how you're coping is not the way.

It serves no purpose.

And now,

If you feel open and available to it,

I invite you to join me for just a few moments of nourishment,

To pause and breathe together,

Giving yourself permission to take a little step away from the chaos and to know that for the next short while,

It's okay to be fully here.

That just for now,

Even just for these few moments,

There's nothing else to do,

To fix,

To plan.

It's okay to be here.

If it feels right for you today,

Closing over the eyes or else lowering the gaze,

Checking in with yourself,

Take a little scan of the body head to toe,

Moving slowly down from top to bottom and back up again.

Meeting any tension or pain,

Physical,

Mental or emotional,

With compassion and softness,

Things are really hard right now.

You're doing the best you can and that's enough.

Just sitting here is enough.

However much you have to offer the world right now,

It's enough,

No more,

No less.

Noticing your breath now,

This incredible life-giving gift,

Each new breath bringing with it an offering of a new beginning,

Of starting over.

A moment in time that has never before existed and doesn't need to be defined by the past.

As you breathe in,

See if it's possible to connect with the hope that this new moment,

This new breath,

This new beginning brings.

Drawing deeper into the breath and sending it down to the base of the belly,

Feeling the muscle expand,

Filling like a balloon and then deflating again.

Each breath a little deeper,

The air inviting in new life,

New hope to every cell of the body.

See now if it's possible to bring a quality of softness to the breath.

As though your breath has the ability to loosen and unclench any areas of tightness it meets,

Anywhere in your being.

Physical body,

Emotional body,

The mental landscape,

Anywhere we sense the resisting,

Clenching,

Holding on.

Seeing the breath arriving there and loosening the grip,

Like clearing out a densely cluttered space.

Allowing the breath to clear what is no longer needed,

Take it away and release it through the out-breath.

Seeing or feeling space opening up within your being.

And of course the mind may still dangle streams of thoughts and stories in front of you demanding your attention.

Allow it all.

We don't need to make any of it wrong.

The mind can do what it needs and for now we can sit and watch.

Calling awareness into the heart space now,

The area around your chest.

A place that holds so much of our deep emotional experience,

Where our unexpressed stories gather longing for validation,

For expression.

Tend to your heart space now.

If you feel open to it,

Placing a hand gently on your heart and feeling.

Feeling the fullness of whatever is here now to be met and held.

What lives within these chambers that needs the gift of your loving presence right now?

Feeling the life that is living through you,

Allowing it to flow as it is,

Resisting the pull to govern or manage your emotional landscape.

Surrender to it all.

Allow.

Soften.

Meet yourself with grace and compassion.

As you stay with this experience calling on your highest,

Wisest,

Most loving self to be here with you.

To hold all the fragments of your human self that may be struggling through this difficult time.

Like a wounded child being held by its loving caregiver,

Allowing all the parts and patterns you may be struggling with through this pandemic to be embraced with pure love,

Acceptance,

Non-judgment.

You are doing the best you can right now and that is enough.

Going into old coping habits is not a sign of failure but a sign of a system in need of deep soothing.

A perfectly beautiful flawed human doing their best in an often harsh world and through unsettling times.

Allowing the presence of compassion to reassure you that you don't need to excel at this time.

You don't need to be excellent or at the top of your game.

Showing up each day and offering whatever you have to offer at that particular point in time is enough.

This has been hard but it won't last forever.

The brighter days are ahead.

Keep going.

One gentle,

Loving,

Compassionate breath at a time.

That's all you have to do.

And that's enough.

Reviews

I so much wish I had found this meditation during the isolation of the pandemic 😷
I will use it now to remind myself that I am ok, I am alright. Many thanks.

Thank you for this comforting and encouraging meditation! This is exactly what I needed to hear today! ❤️🙇‍♀️🙏🏼🎄

Profound and real not just through lock downs and isolation but the hangover left on society from these events. My focus will be on my breath..one at a time. Thank you Mar, always 5 star, namaste.

Dearest Mar,
This is one of your best! (If that is even possible! They are all inspired and anointed.) Thank you so much💕💗

Beautiful. I wish I had found this in the midst of lockdown, but it is still relevant today as things are moving at a faster pace than we’ve gotten used to. Thank you.

Thank you Mar. I listened to this after most people consider the pandemic over even though Covid is very much still around. Due to a health condition I am still trying to avoid catching it which creates tension when most people around me think that's fearful. So I found this meditation helpful and soothing.

Even now halfway thru 2022, I think I’m still burned out —and this was so comforting and helpful 🙏🫶

Lovely, just found this, I chuckled when you said ‘a year of pandemic’. Who knew how long we would need this. ❤️🙏🏻

What a truly compassionate meditation!! Thank you so much 🙏

Exactly what I needed to listen to 2 years into this Covid life while isolating with my two sick kids and positive myself. Thank you. ❤️

Beautiful voice filled with so much compassion. Just what I needed today. Thank you Mar and Blessings 💗🕊🦋

Thank you. This morning I’m joining a team of healthcare workers and this is just the message I hope to extend. We can’t change the circumstances, we can only soften and allow.

Soothing meditation with thoughtful reminders during these trying times. Thank you.

This is an absolute beautiful meditation, full of compassion and softness. Thank you so much 💛

Beautiful. Voice and compassion is my blessing for today. Thank you.

So calming, very effective reminder to stop and love yourself

Everything I needed right now, and Mar's compassion and gentle, soft voice is wonderful.
Thank you 🙏❤

Thanks a million for this compassionate meditation. Needed in these difficult times in 🇫🇷 & around the 🌎🌍🌏

Yes these are globally extraordinary times. Overwhelming at times. Thank you for acknowledging our struggles. Self care and self compassion are important. One breath at a time.

Exquisite! Thank you so very much 🌈🦋