Welcome.
I'm so happy to be your guide on this healing journey of self-compassion.
This meditation is inspired by compassion-focused therapy.
Dr.
Paul Gilbert is the founder of CFT,
And this meditation pulls from Dr.
Gilbert's suggested exercises.
Thank you to Dr.
Gilbert for his wisdom and guidance.
This meditation includes binaural beat technology that is guaranteed to shift your brainwave state into deep delta and theta waves.
This enhances your ability to soak in these powerful concepts while staying centered,
Calm,
And relaxed.
Let's start by sitting comfortably with both feet flat on the floor,
About shoulder width apart.
We'll be together for a little while,
So if it's more comfortable,
Feel free to lie down.
Rest your hands on top of your legs or at your sides.
Close your eyes or leave them softly open.
Your face is relaxed,
With maybe a small smile on your lips.
Begin to focus on your breathing.
Let the belly expand as you breathe in.
Softly draw the belly back as you breathe out.
Play with the speed of your breath until you find a comfortable,
Soothing rhythm of breath.
However your pacing is,
Keep the length of your inhale and your exhale even.
For example,
If you inhale to a count of three,
Exhale to a count of three.
Let's get grounded.
Focus on your body,
Sensing the weight of your body resting on the chair and the floor underneath you.
Let yourself feel held and supported by the chair.
If you notice that your mind has gone elsewhere,
That's okay.
Just notice this and gently guide it back to awareness of your body.
Breath by breath,
Allow yourself to be right here in the moment,
Connected to this body.
Are you ready to go on a journey?
I invite you to create a safe space,
A place where you feel deeply peaceful,
Calm and safe.
What speaks to your heart?
Where do you feel most connected to your true self?
Within your mind's eye,
Imagine yourself looking around.
What do you see?
Are you out in nature?
Maybe you're in the green of the woods.
You feel pine needles under your feet,
Smell the fresh clean air and feel lovingly surrounded by beautiful trees and wildlife.
Or are you at the beach,
Feeling the soft give of sand beneath you,
Listening to the ebb and flow of the waves.
The sun is soft on your skin,
Gently warming you.
Maybe your special place is a remembered favorite nook from childhood,
A soft cushy chair,
A tree house or a hidden spot where you loved to curl up to dream.
Wherever your special place is,
Feel yourself gently landing in that space.
Feel how the whole body is able to relax and melt down as this safe space gently welcomes you and nourishes your spirit.
From this space of relaxation,
Feel how you're coming into energetic alignment with this special place.
As its energy nurtures you,
Your energy nurtures it.
Feel how your safe place rejoices in your presence.
You can sense how your own pleasure at being there feeds its vitality.
Allow yourself to root down,
Creating an emotional connection with this place.
Breathe and relax.
While still in your safe,
Special place,
Think of a color that you associate with compassion,
Kindness and warmth.
This can be anything under the rainbow.
Your color might be different than mine and that is fine.
Remember,
There are no wrong answers here.
And picking a color now doesn't mean that you can't choose another even better suited to this in the future.
So relax and breathe.
What color is compassion for you?
If you feel stuck,
That's okay.
How about you borrow mine for now?
Mine is a soft,
Glowing orange,
Almost like a morning sky just as the sun comes up.
Once you have your color in mind,
Imagine this compassionate color surrounding you,
Almost as if a gentle,
Loving hand has rubbed it into your skin like lotion.
You have been painted with this color of compassion.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Feel how this silky lotion covers you from head to toe,
Bathing you in the color of compassion.
As your body warms,
This imaginary lotion of compassion slowly sinks into your skin.
Now imagine the color flowing through you.
This color's sole purpose is to help you,
Strengthen you and support you.
This color of compassion now bathes your whole body inside and out.
Remember,
You're still in your safe space.
Allow yourself to feel supported and loved.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
We're now going to shift our perspective and focus.
In your mind's eye,
I invite you to see yourself as a deeply compassionate person.
Let's talk about the key qualities of compassion,
Which are wisdom,
Strength and warmth.
To start,
See the wisdom that lives inside of you.
This wisdom comes from your understanding about the nature of life.
You have a lot of self-knowledge as well,
Deeply understanding how your body works and how your mind works.
You understand what it means to be human.
There's so much in life that happens that we have no control over and which is not our fault.
You know and recognize this.
Can you see that wisdom living inside of you,
The way that it shines out of you?
Can you see how your face is open,
Relaxed and aware?
See your wise self in your mind's eye.
Now let's shift and explore another facet of compassion.
See your compassionate strength.
When you face your challenges with kindness and non-judgment,
That's strength.
Having the confidence to be sensitive,
That's strength.
What does compassionate strength feel like to you?
What does compassionate strength look like on you?
How does this show up in your stance,
In how you hold your body,
In your expression?
In your mind's eye,
See your compassionate self standing in your special place,
Grounded,
Centered,
Wise and strong.
From this place of wisdom and strength,
Let's tap into our warmth.
See the ways that your compassionate self is warm and kind to yourself and to others.
Witness this person knowing you speak to yourself kindly,
Giving yourself permission to be human.
Now allow your warm,
Wise,
Strong self to see you,
To really see you.
Know that they see all of your facets,
The good things and the not so good.
And this compassionate self recognizes the beauty of who you are.
It recognizes the beauty of your humanity.
This compassionate version of you,
Who knows you better than anyone else in the world,
Sees you.
Sees the quirks and idiosyncrasies that make you unique.
And they love you,
Not in spite of those dips and crevasses,
But because of them.
This compassionate self sees how in every scar you have,
In every bruise,
In every tender spot,
You have shown up in life and done your best.
They see you and commend you.
You have done your best,
They say.
I invite you to hear this and feel its truth.
Say to yourself,
I have done my best.
You are a good person,
Deserving of love and respect,
They say.
Hear this deep inside and say to yourself,
I am a good person,
Deserving of love and respect.
They tell you,
There is no one to blame.
Set this burden down.
There is no need to carry this shame,
This anger,
This resentment any longer.
Set this burden down and feel how much happier and lighter your spirit will feel.
Hear this,
Believe this and say to yourself,
I am not to blame.
Say to yourself,
I choose to set this burden down.
Your compassionate self looks lovingly at you and says,
You deserve to be forgiven.
I see all of you and I forgive you.
Say to yourself,
I deserve to be forgiven.
Say,
I am a good person,
Deserving of forgiveness.
Say,
I forgive myself.
Feel their loving gaze on you.
Feel in your body how it is to be seen with wisdom,
With strength and with kindness.
No judgment,
No shame.
Let their witnessing of you be a healing balm to your heart and your soul.
Your compassionate self lays their hands on you,
Touching the places where you feel you need love,
Attention and healing.
Maybe their hands glow with the color of compassion.
Feel the warmth in their palms.
Feel their focus on you.
Allow yourself to be seen.
Allow yourself to receive their healing touch.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Your body is soft,
Relaxed and open.
Soak up their healing energy,
Their loving focus.
Again,
See your compassionate self standing in your special place.
See the natural way they inhabit confidence,
Strength,
Kindness and wisdom.
See how their body is grounded and strong.
They might have a small smile on their face and their eyes shine with peace and happiness.
Breathe and know that this compassionate self is you.
Shift your perspective so that you are inside of this body.
You are strong.
You are warm.
You are kind.
You are wise.
You are compassionate.
Breathe into this knowledge.
Breathe out.
Take a comfortable seat in your safe space and relax.
Next to you,
There is a tablet.
I invite you to pick it up and on screen you see that there's a video of you.
You settle into your comfortable seat and hit play.
As your compassionate self,
You watch yourself get up in the morning,
Moving around your bedroom and preparing yourself for the day.
Your wise,
Kind self sees how the self you're watching is troubled by self-critical thoughts or feelings.
You witness their struggle with kind,
Loving eyes,
But you don't allow yourself to be dragged into the struggle with them.
You're still seated in your safe space inhabiting your compassionate self.
See your troubled self through the eyes of compassion.
Be aware of what you say to yourself,
What the big triggers are,
And what you do when these negative voices begin to circle in your head.
Remember,
You're watching these challenges from a distance.
You're still here firmly in your compassionate self in your safe space.
If you sense yourself being drawn into the home movie that you're seeing on the screen and you start to lose touch with the compassionate self,
Let the imagery fade and just breathe.
Find your soothing rhythm breath.
See yourself back in your safe space inhabiting your compassionate self.
And once you feel yourself landing there,
You can begin again.
As you witness your struggles from a distance with soft,
Loving energy,
Say to your troubled self,
It's okay.
You have done your best.
Even though you're still in your safe space,
Your troubled self can hear you and sense your presence.
Again,
Say,
It's okay.
You have done your best.
As you do this,
Maybe you also feel the color of compassion shining out of your body,
Pouring onto your troubled self.
From your place of safety and peace,
Say,
You are a good person,
Deserving of love and respect.
Feel the belief of this in your heart.
Feel this loving kindness shining out of you onto them.
Say to your troubled self,
There is no one to blame.
Say to yourself,
You are not to blame.
Say to yourself,
Set this burden down.
Say to yourself,
There is no need to carry this shame,
This anger,
This resentment any longer.
Say to yourself,
Set this burden down.
Feel how much happier and lighter your spirit will feel.
See yourself on the screen with loving eyes and say,
You deserve to be forgiven.
Say,
I see all of you and I forgive you.
Say,
Please choose to forgive yourself.
See how your troubled self relaxes as they receive what you say.
You can see how these words calm and heal them.
They relax and receive.
Again,
You can visualize your compassion as a color surrounding your onscreen self gently in kindness and forgiveness.
Breathe in,
Breathe out.
Send your onscreen self love and compassion.
Your compassionate self shines loving kindness onto the onscreen version of you saying with wisdom,
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful and at ease.
Your compassionate self shines loving kindness onto the onscreen version of you saying with gentle strength and conviction,
You deserve to be happy.
You deserve to be healthy.
You deserve to be safe.
You deserve to be peaceful and at ease.
Your compassionate self shines loving kindness onto the onscreen version of you saying with warmth,
Be happy.
Be healthy.
Be safe.
Be peaceful and at ease.
See this loving energy flowing from your compassionate self to your onscreen self.
See how this positivity soaks in grounding you.
In your mind's eye,
Return to your compassionate self in your safe space.
Have your compassionate self come to standing,
Looking around this special place again.
Know that anytime you need it,
This haven is here for you,
Protective and welcoming.
As you're ready,
Gently let go of these visualizations and come back to the body.
Feel how this meditation has nourished you,
Healed you,
Relaxed you and strengthened you.
Know that your compassionate self,
Wise,
Strong and kind,
Is real and lives within you.
During those challenging moments in life,
I suggest that you breathe,
Connect to your safe space and invite your compassionate self to help you navigate through difficult moments.
Remember your color of compassion so that you can use this to support your journey as well.
I invite you to listen to this meditation for 30 days in a row.
If you can listen to it right before bed,
That's awesome.
This will allow these visualizations to echo in your mind as you sleep.
Repeating this is important for three powerful reasons.
First,
We want to build a deep and lasting connection to your compassionate self.
With every time you listen to this,
You will breathe more strength,
Wisdom and kindness into this version of yourself.
We want you to become your own personal coach.
Second,
These scripts can become natural go tos in moments of stress or anxiety.
But this takes practice,
Especially when emotions are running hot.
The more you listen to these tools,
The easier they will come to mind.
Third and lastly,
This practice will help you rewire your brain.
If you habitually respond to life in a certain way with anxiety or self criticism,
That's not a coincidence.
Without meaning to,
You've trained your brain to do this.
The more you think these same thoughts,
The deeper ingrained this habit becomes.
The power of the visualizations we've done is that we're providing your brain with another path to take one that's more positive and life sustaining.
With time and focus,
You can shift yourself to kindness,
Self compassion and forgiveness.
So I hope that you continue to journey with me on this road to self compassion.
May this meditation serve you well.
Please know that my spirit is shining loving kindness on you.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful and at peace.
