Welcome to this Insight Timer Meditation.
I'm Elizabeth Kavaline.
Today we will begin our practice with setting the intention of inviting ourselves to explore our ability to cultivate loving kindness and a deeper sense of self-compassion towards ourselves.
This meditation begins with a short guided practice after which I invite you to spend a few moments allowing yourself to simply be present in spacious stillness.
This meditation can be done whilst lying down,
Sitting on a chair with your feet firmly on the floor or whilst sitting on a meditation cushion.
Take a few moments to settle yourself.
Ensure that you are comfortable and your back is supported if needed.
Relax your shoulders,
Allow your neck to be long and imagine you have a soft ball resting gently under your chin.
Place your hands in your lap or down by your sides.
If sitting you can gently sway your body side to side inviting yourself to settle in your natural balanced position.
Relax your jaw,
Let your eyes soften or close if you wish.
Breathing softly through your nose become aware of the gentle in and out movement of your breath.
Take time to notice the lowest place in the body where you can feel the rising and sinking of your breathing.
You may sense this in your chest,
A little lower down in your upper abdomen or maybe as low as in your belly.
Wherever it may be in your body,
Take in very natural relaxed breaths,
Just gently bring your awareness to this place and rest in your focus here.
Take a moment to tune in to how the breath feels,
Noticing any sensations that may arise in the body from this place.
This awareness invites you to be open to your breath.
Now let your attention come inward to notice,
To connect with yourself.
As this is a heart centred practice,
If you wish you can place a hand or both hands in the centre of your chest connecting to the heart chakra,
The energy centre that governs our ability to give and receive love unconditionally.
Or if you prefer you can simply place your hands on your belly,
Feeling the rising and falling sensations of your breath,
Allowing yourself to settle here,
Just noticing.
Now invite your breath to deepen just a little,
Take a deep and slow breath in through the nose and then exhale through the mouth,
Releasing and relaxing with the out breath,
Inviting areas of tension or constriction to simply soften,
To let go.
Breathing in calming the body,
Breathing out slowing the mind.
Use your breath to ride the experience of settling into your body.
You can bring your attention to your hands placed on your heart or your belly and just notice,
Use it as a means of settling into being here in this moment.
Now take a moment to tune into your body,
Let yourself come down from your thinking mind and into the physical aspect of your being.
Just bring your awareness to notice exactly how you're feeling right now in this present moment,
Without judgement or explanation.
Just ask yourself,
How am I feeling today?
Don't try to change anything.
You may be feeling happy and joyful,
You may be feeling tired or anxious or maybe you feel unmotivated or even sad.
However you are feeling,
The first step to awakening to our own self compassion is acknowledging how we feel,
Without thinking we should alter anything related to these feelings.
And let's just sit here for a moment.
Find yourself,
Your feelings are always valid.
Our emotions are of course an integral part of our human experience.
Just notice what is arising for you right now.
Whatever it is you may be experiencing or even holding onto today whilst here,
Fully present.
And whatever it is you're bringing your awareness to,
Try to meet it with a sense of kindness.
Open yourself up to welcome it all with gentleness and open heartedness.
Let's take this time to welcome whatever emotions are present for you right now,
Are there to be experienced.
Don't try to avoid anything or push anything away.
Today we are simply creating a space to honour how you feel,
To allow ourselves to just notice.
Now bring your attention to where these feelings may be present in your physical body.
Notice any areas of tension or any sensations you may be feeling.
Your shoulders,
The jaw,
Maybe your neck or your chest.
Just notice.
In mindfulness practice we are taught to open our awareness up to how our thoughts,
Feelings and emotions are stored within our physical bodies.
How our minds and our bodies are not separate but in fact how everything is interconnected.
And whilst we stay here just notice in.
Set the intention to meet any painful feelings with care,
Compassion and understanding.
This is the beginning of practicing self-compassion and self-kindness.
Not to focus on any stories we tell ourselves in our minds in relation to our feelings but to simply sit with our emotions with gentleness,
With an open spaciousness of our awareness.
In cultivating loving kindness we train first to be honest,
Loving and compassionate towards ourselves.
Sometimes we may feel inadequate or weak,
We allow our critical mind to take precedence in our lives but no matter how we feel we can aspire to treat ourselves and others with more kindness.
And whilst you sit here present with whatever is arising for you today,
Simply say to yourself,
May I be gentle with myself,
May I be happy,
May I be at ease,
May I be gentle with myself,
May I be happy,
May I be at ease,
May I meet myself with kindness,
May I meet myself with tenderness,
May I meet myself with openness,
May I meet myself with kindness,
May I meet myself with tenderness,
May I meet myself with openness.
Now move your attention to one thing or one person that naturally brings you feelings of happiness,
Love or gratitude.
It may be a friend,
A family member,
Spouse or even a pet.
Simply bring an image of that someone or something into your mind and take a moment to notice the feelings of goodwill and genuine heart this person or animal brings to you.
Take some time to experience the gratitude you feel for them for simply being present in your life.
And again you can notice how that feeling sits within your physical body.
And as you sit with the image of them in your mind,
Simply say to them,
May you be gentle with yourself,
May you be happy,
May you be at ease,
May you meet yourself with kindness,
May you meet yourself with tenderness,
May you meet yourself with openness.
Nurturing our ability to love is a way of awakening ourselves to our ability to feel compassion.
It allows us to soften,
It invites us to open up.
Like watering the seeds of goodwill,
A loving kindness practice helps us to become acquainted with our own barriers and the things that keep us stuck.
It opens our hearts and our eyes to see that our own behaviours and patterns are simply reflective of all of our own inner emotional work and healing and others behaviours and patterns are simply reflective of theirs.
The more effort we place on working on ourselves,
The better able we are to help others.
And as we come to the end of today's meditation practice,
Gently begin to bring your awareness to the edges of your body.
Bring your attention to your fingers and your toes.
Gently move in your hands or your feet.
And when you feel ready,
You can slowly open your eyes and be open to the remainder of your day.
Thank you for your presence today.
Thank you for your practice.
