Mindfulness For Compassion & Loving Kindness

This 25 minute mindfulness meditation begins with focus on the breath, body scan and attention on the heart combined with compassion towards self and others in the form of loving kindness meditation. This is supplemented by background birds and water sounds.

Transcript

Sit comfortably on the chair,

Feet on the ground,

Not cross-legged or anything,

Just straight and just make sure you kind of feel balance,

Balance yourself on the chair so there's enough,

The same amount of pressure on the left and right leg and you can place your hands on your lap and take a deep breath through your nose,

Just hold it for about four seconds and slowly let it out for a count of eight through your mouth,

Gently,

Softly.

Now continue breathing naturally just as you normally do,

Just notice your breath as you naturally breathe,

Just notice it,

Bring your attention to your breath,

To the sensation of the breath just above the lip.

Notice any tingling in that area just around the nostrils above the lip,

Notice any shifting temperature as you breathe in and breathe out,

Notice the temperature of the air as it flows into the nostrils and out of the nostrils.

Just feel the sensation of the breath as you naturally breathe and continue to bring your attention to the breath and as you're paying attention,

You might have some thoughts or emotions arise,

Notice them,

Let them arise and pass.

You don't need to hold on to them,

You don't need to get rid of them,

You just notice them just as you watch clouds in the sky or waves of the ocean,

Just notice the thoughts and emotions arising and passing and gently return your attention to the breath,

Paying very close attention to the breath.

You notice any other sensations arising just acknowledge it and just gently return to your breath.

There's nothing you need to do,

There's nothing you need to change,

You're just being present,

You're just being here and now and noticing this very moment.

Noticing that there is no other moment than this moment,

The past is gone,

The future is yet to come,

This is the only reality,

This present moment.

To anchor yourself here in the now and your breath is your physical anchor to the present moment.

So you continue paying close attention to your breath.

Slowly bring your attention to the top of your head,

Notice any sensations at the top of your head,

So any tingling,

Any very subtle sensations you might feel.

Slowly bring your attention to the back of your head,

Just scan that area,

Notice any sensations there.

Continue scanning down to the back of your neck.

Pay very close attention there,

Notice any tingling or any other sensation,

Hot or cold,

Just maybe no sensation at all.

That's fine,

It's nothing you're looking for,

You're just observing and accepting whatever is there.

And continue bringing your attention to your shoulders,

Just place your attention gently there.

Continue bringing your attention towards your chest,

Under your neck,

Notice anything there,

Just continue breathing.

You're breathing actually,

Bring your attention gently towards your heart and continue breathing.

I want you to gently breathe into your heart now,

Just breathe into your heart,

Inhale and exhale,

Just feel the air going into the heart and outside,

In and out.

Pay attention there for a moment.

Just notice anything arising,

Any sensation that might arise around the heart area.

Just notice it and just accept whatever arises,

There's no resistance here,

There's no need to change anything,

Just observe and continue breathing into the heart.

Continue scanning down towards your abdomen and just feel your tummy rise and fall as you breathe naturally.

Just feel the sensation of your tummy rising and falling,

How does it feel?

Observe closely.

And as you observe,

You might notice something else,

Other things like thoughts arising and passing just acknowledge and return again.

Continue scanning your tummy for any other sensations you may experience.

As you're scanning,

Bring a sense of gratitude,

A sense of kindness.

As you scan each part of your body,

Just bring a sense of compassion and kindness towards yourself.

This can be glowing from your heart towards your whole being,

Towards your whole body,

Just filling you up with warm kindness.

Gently scan,

Bring your attention to your thighs,

Scan your thighs to scan as though you can actually penetrate through the thighs,

Not just on the skin but you can actually go deep in.

Notice that you can just go deep in if you want to at any moment you can go deeper into yourself and just notice sensations both on the skin and inside,

The muscle,

The organs,

Notice them,

Observe them with kindness and gratitude.

Continue scanning.

You scan your thighs,

You scan further down towards your knees,

Down towards your feet,

Ankles and feet,

Above your feet,

Top of your feet,

Below where your feet are pressing on the ground.

Notice the sensation there.

Pay close attention to the sensation and the pressure of your feet on the ground.

Just observing and breathing.

Now let's scan back up.

So now we're going to go up from our feet,

We're going to scan towards our ankles.

Continue scanning up your calves towards your knees.

Scan.

Continue scanning up on your thighs,

Above your thighs,

Below your thighs.

Notice the sensation of your bottom on the seat,

Just notice that pressure.

Just bring this very intense presence to that pressure of you sitting on the chair and that contact.

Just notice that pressure.

Now continue scanning towards your back area and your abdomen.

Now notice you can scan in 3D,

You can actually scan inside yourself as well as outside.

So you're scanning your whole internal organs and muscles and everything,

Just scanning it.

Now continue scanning up from your tummy towards your heart.

Continue scanning all the way up to your shoulders and your neck.

And along your arms,

Just scan your arms all the way towards your hands and your fingers.

It's almost like you're filling it up with consciousness and awareness.

Just notice.

Continue scanning and filling all the way down towards your face.

Scan the face,

Scan your cheeks,

Notice any sensations around your cheek,

Around your chin,

Under your eyes,

Nose.

Be very close attention and you might notice some tingling or itching or something,

Anything or maybe nothing.

It's fine.

Accept it as it is.

Just continue scanning.

Your eyelids,

Your forehead,

Your scalp.

Now you have complete awareness of your whole body,

Here and now,

This very moment.

And now you can see that this moment and this awareness is the true reality and all the mind,

All your thoughts and other sensations are constantly changing and impermanent,

They arise and pass.

But your awareness can be constant.

So you can pay attention at any moment and bring awareness to this very moment.

And your breath is your friend.

So you can always return your attention to your breath during this meditation or any other time during the day.

Anytime you feel overwhelmed,

Mind racing,

A lot of cluttered thoughts,

Emotions arising and passing.

Just gently notice everything that's happening with acceptance,

With kindness,

And you gently return to your breath and pay attention to the breath.

The miracle of life comes from the breath.

Everything's breathing.

It's what makes the breath so special.

It's the only voluntary and involuntary mechanism in the physical body.

So your breath is your friend.

So continue paying attention to the breath.

You might feel some warm glowing sensation around your heart as well.

Just as if that's happening.

If it's not happening,

That's fine too.

Whatever is happening in your body,

Just notice it.

Welcome it.

Even any uncomfortable or unpleasant sensations,

Just notice them with kindness,

Gentleness.

You don't need to get rid of them.

You don't need to fight them or change them.

You can welcome them.

You can embrace them.

You can be with them,

Be present to anything that's happening with non-resistance.

Just bring attention to where you are right now.

Place attention on your whole body.

Bring a gentle sense of kindness towards this physical vehicle that you're carrying with you everywhere.

It's serving you and it's serving others.

Bring a sense of gratitude to this vehicle,

This tool that's constantly changing.

But you can observe it with kindness nevertheless and show gratitude and love.

Now as we continue paying attention to our physical body,

Let's gently bring the attention back to the heart area.

Just breathe into the heart again as we did before.

Just breathe in and breathe out of the heart.

Now feel a sense of kindness and compassion in the heart area.

A deep sense of care,

Kindness,

Openness.

Now just let that feeling grow outside the boundary of the heart and into your whole chest.

Just as if it's glowing with this compassionate,

Loving energy.

Just let it grow and expand,

Fill the whole chest and all your internal organs,

Your stomach,

All your kidneys and every organ in your body.

Just feel it,

This warm glow,

Loving kindness energy,

Glowing and filling you up,

Gentle kindness.

And express gratitude for yourself and express kindness for yourself.

And let that just continue to glow and glow and glow and expand from outside your physical body into the environment you're in,

Into your room,

Your home,

Any living organisms,

Any people or animals or plants,

Any sentient beings or animate,

Inanimate objects.

Just bring a sense of love and kindness towards everything that's around you.

And just continue to grow that and express this kindness towards everything around you and expanding outside your own home into your neighborhood.

Just glowing,

Warm,

Kind energy that wishes wellness for yourself,

For others around you,

For all beings,

All sentient beings,

All creatures may all be well and may all be happy,

Free from suffering.

Just glow and grow all the way into the whole suburb you're in,

Every home,

Every cafe,

Restaurant,

Every tree,

Shrub,

Plant and everything around you.

Just let it,

Let your compassion,

Your loving kindness,

Just fill every atom and every cell that exists around you,

Just continue growing it and filling it with love.

And all the way to your neighborhood,

All the way to your city,

Now filling the whole country may all be well,

May all be free from suffering.

And then you can get further into filling all neighboring countries,

New Zealand to the right,

Indonesia to the north,

Papua New Guinea,

Antarctica to the south,

Go left into Asia,

South Asia,

East Asia,

North Asia,

All the way to Europe,

Expand to the right,

Going towards the United States.

Fill the whole world with this compassionate loving kindness,

May all be well,

May all be happy,

All creatures small and large,

All sentient beings,

Everything that there is,

May all be well and may all be free from suffering.

Now you notice that you have the power to change the world through how you function on a moment to moment basis.

So gently bring your attention back to here and now to where you are sitting again,

Where you have applied this practice.

And over the past 20 minutes or half an hour,

You've practiced this mindfulness and loving kindness,

Two meditations in one session.

Two powerful meditations which you do regularly will enhance your well-being and enhance how you interact with everything around you,

With the world around you,

With other people and the relationships,

The relationship you have with yourself and other people,

The relationship with yourself with everything around you.

As you bring your attention back to the breath and notice your breath,

Notice your breath,

Gently bring your attention to the breath again.

This anchor that is with you forever,

No matter where you are,

What you do,

This will always be with you,

This moment,

This breath will always be with you until the last breath.

So make it your friend.

Now bring your attention again to this moment and you can move your toes and fingers,

Just wiggle them,

Just bring your attention back to the present moment.

When you're ready,

You can open your eyes.

Reviews

Love love love!

Thank you for this calming, compassionate space for own rest, kindness and gratitude, Dr Ehssan 🙏🏽✨️💚🐚🕊🩷