Hi.
I've been thinking a lot about compassion recently and today in particular for some reason it's been really coming up in messages that I've had from people that has sparked my compassion for them.
And also in my journal writing this morning,
I always write my journal every morning.
And so I was drawn just to check in with you really and see whether a short compassion practice may be of use to you.
So something that I find useful myself is if compassion or self-compassion is feeling really challenging for me,
If I'm caught up in a sort of head space where perhaps I'm worrying about things that might come or I'm sort of churning through stuff that's happened in the past,
Then rather than going into a place of trying to fix that or suppress it or ignore it,
Shove it to one side,
Just bringing my compassion to myself and noticing that this stuff is going on for me can be such a useful practice.
And like any practice,
It takes practice.
So if it's something that's new to you and it feels difficult at first,
That's OK.
That's like it's just learning something.
And if it's something that you already do,
Then maybe this is a lovely reminder just to sort of keep bringing your attention back to yourself.
So,
You know,
To to say to ourselves,
Oh,
I need to feel more compassionate for myself if we're not used to it,
If it's not a muscle that we've been working,
Then that itself can feel really hard.
So a useful approach is to bring to mind a small child,
Someone that we already have a great deal of affection for.
So maybe maybe it's your own child,
Perhaps when they were really little,
You know,
When they were kind of two or three.
Maybe it's a niece or a nephew.
Maybe it's a grandchild.
Maybe it's the child of a friend.
Or maybe there's a particular character from a film that you really love that,
You know,
Just really caught your heart.
Or or perhaps bring to mind a puppy or a kitten.
You know that like gorgeous,
Delicious puppy smell.
We've got we've got a dog.
So we had two dogs until recently.
And I remember when they were puppies,
That sort of feeling of their like gorgeous,
Soft,
Wriggly bodies and delicious puppyness.
Or maybe it's a kitten and that insatiable curiosity they have.
And,
You know,
How playful and joyful they can be.
So as I as I say this,
You know,
Maybe there's a child or a little sort of animal that comes to mind that just,
You know,
Just makes you feel like,
Oh,
That like love,
You know,
Tenderness towards them.
And if you think about this feeling,
You kind of notice this feeling inside you.
I mean,
Even as I'm talking about it,
It's making me smile.
So maybe maybe there's a smile forming for you as you think about this child or this little animal that you feel very tender towards.
As you sort of bring them to mind,
Just sort of feel how is it in your body to have them kind of with you in this moment.
And and if you imagine that your compassion is like a light that shines upon them,
Then just take a moment to maybe close your eyes,
Actually.
Sometimes it's really useful to place a hand on our heart or a hand on our belly or or you know,
Both.
And just,
You know,
Close our eyes and just really,
Really feel feel how it is to have that that sense of that small child or that young animal.
And and this idea that our compassion is a light that we that we shine toward them.
And then just take a moment to turn that light to shine upon yourself and to feel that gentle warmth of your affection,
Your compassion as it shines upon you.
Maybe just take a few breaths here just to feel how it is to be compassionate toward yourself.
You know,
Even with everything else that's going on in your life,
Even with things that feel challenging or things that you're worried about or things that are difficult.
Just take this little moment to feel how it feels to have your own compassion directed towards you.
That's it.
That's what we're doing.
We're not trying to fix anything.
We're not trying to change anything.
Just being with it.
And then very gently just come back and open your eyes and,
You know,
Just see,
See how it feels now.
You know,
Do you feel a little calmer,
More gentle?
And and the role of this work really is is to remember that it's always there for us.
And using something like the kind of memory of a small child that we really love or a little animal that we really love acts as an anchor point.
And it it can help ground us in this moment so that it becomes a little bit easier to remember how that feeling of compassion is.
And then we can turn it towards ourselves and gradually as we practice it,
As we get more used to this feeling of self-compassion,
We can bring it towards ourselves more easily.
And so then we come to a point where,
You know,
We kind of hear that state of agitation and we can go,
Oh,
My darling,
It's OK.
It's OK.
I've got this.
You're right.
So.
I'd love to know what you think.
I'd love to know how it feels.
Maybe drop an emoji or something or a word and.
I'll see you in the group.
All right.
Take care.
Bye.
