Hi,
My name is Tanisha and I'm an art psychotherapist and mental health counsellor.
Today we're going to be doing the compassionate hand exercise.
This exercise is one of my go-to's.
It's easy for us to do no matter where we are and no matter what we need.
We're able to allow ourselves to experience the full-bodied feeling and warmth of nurturing compassion for ourselves.
So get yourself into a comfortable position.
You can be sitting or lying down.
And I want you to begin by taking three deep breaths in.
One through the nose,
Into the belly,
Slowly out through either the nose or mouth.
Your choice.
And again in through the nose,
And out through either the nose or mouth.
And one more time,
Through the nose,
And out through the nose or mouth.
So if your eyes aren't closed already,
Feel free to close them.
Settle into the body and just notice how the body feels in this moment.
The feeling of contact,
Whether you are lying or sitting,
With the surface beneath you.
Have any awareness of any tension,
Sensations or feelings stored in the body today.
As you make space to check in,
How is the body feeling?
How are your energy levels in this moment?
If there are more than one spaces or spots in the body that have some tension,
I want you to see if you can fish out which area today is perhaps storing the most tension or feeling.
You don't need to change anything,
Just have awareness.
If you're getting distracted,
Just come back to the breath.
Breathe in and out.
So once you've sussed out where the area of tension,
The most sensations or feelings might be placed within the body today,
I want you to take the palms of your hands,
Put them together and begin to rub them against one another,
Up and down.
Almost as if you're trying to start a fire.
It should start to sound something like this.
As you begin to generate some heat in between the palms,
Notice how that feels.
Once it feels sufficient enough,
Place that is storing the most.
Other,
Lay gently and really feel and experience that heat slowly melting its way into that area.
Feel that warmth of those loving hands in space,
That area of might be stored in the body today.
Loving hands,
Accept it,
This end.
As you hold yourself lovingly,
Feel the heat as it spreads slowly,
Filling up heat into other areas of the body as well.
Just notice what the heat and warmth from the hands is doing to the feelings or sensations that were placed in this part of the body today.
Is the feeling starting to shift at all?
Is it starting to change?
Really feel the contact of the hands,
Come to press a little firmly at the fingertips.
Really welcome that embrace.
If you need to take a deep breath,
Need to sigh,
Allow yourself to breathe into that space.
Notice any shifts and changes in the body as you sit lovingly holding yourself after this meditation.
Move and shift the body,
Stretch if you need to,
In any way that feels natural.
These little shifts,
Changes,
Yawns,
Whatever the body is telling you that it needs,
Lets us know that something has been processed.
The body and the nervous system has shifted into a more relaxed state,
So allow it.
Thank yourself for showing up to do this exercise today.
Thank you for joining me in guiding you in this practice.
Use compassionate hand whenever you need to and as often as you need to.
Take care,
See you next time.
