Begin the practice by finding a comfortable seated position with your spine straight and your eyes softly rested either closed or partially open and relaxed.
And we begin this practice by connecting to the heart.
Take some breaths in and out through the heart.
You can do that by tracing the breath in through the nose to the heart or simply feeling the heart rise and fall as you inhale and exhale.
We also start the practice by noticing where we are in this moment.
Taking stock of all of the experiences of our day leading up to this moment.
Setting an intention to put all of those experiences off to the side.
And we take stock of the physical body.
Breathing into any pain,
Discomfort or tension.
And return your attention to the center of the chest,
To the heart.
In the yoga tradition,
The heart is known as Anahata chakra.
The center of our being,
The seat of our true self.
And it is from this place that we invite selflessness and compassion.
We'll move into the space of compassion.
Compassion in one definition is where someone else's fear and pain is met with our love.
Often when we experience fear or pain from another person,
Maybe a homeless person we see on the street,
Even a friend who is struggling,
Someone who's having a panic attack,
An emotional breakdown,
And that often triggers in us a similar fear.
And that fear can elicit responses of pity,
Maybe of sympathy,
Of comparison.
But when we can tap into a place of love from ourselves,
Of wholeness,
And bring that to meet someone else's fear or pain,
Then we can truly offer them compassion.
The Tibetan tradition calls compassion the wish-fulfilling gem.
And recognizes that compassion has the power of great transformation.
And first we must offer compassion to ourselves.
As you return to the breath in the heart,
The solidity and groundedness of your being,
We start to breathe in to any of these sensations of pain or fear,
Any struggles that we're experiencing in our life without the story around them,
Without the judgments about them.
Acknowledge what that might be for you today.
And begin to see yourself as separate from that thing.
Maybe there is the part of you that is suffering,
But the part of you that can hold love for this place,
That knows that it is secure and safe.
And we start to breathe in to the part that is secure and safe,
The loving place of you.
And as you exhale,
Send this love and compassion to the place that is suffering.
Inhaling into your own true self,
Feeling whole.
And exhale this love,
Graciousness,
Compassion to the part of you that is suffering.
And we'll continue this practice for a few moments,
Offering compassion to ourself.
Whatever judgments or thoughts arise,
Notice them,
Acknowledge them,
And let them go,
Coming back again and again to the practice of offering love to yourself.
And if you'd like to continue this practice of self-compassion,
You can pause the recording at any time.
And now integrate these two places in you,
The place that is suffering and the place that is whole,
Taking a few breaths,
Connecting again to the heart,
Noticing the feeling of being a little bit deeper in your skin,
A little bit more in tune with your internal landscape.
And we'll begin to expand and extend this compassion to someone else who you know is suffering.
It could be a physical ailment,
A disease.
It could be an emotional trauma.
It could be any number of ways.
And every time you do this practice,
You could choose someone else.
You could also choose to offer compassion to the same person.
Imagine this person now sitting in front of you.
And as you inhale into your own heart this fully integrated love and compassion,
Imagine this being sent from your heart directly into theirs.
You can visualize it in a golden white light.
You can imagine it as a sound wave.
You could offer a particular mantra like,
You are healed or you are loved.
On the inhale,
Breathe from the earth up into your heart.
And on the exhale,
Send this compassion and loving kindness into the person who is suffering,
Visualizing them as concretely as possible sitting in front of you.
Continuing this practice for a few moments,
Pausing whenever you would like to deepen into the practice.
And imagine the more you send this person love,
Kindness,
Acceptance,
Healing,
The more their suffering is transformed and they are filled with joy,
Radiance.
We continue to the third and final phase of this compassion meditation.
Visualize now a group of people.
It could be a small group of people,
Your family,
Students,
People who have suffered a trauma.
It could be a larger group of people,
Refugees in a war-torn country,
Or perhaps our entire planet,
Who collectively are suffering.
And with whatever visualization you can hold in your mind,
Imagine yourself now offering this compassion to this group of people.
Perhaps it is a group for whom you genuinely feel compassion.
Or perhaps it is towards people who deserve your forgiveness.
Using the same practice of inhaling from the earth into the heart and exhaling white light or a mantra,
Offer this selfless compassion from the heart to this group of people.
Thank you.
Gently release the practice.
And take a moment to observe its effects within your being,
Specifically in the area of generating compassion,
Love towards self and others,
Acceptance and forgiveness.
And take a moment now to offer a thought of gratitude to yourself and to those for whom you get to practice compassion.
And as you step off of your mat and into the world,
We set an intention to take this practice of compassion with us,
Offering it wherever possible toward ourself and to all those we meet.
Namaste.
