Compassion Based Mindfulness Practice

This practice will offer a peaceful grounding in your body along with foundational tools to listen to the language of your body. This is a three part practice that integrates mindfulness and neurobiology called ANT which stands for Acknowledge, Name, Turn to Love. I teach this practice in my Somatic Therapy training course to cultivate awareness, compassion, and hone your ability to listen to the wisdom of your body.

Transcript

Hi,

Welcome,

And this recording offers a teaching on the acronym and mindfulness practice,

ANT.

A for acknowledge.

Listen to your feelings and physical sensations with respect.

Acknowledge them,

They are valid and informative.

So it's really this approaching ourselves and our own inner world.

And this also can be used in a relationship.

So approaching another with a acknowledgement,

Acknowledging that that something's happening for them.

And that just initiates an opening.

And then N,

Name.

Name the experience with deep kindness.

Breathe into your heart and note physical sensations,

Emotions,

Situations,

So sort of sad,

Fearful,

Constricted,

Longing,

Defensive,

Loneliness.

So you're really just observing your experience and naming what you notice through the eyes of love.

And then T,

Turn.

Turn towards tenderness and love within or around you.

And that can be an and or you might lean on some of the resources internally,

Like bringing a hand to your heart,

Breathing into your heart,

Softening.

There may be a loving kindness practice inside of you that you can lean on,

A whisper from the heart of kindness and care.

And also you might turn towards another.

Connect with a loved one,

Let them know that you're struggling.

Or you might connect with earth,

Turning towards the trees or the sunshine on your face,

Feeling the earth beneath you.

So turn is this sort of action of choosing rather than sort of swirling down into the experience or being hijacked by emotions or pain or reactivity.

There's this turning,

Metaphorically or literally,

Towards tenderness and love.

So that's ANT,

Acknowledge,

Name,

And turn to love.

I chose ANT as the acronym name because ants are simply amazing.

Unfortunately,

My house got infested by ants once and more than once,

But one time in particular that generated this meditation name.

And I was absolutely amazed by them.

I mean,

They can carry things five times their weight and they work as a team.

If a stick is too heavy,

A little ant somehow communicates with another ant.

You can almost sort of imagine them being like,

Hey,

Johnny,

Can you grab the other end of this?

And one takes the front and one takes the back and they carry the stick together.

And so I bring that forth as we prepare to practice because we are not designed to do any of this alone.

And so we'll share this meditation here together right now.

And then also in the tea,

Please don't hesitate to turn towards love in another with through vulnerability or speaking to the trees or hearing the wisdom from the ocean as it crashes at the shore to really turn towards love in all of its forms,

Rather than what can happen in our individualistic society is to believe that self-compassion needs to come from inside or that coping and resilience are found within or on your own and they are not.

So I am here with you practicing.

You have chosen to turn towards this meditation.

And also in general,

In your life,

Let ant be an opportunity to turn towards love,

To make that choice,

To be a collaborative,

Connected species like the ants.

So let us begin finding a comfortable seat and resting your gaze or closing your eyes and find your breath,

The in-breath and the out-breath.

A sort of dropping in to the body,

This breathing body,

Maybe noticing the rise and fall of your chest and the ribcage expanding and deflating,

Maybe the little muscles between your ribs as you inhale,

Can you feel them swelling and stretching and welcoming the breath?

And on your exhale,

Can you feel them softening and releasing?

You might soften your shoulders down your back,

Leaning back into your shoulders,

Leaning back into your skull,

Feeling the three dimensionality of your body.

Beautiful.

You might soften the brain in between your temples or soften behind your eyeballs.

Beautiful.

Finding the inhale and the exhale.

And understandably,

There may be some sort of constriction or restlessness as you begin practice.

And if there's not,

Maybe that's because you're practicing often and it's a little bit easier at this point to drop in.

So either way,

It doesn't matter.

Yet,

If there is restlessness or constriction,

Stay with it.

Just keep coming back like you're almost ironing out your breath.

As you practice,

Inhale,

Exhale,

Softening,

Softening.

It'll slowly iron out into sort of a smooth flow of breath,

Allowing your body to be breathed.

Your body knows what to do.

Beautiful.

If any restlessness does remain or you're still sort of landing,

I encourage you to do a few long,

Slow exhales,

Pouring the air in.

Out of you.

Like you're watering the ground or a house plant.

So a big,

Deep inhale.

And then a long,

Slow exhale,

Pouring the air out of your mouth.

Extending it as long as you can.

And then begin again.

An inhale,

A nourishing inhale from the trees.

Receiving the breath into your diaphragm and your chest.

Nourishment.

And then a long,

Slow exhale.

Pouring the air out of your mouth gently.

Beautiful.

Now I invite you to bring to mind a challenging experience.

Maybe it's something that prompted you to lean on this recording.

So maybe it's fresh and it's right there,

Like a challenging interaction with a boss or struggle with your partner or self-criticism and nervousness as you prepare for a presentation or a struggle as you navigate parenting or dating.

There's just so much in life that might activate uncertainty or insecurity or pain.

So just bringing to mind a challenging experience.

Anything.

It could be from the past.

It could be something that's a pattern.

Or it could be this morning.

And just bring it to mind.

Imagine it.

Imagine the interaction.

Imagine whatever's prompting it.

If it's a presentation,

Imagine that you're preparing for it or the time and day it is.

If it was a argument,

Imagine the other person and the argument happening.

All right.

And then we'll begin.

And so A,

Acknowledge.

A,

To really honor and notice,

Oh,

I'm having a hard time.

Just acknowledge that this experience is challenging and that it is okay to be challenged and that you're ready to listen.

Like an I see you.

I acknowledge you to your body,

To your being.

Acknowledge,

Oh,

This is hard.

I'm ready.

And then name.

I invite you to just name the experience you're having with deep kindness.

Constricted.

Maybe you notice tension in your shoulders.

Maybe there's nausea in your belly.

Name whatever it is you're noticing.

You're really listening.

You're really trying to see from the lens of acknowledging,

Oh,

Oh,

Tightness in the chest.

Oh,

Thoughts about failure or not being liked.

Oh,

Difficult to breathe.

Or oh,

So much anger or blame.

Or,

Oh,

Criticism.

I see criticism of myself and of my other,

My relationship,

Others.

So we're just naming and returning to the breath,

The inhale and the exhale.

If at any point it's becoming slightly overwhelming,

Extend the exhale long and slow.

Stay with the naming.

Soft.

No agenda to fix.

No agenda to make it different.

It's just acknowledging and naming this moment of pain.

This moment of discomfort.

Long,

Slow exhales.

Soft shoulders.

Soften the forehead.

Returning to the breath over and over again,

Because possibly in the naming,

You might get caught in a story.

Oh,

Well,

But I had,

I don't,

Didn't prepare enough for this presentation.

Or,

Yeah,

He always does this.

Or typical,

She always speaks to me like this.

Right?

So you might get sort of caught in the story.

Will it ever change?

Will I ever be enough?

Notice,

Notice.

And you might name that doubt or stories.

So,

Again,

We're just naming and acknowledging without any agenda to fix or solve or make go away.

Resting on your skeleton.

Breathing into your body as you make space for all that is here.

And T,

Turn to love.

Turn towards tenderness.

I invite you,

If it's available,

To bring a hand to your heart with gentle,

Loving touch.

Maybe you feel the warmth of your hand.

Breathing into your heart.

Breathing into your hand.

Or maybe it feels more resonant to place your hand wherever you feel tension.

Maybe on your throat or your neck or your shoulders.

Like you're giving yourself a hug.

Breathing into the heart,

Into the ventricles of the heart and surrounding your heart with breath.

And imagining that your heart is pumping loving energy throughout your body,

Oxygenated by your breath.

Like a breeze,

A warm breeze moving through this experience in you.

And you might begin to notice,

What would you say to a dear friend?

What would this loving heart whisper to you?

I'm sorry,

Sweetheart.

This is hard.

Or I see you.

I see your worry and your fear.

I'm with you.

Breathing,

Listening to what wisdom the heart might have.

You're not alone.

Or maybe,

May I trust?

May I trust in the unfolding of this?

Or may I learn from my mistakes?

Breathing into the heart,

May I forgive?

May I forgive myself for my role?

May I forgive another?

For we are all doing the best we can.

And so again,

There's not a solution here.

There's an accompaniment to your experience.

There's a being with from the heart.

May I trust in my worthiness?

May I know that I am loved?

I am not alone.

So together,

We are just toying with the turning to love on the inside,

On the heart wisdom that resides within,

Or the divine wisdom,

Or loving kindness,

Universal,

Unconditional love that lives inside.

All of us have varying degrees of that.

And that can be cultivated through practices like this.

But if you're noticing some irritability or agitation,

Or that that's not available,

That is okay.

If you can hear my voice and the possibility of me sending you loving kindness,

That you are worthy and belong,

And that we can be with this anger.

And I'm sorry that you're feeling this moment of pain.

Or if you could imagine the trees surrounding you,

Maybe in a nearby park,

Or a forest that you have visited to at some point using that in your mind's eye,

In your imagination,

Bring forth the sturdiness and friendship of trees.

Beautiful.

Breathing in their leaves as they offer you oxygen and exhaling back to them as you return carbon dioxide to them.

There's this reciprocal relationship of love with the trees.

And maybe you can hear a beloved bird song or the sound of crickets.

Just imagining that in your mind's eye.

And imagining them accompanying you.

Being with this painful experience and turning towards the love and connection that is all around you.

Beautiful.

Inhale and exhale.

Remembering that long,

Slow exhale.

If at any point the constriction or restlessness is overwhelming.

Breathing in and breathing out the nourishment of loving kindness.

May I be healthy and strong.

May I know that I am loved.

Softening.

Beautiful.

And then possibly a wondering.

This isn't ever a silver bullet.

A wondering if you also might need to call on a friend.

Just a self-inquiry of,

Oh,

Might I need to let someone know about these worries I carry or this pain I'm enduring.

Maybe someone can give me a hug.

Or a phone call that reminds me of a funny story or a connected moment.

So just allowing yourself to imagine or wonder if possibly turning towards love includes another,

Another support.

Or to the divine spirit or universal consciousness that's all around us.

Maybe we want to ask sort of the earth and all that has created earth,

Creation.

Calling that in,

Oh,

Can you hold me?

Can you hold me in this?

It's hard for me to hold this alone.

Leaning on gravity and softening into the possibility of being held by another.

You might even just imagine loved ones in your mind's eye and be held.

Beautiful.

Inhaling and exhaling and feeling into the sense of connection and being held.

That we are all here together,

Connected and doing the best we can with what we've got.

Beautiful.

Bringing hands to heart if that's available to you.

Breathing into your heart and bowing to your heart.

Bowing to the courage of your heart to live awake in this precious life.

And to return again and again,

Even when you forget,

Because we all will forget,

To return again and again to this precious heart,

A bow to your heart in reverence.

Beautiful.

And then bringing hands,

Palms together in front of your heart and imagining a little bow to all beings,

To the rivers and the mountains and the trees,

To those that you live with or your neighbors down the road,

The cashier at your grocery market,

A gentle bow to all living creatures,

The earth beneath you,

The air that you breathe,

A deep bow in reverence to the interwoven,

Exquisite tapestry that we are all participating in.

The light in me sees the light in you.

In Sanskrit,

That is spoken namaste.

Be well,

Dear one.

Thank you for practicing.

And just a note that this ant meditation is going to change with you over time and sometimes you're going to need things you didn't realize you needed,

Depending on the sort of intensity of the experience you're bringing forth.

And sometimes it could be a really quick practice in the middle of the grocery line.

So my hope for you is that you begin to internalize this practice and have it available to you to varying degrees of intensity and depth from a day-to-day perspective.

So be well,

Take good care,

And we'll meet again here soon.

Bye-bye.