Namaste dear one.
This is J Chodakam.
Well done on coming this far in the series.
You're three days away from the finish line.
Today's practice is self-compassion.
In this highly competitive world we hold ourselves up to impossibly high standards and then we berate ourselves when we fall short of them.
We subject ourselves to incredibly harsh self-criticism as we go through our daily lives and we continuously tell ourselves we aren't good enough the way that we are.
All of this leaves us with a persistent sense of inadequacy.
Imagine you and your best friend are walking down an icy road and all of a sudden she slips and falls to the ground.
How would you respond to her?
You probably wouldn't stand there with your arms folded saying wow you're such a useless person.
You can't even walk straight.
That would be very unkind,
Unwarranted and unhelpful way to respond to someone else's misfortune.
And yet for those of us who are highly self-critical that's how we routinely respond to our own setbacks and suffering.
If we aren't awake to the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves and we aren't able to rewrite those stories then we can do nothing but live within the constraints they set.
Now for the next 10 minutes or so I ask that you set aside all distractions.
There's nothing more important to do,
Nowhere else more important to be.
This is your time to rewrite that story that you're telling yourself.
So turn off all distractions and make sure that you become very comfortable.
You could be doing this practice either seated or laying down.
Find a nice alignment between your head neck and spine.
Rest your arms,
Unclench the jaw,
Drop the shoulders and soften the belly.
Now gently close your eyes and bring your awareness to your breath taking in some nice deep belly breaths and letting it all out.
Nice long slow deep breath in,
Holding it there for a moment and exhaling it all out.
Holding the top of the exhale before inhaling nice long slow deep breath in,
Holding and then exhaling it all out.
Continue this deep belly breathing as we dive into seeing ourselves for who we are.
In practicing self-compassion we can come to accept ourselves for who we are exactly as we are.
That doesn't mean necessarily that we are being complacent about our weakness.
It simply means that we view them in a more holistic compassionate way,
One that encompasses our strengths.
To help yourself adopt this viewpoint identify five ways in which you are above average.
Five ways in which you are above average.
If you need more time you can always continue this practice after this recording.
Moving on next identify five ways in which you are average.
Just average.
Next identify five ways in which you are below average.
Five ways in which you are below average.
Now step back from this mental list of these three categories.
View it as a panoramic picture of yourself and ask yourself can I accept these aspects of myself.
Can I celebrate the fact that I'm human and therefore encompass a wide range of traits positive,
Negative and neutral alike.
Now let go of this practice and enjoy the stillness of this present moment.
Now ever so gently bring your palms together in prayer position at your heart center.
I invite you to rub your palms against each other kindling the prana,
The life force.
And when you're ready go ahead and cup your eyes one with each palm and bless yourself.
I am enough.
I do enough.
There is enough.
I thank you for joining me in this practice today.
This is J Chodakam wishing you a fruitful day.
Namaste.
