Compassionate breathing towards yourself meditation.
So let's just begin by settling down and finding a comfortable posture for the body.
Mindfully opening to all of your experience,
No matter what is present right now.
Inviting an atmosphere of calmness,
Of a soothing breath.
Your mind being like a bright mirror,
Reflecting whatever shows itself.
Allowing the soothing rhythm to hold all of your experience right now and returning to it again and again.
Whenever you notice you have lost it during the practice,
There is no need to force the breath.
Simply allowing the breath to be as it is,
To flow freely in and freely out.
Allowing the body to open all its pores,
To receive,
Let itself be filled and give away.
Every breath cycle in effortless exchange with the environment,
A welcoming and an offering.
And if you notice the energy of threat or drive,
Resisting or striving,
Allowing mindful presence and soothing rhythm of the breath to return.
And now you may imagine that you embody compassion and that there is inner space,
Stability and resilience in you.
And choose an area of suffering in your life,
Something you feel the space to work with right now.
It may be physical or emotional pain and allow your imagination to play with this.
Imagine this pain occupies space and is situated in front of you.
What do you imagine it looks like?
What visual qualities does it have?
What color?
What shape?
What other sensory qualities do you imagine it has?
How does it feel when you touch it?
What does it smell like or sound like?
And let yourself be surprised by what your imagination comes up with.
And now imagining breathing in and welcoming this pain little by little,
With each in-breath a little bit.
And then allowing it to gradually transform itself inside you into a softening,
Healing quality which you breathe out,
Allowing it to happen without effort,
Letting your imagination do the work.
You don't need to try hard,
Allowing space for curiosity and playfulness.
So,
For example,
If you breathe in darkness,
You may breathe out brightness.
If you breathe in black smoke,
You may breathe out white or golden lights.
If you breathe in a particular color,
You may breathe out a complementary color or breathing in muddiness,
Breathing out clarity,
Breathing in heaviness or harshness,
Breathing out lightness,
Smoothness or softness,
Breathing in heat,
Breathing out coolness,
Breathing in stench,
Breathing out fragrance,
Breathing in dissonance,
Breathing out harmony,
Breathing in fatigue,
Breathing out vitality.
You can also inhale a dark emotional atmosphere of anxiety,
Anger or sadness and exhale a light emotional atmosphere of comfort,
Tranquility or joy.
If you lose the soothing breathing rhythm,
Noticing whatever shows itself,
You may be trying to ward off the unpleasant and may notice the energy of the threat system or you may be striving for results and recognize the drive system,
Acknowledging your experience kindly and allow the calming breath to return before you move to work with imagery again.
And if you notice a lot of resistance,
You can either choose something less painful or practice with the resistance itself.
You might experiment with visualizing the resistance in front of you,
Imagining its qualities which you breathe in and changing into softening qualities which you breathe out.
You can expand compassionate breathing by adding mindful movements,
Stretching out your arms and hands towards the pain in front of you.
With every in-breath you move your hands in a receiving gesture towards your heart.
With every out-breath you extend your arms and hands in a giving gesture.
So you connect these movements with every breath cycle while you imagine breathing in what hurts and breathing out what heals,
Alternating between practicing with and without the movements.
Just see what works for you and kindly exploring the effects of this practice,
Whether pleasant or unpleasant.
How does it affect you?
And just remember there are no wrong experiences here.
Kindly adapting the practice to your needs.
If you feel the space,
You may explore another difficulty in a similar way and continue for as long as you wish or bring the practice too close on the sound of the bell.
