Welcome to your daily meditation.
Sitting comfortably,
Perhaps onto a cushion or a block,
And allowing the knees to rest softly upon rolled blanket or block,
Or even cushions.
Find length in the spine,
As if the crown of the head is being pulled by a thread,
The neck is lengthened,
Shoulders are soft,
Hands can stay resting onto the thighs to start.
You may want to lie down,
Heels are apart,
Toes flopping out,
Arms can start alongside the body,
Palms facing up.
Let's start this practice today with paying attention and tuning in to our breath.
Closing the eyes is an option,
Or even just allowing the lids to close at halfway.
Take a nice deep breath in through the nose,
And just exhale through the mouth,
Letting go.
Let's do that again,
Deep breath in.
And exhale,
Finding your anchor here,
Through breath,
Through your seat.
Now you have an option here to take your left palm and place it upon your heart,
And then take the right palm and allow it to land on top of the left.
Breathing in through the nose,
And exhaling through the nose.
This meditation is focused on self-love or self-compassion,
The ability for us to practice love toward ourselves.
Continuing to stay present with breath,
Just take a moment to scan your body,
Feeling the air enter through the nostrils,
Reaching and expanding through the rest of your body,
And exhale,
Allowing the breath to exit the way it came in.
Maintaining this neutral,
Continuous breath.
I want you to now think of a time when you were cared for,
You were helped perhaps by someone else.
Imagining this experience in your mind,
You might start with what it looked like.
Who was there?
What actions did they take?
What colors come to mind?
What textures and surroundings?
You might even be able to remember what this experience felt like.
What could mean remembering the emotions?
Maybe you felt happiness.
Maybe you felt cared for,
Loved,
Kindness,
Joy.
You might even have remembered or are currently feeling sensations in the body as you bring this memory back to your mind.
Just scan and observe those sensations,
Those feelings,
Passing no judgment.
Just watching,
Observing,
Like a film.
Lastly,
You might remember some of the sounds associated with this image,
This memory.
Sounds like the voices,
The conversations.
Maybe sounds of the surrounding environment.
You might remember the pace of those sounds,
Whether slow or rushed,
Whether gentle or excitable.
Now you've now brought this back into your mind and hopefully into your heart.
I ask that you extend this experience of kindness that you received to yourself.
An offering of kindness.
You might have other emotions,
Thoughts or sensations that appear during this time.
I ask that you try to just stay here,
Observing,
Not going down any rabbit holes of stories.
Remembering to stay conscious with your breath.
You can exhale and watching your exhales.
With curiosity,
You might just ponder here,
How are you talking to yourself?
Can you extend a little bit more kindness?
How would you want to talk to someone else,
Someone that you love?
Kindness can take place in so many different ways.
How we think,
And how we speak,
And of course,
How we act.
If you're experiencing any tension in the body,
In the next few breaths in and out,
Just acknowledge those sensations.
On the exhales,
Just softening a little bit more in those areas.
When we're able to practice kindness to ourselves,
It enables us to extend that kindness to all those around us,
And even beyond.
As you move forward into your day ahead,
Or unwind for the rest of your day,
Just notice and observe how your thoughts,
Emotions,
Speech,
And actions,
How they're consistent,
Or perhaps not,
With your mindset of being kind,
Loving,
Nurturing,
Helpful to yourself.
Avoiding criticism,
And just accepting yourself in this moment.
