We're going to do a self-compassion practice that'll include whole body breathing.
This can be done either lying or sitting.
So just choosing the best position for you right now and making sure that you're comfortable and warm.
So starting by feeling the points of contact with the floor or your seat.
Noticing how your body feels.
Just gentle awareness of what's there for you right now.
And just soften towards anything you find,
Accepting whatever's there.
Turning your attention to the sensations of the breath.
Maybe you can feel the air coming in and out of the nostrils,
Rise and fall of the chest or the abdomen.
Looking with curiosity,
Noticing the sensations at the start and the end of the inhale.
Any poses.
And noticing now the starts and ends of the exhale.
And attuning your mind now to the full inhale and exhale and any poses between.
Anchoring your mind and the sensations of the breath.
Breathing fully into the present moment.
Anytime the mind wanders,
Just bringing it back to the breath.
And on the next inhale,
I'd like you to visualise the breath coming in and out of the chest.
The inhale into the spiritual heart area is gentle,
Softening and nurturing.
And the exhale releases anything,
Any areas of tension that were present.
Inhaling into the heart this soft,
Nurturing,
Compassionate breath and exhaling,
Releasing.
Each breath like a gentle,
Loving stroke.
A kind inhale and softening exhale.
And the next inhale,
The breath will travel from the heart down the left arm into the fingers,
All the way to the fingertips.
Filling the arm and the fingers like a balloon inflating and then exhaling out through from the fingertips all the way up the arm and out the heart.
This soft,
Nurturing,
Loving breath down the left arm and releasing any tension or stress on the exhale.
And on the next inhale,
Directing that breath down the right arm.
This softening,
Nurturing breath all the way down to your right fingertips,
Filling the arm as it goes.
The next inhale travelling up from the heart into the shoulders and the neck.
Softening,
Soothing on an inhale and releasing on the exhale.
The next inhale,
The breath will travel under the skin of the face,
Under the chin,
The cheeks,
The eyes,
The forehead.
Expanding under the skin of the face,
Inflating.
Inhaling under the backs of the ears and under the skin of the whole head.
Breath travelling from the heart up to the top of the head,
Releasing any tension or areas of holding back out through the heart.
Next inhale,
Inhaling down the whole of the spine and into the pelvic bowl,
Into your hips.
Inhaling from the heart,
Releasing,
Softening the muscles surrounding the spine and in the whole hip and sacrum area.
And exhaling,
Releasing any tension back through the heart.
Nurturing the spine that does so much for us.
On the inhale and releasing on the exhale.
Next inhale travels down through the left leg,
Filling the whole leg,
Inflating it like the balloon all the way to the left toes,
The tips of the toes.
From the heart all the way down to the foot.
Sweeping any areas of tension with this soft,
Loving breath and exhaling out.
The next inhale now travelling down the right leg,
Inflating down the thigh,
The lower leg,
The foot,
The toes and exhaling out.
Inhaling this nurturing breath down the leg,
Down the right leg.
The next inhale,
Filling the whole body,
The breath coming in through the heart,
Reaching out to all corners of the body.
Expanding into the shoulders,
Neck,
Head,
Arms,
Fingers,
Legs,
Back.
The whole body is breathing.
Being nurtured with this loving inhale breath and exhale releasing.
It's nurturing whole body,
Heart,
Breath.
Next inhale.
And the breath now returning to an in and out through the heart.
Just breathing in and out through the heart.
Letting go of the heart breath and focusing your attention now on the physical sensations in the chest,
Abdomen or in the nostrils.
And expanding the awareness out to include the whole body and the breath within the body from the stillness of the body and the movement of the breath.
Keeping your mind on the breath and your body and just expanding the awareness out a little bit further to include the environment that you're in and gently opening your eyes.
Hopefully that's helped find a little bit more compassion and ease for yourself and you can go about your day or evening from a loving place.
