Compassion With Equanimity

Compassion with Equanimity. This practice is designed to be done in caregiving situations to help hold compassion for others while providing self-compassion for one's self. This practice helps to prevent burnout and fatigue in caregiving situations.

Transcript

This practice is called compassion with equanimity and it's actually designed to be done in caregiving situations.

So imagine that you're with someone that you care for.

This could be their professionally in your personal life and the situation is stressful right?

You're finding you're getting a little frustrated or tired or burnt out.

Imagine that you are with the person you're caring for in your mind's eye.

Maybe getting in touch with the feelings of discomfort or distress that you have.

Also reminding yourself of the difficulty of the person you're caring for.

And first I invite you to allow these words of wisdom to just simply drop into your awareness.

Everyone is on their own life journey.

I am NOT the cause of this person's suffering nor is it completely within my power to make it go away even though I wish I could.

Moments like these are difficult to bear and yet I will try to help if I can.

So just allow those words to sink in as you imagine this caregiving situation.

And start to notice your own discomfort,

Your own distress,

Kind of validating the difficulty of being a caregiver.

And please put your attention now on your in-breath.

And just notice as you breathe in.

And imagine that as you breathe in,

You're breathing in compassion for yourself.

Breathing in compassion and understanding and warmth and kindness for your own struggle as a caregiver.

It's hard.

You might also imagine that you're breathing in a golden light,

A healing light filling your entire body.

And we also want to focus on the other person that we're caring for.

So again calling the image of this person to mind and reminding yourself of their struggle.

And now as you breathe out,

Imagine you're breathing out compassion for the other.

Right,

Metaphorically you're validating their pain and giving them warmth and care and concern.

You might also imagine as you breathe out that you're filling their body with the golden healing light going to every cell.

And now breathing both together.

So as you breathe in,

Breathe in for yourself.

And as you breathe out,

Breathe out for the other.

So one for me and one for you.

And if you need to,

Feel free to adjust the ratio.

Maybe it's three for me and one for you.

You need to focus more on the in-breath.

Or maybe you're drawn to focus more on the out-breath.

But just remember we need to breathe both in and out to live.

Let your breathing be easy and natural.

Just like the waves of an ocean washing in,

Washing out.

An ocean of compassion.

More than enough for me and more than enough for you.

Unlimited.

And then once again,

Allowing these words of wisdom to just sink in.

Everyone is on their own life journey.

I am not the cause of this person's suffering,

Nor is it completely within my power to make it go away.

Moments like these are difficult to bear,

And yet I will try to help if I can.

And then letting go of the practice and allowing yourself to be just as you are in this moment.

Reviews

I used this meditation to help heal burnout from past caring when my mother was dying and I did not take the time for practice like this. It was helpful to do it retrospectively

I love Kristin's meditations and do them often

I learned self compassion tools from you! I tell everyone in my recovery groups-who are usually beating themselves up for poor life choices-to find you on IT. But I heard about you 18 years ago from a compassionate yoga teacher and she was a great help to us beginners-so were you Kristen Neff! Blessings to you!

Thankyou 💖

Very emotional and helpful for me as a caregiver. I am not responsible for the healing of this person AND I do the best I can, within my limits.

This was the absolutely perfect meditation for my current situation. How I found it was completely serendipitous - somehow I was drawn to it.
Funny how it works when you allow it to.

Very helpful for mothers of young children and those taking care of aging parents at the same time!

I found this practise really supportive in helping me balance my needs with the suffering of others with compassion towards myself and the other person. I will return often.🙏

i just love dr neff. her teachings & sharings on self-compassion have been life transformative for me. i’m so grateful to her.

Very helpful. Caring for myself and realizing I didn’t cause another’s pain is comforting.

Deeply moved. Just what I needed. Thank you!

Not actually in the situation described. Still useful to practice self compassion. 🙏🏻💞

Such a heartfelt practice! As the Mama of a beautiful neurodiverse daughter this spoke to my experience in a nourishing way! ♥️

Excellent!!! Thank you! Recommended for caregivers.

Very powerful

Wow this is such a good practise as a nurse thank you 🙏

Thank you! I stumbled upon this after your offering for the “Buildimg Heathy Habits” challenge. My mom has Alzheimer’s. It is a difficult road for her, ofcourse, but also for me as a share in her care giving. I look forward to exploring more of your meditations as I continue on my journey ♥️

Thank you for this 🙏

Thank you. A very important meditation that is much needed.

Lovely and helpful and very kind towards self and the other. Thank you.