Affectionate Breathing

This is one of the MSC (Mindful Self-Compassion) meditations developed by Chris Germer and Kristin Neff.

Transcript

Find a comfortable meditation position.

This might be sitting on a chair with your back relatively straight.

Not leaning back against the back of the chair,

But supporting your own weight.

This could be sitting on a cushion on the ground.

Make sure you're in a stable position,

A position that you can hold for a while comfortably.

Make sure your knees and thighs are well supported,

Your buttocks are well supported.

Find your spine in a natural and upright position.

In a position where your body is supported,

Where you don't need to exert much effort to hold yourself in that position.

So just take a little time to find that comfortable position.

You can put your hands in your lap or on your thighs,

Wherever feels most natural.

Once you've found your stable,

Comfortable position,

If you like,

Just taking three deep breaths.

Just to settle into this space and to let go of the activity of the day.

And then if you'd like to deepen your relaxation pose,

Feel free to partially close your eyes or completely close your eyes.

Whatever feels most comfortable for you.

If you like,

You can put a hand over your heart,

Just to remind yourself that we're going to bring loving kindness to ourselves,

Kind attention,

A sense of tenderness to ourselves.

Now in this settled space,

Finding your breath.

Just search for the place where you find your breath,

Most obviously.

This could be at the tip of your nose.

It could be in that space between your upper lip and your nose.

It might be on your upper lip.

It could be inside your nostrils.

You might feel the breath most obviously in the back of your throat.

You might feel it as the rise and fall of your chest or the expansion and contraction of your diaphragm.

You might feel it in your belly or in your abdomen.

Wherever you find your breath,

Most obviously,

Focus on that spot.

Just be with the experience of your breath at that place for a short while.

You'll probably find that within just a second or two,

The mind will start to wander.

Wander away from the breath.

This is very natural.

This is what the mind is built to do.

So there's nothing to worry about here.

Simply notice that your mind has wandered and very gently,

Very lovingly,

In the way that you might shepherd a puppy or a small child back to where they're meant to be.

Just very tenderly shepherding your attention back to your breath.

Very tenderly.

Most obviously,

Focus on that sensation,

And that's what the mind is used to do.

Right?

See if you can incline towards your breathing,

Towards your breath in the way that you might incline towards that puppy or towards that small child with a sense of fascination,

The sense of gentleness,

Loving attention,

The sense of curiosity and concern.

Incline towards your breathing in that very tender way.

And now letting your body breathe you,

Noticing how there's nothing you need to do.

Your breath breathes on its own,

Your body breathes on its own.

Just notice how that happens,

All on its own without any effort.

Notice how your breath nourishes you.

It does this all the time and we often don't notice.

A breath constantly nourishing,

Bringing us life.

Did you guys appreciate or appreciate what we did today?

You may have noticed that your breath rocks your body.

It's almost like you might rock a small child to sleep.

If you haven't noticed your breath rocking your body,

See if you can tune into that.

It might feel like the waves of the ocean drawing in and pulling out,

Just over and over,

Over,

Very steady rhythm,

Very gentle,

Very steady.

Just notice how your breath moves your body.

Give yourself over to your breath.

Become your breath.

Feel that that's all there is,

Is the breath.

That's all there is.

And now,

Just before we finish,

Take a moment to take a deep breath.

Take a moment to savor the stillness of your body,

The stillness of this space.

And then when you're ready,

Very slowly in your own time,

You can open your eyes.

And bring yourself back to your daily life.

Reviews

Very soothing. Attempting to prevent a panic attack while at work. This really helped.

This has been one of my favorite meditations, one of the ones that taught me to meditate over 2000 days ago when I first discovered Insight Timer. I come back to it frequently. This Christmas Eve it seemed like the comfortable place to come to. Thank you for your warm, soothing voice, steady presence, and perfect guidance.

Nice. Loved the visual of leaning towards a puppy or child. Then leaning towards my own heart.

Great refreshing pause through my day, thank you! ❤️

I really liked the gentle and loving emotions, and the visuals evoked by the phrase shepherding my thoughts like a puppy or small child. Thank you 😊

Beautiful, thank you very much!

Very soothing to my hypervigilant nervous system. Thank you so much.

New insights achieved, thank you

Calm, gentle soothing guidance. Wonderful session. Thanks 🙏

I am grateful for this meditation. I am grateful for the breath. I am grateful for your gentle guidance and space to practice. Namaste

So calming. Thank you!

calming and relaxing

Excellent and relaxing 😌; voice very soothing; guidance is just right.

A really lovely, calming breathing meditation. Thank you.

I recently had the affinity and privilege to help a friend die. One night, I kept him in company until 4:45AM. We talked through the night. I mentioned to him about your guided meditations that I often used as they are my long time favorites. So, I offered him to listen to these guided meditations with me, this one and the other one Giving and Receiving, as part of preparing him to pass on. He accepted the offer. He heard and received both guided meditations well especially for someone who never had any experiences in mindfulness meditation before. Afterward, he opened up and talked a little bit about his wishes. He then proceeded to cry as he grieved about his eminent passing. I just listened. He passed on peacefully a few days later. I shared this experience with you to let you know your guided meditations have helped calming my friend's mind on that night. Thank you so much. Your work is very much appreciated, Kristy.🙏💞

Very gentle and helpful

What a soothing voice and loved all the patience in connecting with my breath! Thank you

Excellent breath and quiet space