And taking a few deep breaths,
Closing your eyes either fully or partially.
You might like to put a hand on your heart or somewhere else that feels soothing.
Reminding yourself that you're bringing not just awareness but affectionate awareness to yourself and to your experience.
And then bringing to mind someone you're caring for at the moment,
Someone you care for and you're finding exhausted,
You're finding yourself exhausted or frustrated in this caring relationship.
Someone you care about who's suffering.
I suggest in this exercise that you don't choose your child because that can be a more complicated relationship.
For some people their child is the only one they're suffering in relationship with at the moment.
If you need to,
If your child's an adult that's a little bit different but I'd say a little child it's a little bit complicated.
Maybe if your child is an adult you could bring them to mind.
Visualizing this caregiving relationship,
This other person,
This situation.
Really getting in touch with the struggle in your body as you're thinking about your love for this person,
Your care and concern and also your frustration,
Feeling exhausted.
As you're holding this situation,
This relationship in your mind,
Listening carefully to these words,
Letting them gently roll through your mind.
Everyone is on his or her own life journey.
I am not the cause of this person's suffering and nor is it entirely within my power to make it go away even though I might wish that I could.
Moments like this are difficult to bear and yet I may still try to help if I can.
Bringing your awareness to the stress,
The tension that you're carrying in your body and as you do that inhaling,
Breathing in fully and deeply,
Drawing compassion into your body,
Filling every cell of your body with compassion.
Allowing yourself to be soothed by inhaling deeply and by giving yourself the compassion you need in this moment.
As you breathe out,
Sending compassion out to this other person,
Sending the ease,
The release of the out-breath.
This person who's associated with your discomfort,
With your fatigue,
Offering them what they need,
The compassion that they need.
Continuing to breathe in compassion for yourself and breathe out for the other person.
Remembering that you can adjust.
Maybe you need more compassion for yourself and a little bit less for the other person.
Or maybe you feel very resourced.
You can breathe in a bit less for yourself and more for the other person.
We're not adjusting the length of our breath.
It's really the the quantity of compassion that we're adjusting.
One for me and one for you.
In for me.
And out for you.
Occasionally scanning your inner landscape for any distress,
In your body.
Responding by inhaling compassion for yourself and exhaling compassion for the other person.
Staying in touch with your body.
It's your breathing compassion in and out.
Allowing yourself to fall into a natural rhythm of breathing.
Breathing in for yourself.
Releasing out for the other.
This cycle of compassion.
Like a limitless ocean of compassion.
You're feeling yourself in this in this ocean of compassion.
Breathing it in,
Breathing it out.
And then listening to these words once again.
Everyone is on his or her own life journey.
I'm not the cause of this person's suffering.
Nor is it entirely within my power to make it go away.
Even though I wish I could.
Moments like this are difficult to bear.
And yet I may still try to help if I can.
As we're moving towards the end of this practice,
Releasing any imagery.
Releasing your awareness of the breath.
Moving your awareness out to your body as a whole.
Starting to get in touch with the physicality of your body.
Starting to move your fingers,
Your toes,
Your wrists,
Your ankles.
When you're ready,
Gradually opening your eyes.
Maybe having a stretch,
A sip of your drink.
