So finding a comfortable position,
You could be sitting in a chair with your arms in your lap.
You might like to sit on a cushion on the ground cross-legged in a nice stable position.
Or if you like you could lie down for this meditation.
Finding a posture that is very stable,
Very comfortable,
A posture you can hold for about 20 minutes easily.
And allowing your eyes to close either fully or partially.
And taking a few deep breaths just to settle into your body and into the present moment.
You might like to put your hand over your heart or somewhere on your body that reminds you to bring loving attention to yourself in this meditation.
And now finding your breath wherever you feel it most easily.
This might be at the tip of your nose,
Inside your nostrils,
Might be at the back of your throat,
Might be the rise and fall of your chest,
The expansion and contraction of your abdomen.
You might feel it in your stomach.
Just finding your breath,
Feeling the gentle movement of your breath.
And allowing your body to breathe you.
And if you find your mind has wandered away from the breath,
Which it inevitably will,
You're just very gently bringing your attention back to the breath where you feel it most easily.
And after a few minutes,
Starting to notice any physical sensations of stress that you might be holding in your body.
Maybe you can feel a physical sensation in your forehead,
Maybe in your jaw,
In your neck or your shoulders,
Maybe your lower back,
In your belly.
Just scanning your body for any physical sensations of stress that you might be feeling.
And now also noticing if you're holding any difficult emotions,
Maybe worry about the future,
Feeling some sort of regret about the past.
See if you can locate in your body any difficult emotions you might be holding.
And if you can't find difficult emotions in your body,
Just noticing that there are some there,
Maybe not in any particular location.
Just knowing that all human beings feel difficult emotions.
We all have worries and anxieties and regrets that we hold.
Just understanding that this is part of the common human experience.
So seeing if you can allow the emotions,
The difficulties to be there without judgment,
Without extra narrative.
See if you can simply let them exist.
And now very gently inclining towards the stress in your body,
Inclining towards the difficult emotions.
In the way you might incline towards a small child or a small puppy with curiosity,
With tenderness.
Oh there you are.
And now that you have a relationship with the stress,
With the difficult emotions in your body,
Seeing if you can now incline towards the one who is suffering,
Towards yourself,
Offering yourself goodwill simply because you feel stress,
Simply because you're holding tension in your body right now.
Just as everyone holds tension and stress in their body.
And as you incline towards yourself,
Offering words of kindness and compassion slowly and affectionately.
These words might be,
May I be safe,
May I be peaceful,
May I be kind to myself,
And may I accept myself just as I am.
Just repeating these phrases or finding your own phrase,
Something that you need to hear right now,
Something tailor-made for you.
So may I feel safe,
May I be at ease,
May I relax,
May I accept myself just as I am.
And whenever you notice that your mind has wandered just very gently in the way that you might shepherd a puppy or a small child back to where they need to be,
Just very gently ushering your attention back to the phrases and back to the sensations in your body.
So if you feel at any time that you are being swept up in the emotions,
That things are becoming more intense for you,
You can always return to your breathing.
Just focus on where you feel your breath most easily.
And then once you've anchored yourself again and you feel comfortable,
Then you might return to the phrases.
And now in the last few minutes of the meditation,
Just taking a few deep breaths and resting quietly in your own body,
Knowing that you can always return to the breath and you can always return to your phrases any time you like.
And then very slowly and very gently in your own time,
Opening your eyes and bringing your awareness back to your place in the room and returning to the rest of your day.
