Karuna Hum - Compassion, Forgiveness & All That Good Stuff!

Self-Compassion. Compassion for others. Compassion for the planet. All beautiful things but what about actually living a life of empathy. Today's meditation allows us to contemplate our awareness of compassion and forgiveness.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to In The Flow with Lori Albert. Namaste. So I pulled up next to a car and I looked over at the driver and this lady was crying. And aside from the fact that I really wanted to jump out of the car and go give this lady a hug, Right, I was overwhelmed with the thought, With the idea that we never really know what's going on in someone else's life. You know when you see somebody speeding down the road in their car and you yell at them, How dare they like go so fast or whatever. You know the reality is is that we don't know that they're not trying to make it to see their their father's last breath in the hospital. You know we don't we don't know. And that always gets me, Right. It's just it's like an instantaneous whoa. That's compassion, Right. So interesting. But then that leads me to, Because you know I can't just stop there of course in my thought processes, But then that leads me to self compassion. Because do I give myself a break? Do you give yourself a break? Like when you get mad at that person driving really fast in the car and then all of a sudden you realize you know what maybe I don't maybe they are speeding but maybe they're not. Maybe something else is going on. You know maybe something maybe something isn't going on that that's good in their life. And that makes me think you know what I need to just step back and have some self compassion and not get so mad. Forgive myself. Forgiveness for myself. Forgiveness for getting irritated at other people, Right. So it's all it's all like lumped together you know in a sense. All these like really great emotions are really kind of lumped together because then that also leads into love as well. Love for humankind, Love for yourself, All of that. But it all starts with it all starts with compassion for ourselves and and love for ourself. Interesting, Right? What an interesting concept. So today my challenge for you all is to go throughout your day just understanding that maybe you don't know everything that's going on in somebody else's life. Can you imagine what kind of world we would live in if we all like recognized that? What an amazing thought. That just blows my mind. Whenever I consider that blows my mind and if I take that through the rest of my day I feel like that I'm a little bit nicer to other people but also I'm a little bit more forgiving and more compassionate for myself because it makes me feel not alone if that makes any sense. It makes me feel like I'm not I'm not alone. You're not alone. So our meditation today, La la la la la, Let's get ourselves comfortable and you can get your pillow or your blankie here on the West Coast. I know this is gonna sound terrible but it's been a little chilly I will say. I know not as cold as some other places in the world but it's been a little chilly so I like I've been having my I don't have it today but I I love having my blankie when I meditate. It just makes me feel comfy. I don't know. So get your blankie, Get your pillow, Get your comfortable chair. You can put your feet flat on the floor or you can sit cross-legged. Whatever is most comfortable to you and let your eyes gently go closed. Hmm let's take a nice deep breath in and hold it and then release. Releasing that anxiety or stress that you're feeling. All those unwanted feelings. Let's do it again. Let's take a nice deep breath through your nose and release it. So our mantra for today is the Sanskrit mantra karuna hum. Karuna is the Sanskrit word for compassion and love for all beings. Karuna hum means I am compassion. And during this meditation this allows us to really think about and are and just absorb the idea of compassion, The awareness of compassion and not fully understanding the emotions, Motivations for all those around us. And that compassion actually starts with ourselves. The forgiveness and the love for ourselves. So our mantra karuna hum. Karuna hum. You can feel the vibration within as you say it out loud. Let's say it once out loud. Karuna hum. Perfect. So as today as we sit in the stillness for our meditation and as we say our mantra let's consider self-forgiveness and compassion. I will keep the time and let's begin. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. Karuna hum. We can release the mantra and start bringing our awareness back to ourselves and our bodies. And on this next inhalation let's breathe in compassion, Love, Forgiveness and peace for the whole world. Breathe in and then breathe it out to the whole world. Beautiful. You can open your eyes whenever you feel comfortable. I love that. Compassion and forgiveness and love and peace for the whole world. So it's a ripple effect, Right? So if we start with compassion right here, Just us, And we start to take it out to the other people in the world, Imagine what we can do. So thank you so much for joining today. I appreciate it. From my heart to yours, Thanks so much for being here. Namaste.