Self-Compassion

This practice will guide you to arrive in the present moment before taking you gently on a journey of self-compassion. This meditation can help you find some ease and clarity in challenging time and/ or with difficult situations/emotions.

Transcript

And that's it,

Show your blood be bowl!

A Welcome to your practice of meditation.

Today I will guide us into a compassion practice for the self.

So I'm inviting you to find your most comfortable seat,

Maybe on a cushion on the floor or on a chair.

Keeping in mind to allow your back to be straight yet not rigid.

Imagining that you are taking your seat with dignity and humbleness.

And once you find yourself comfortably seated,

If it's comfortable and only if it's comfortable,

Allow your eyes to close.

If you prefer to keep them open,

Allow a gentle gaze to rest on an object in front of you that is unmoving.

And let's begin by taking a few full breaths at your own rhythm.

Exhaling deeply,

Maybe pausing at the top if it's comfortable and when you exhale,

Exhaling slowly all the air from your lungs either through your mouth or through your nose.

Imagining with each exhale,

Releasing tensions in the mind,

The body and the heart and allowing your body to take his full seat,

Its full presence here and now.

And once you completed a few full breaths,

Allow your breathing to come back to its natural dense without any restraint or control.

Allowing life to transform you with each breath,

To support you with each inhale and exhale effortlessly.

Allowing your attention to be with this breath.

And this one.

And gently inviting your attention onto your body,

Taking this moment to pay your body a visit that might be much needed and notice what's there for you today in this moment.

Maybe it's a sensation,

There might be some pleasant,

Some neutral and some unpleasant.

See if you can welcome them all without judging,

With care,

Gentleness.

There might be thoughts and stories in the mind.

See if you can also welcome them without letting the narration taking you away from this moment.

There might be some emotions and if so,

See if you can open to it if it's not too difficult.

But if it is difficult in the moment,

Allow a yes to your no.

And from the awareness of the body,

Allowing your attention to come back onto your breath if it's comfortable.

And if it's not comfortable,

Keeping your attention in one of those places in the body that were pleasant.

Even if the breath is a comfortable place to be,

Allowing your attention to feel the breath within.

Feeling the gentle movement of your body being taken care of,

Gently rocked by the sea of your breath.

You might be feeling the caries of the air through your nostril,

Down your throat,

Feeling your lungs.

And if taking care of you in this moment.

And find into your experience of breathing a place where you easily feel the breath.

And once again,

If the breath is not appropriate today,

Staying with your attention in a place of ease within the body,

Which will become like this place where we feel the breath the most,

Our anchor,

A place of safety where we can always come back to rest,

To take a break,

To pause,

To be.

And once you find that place,

Allowing your attention to rest there,

And I would like you to invite a gentle smile onto your face or in the corner of your eyes or in the center of your hands or even in your heart if it's possible.

Inviting a smile within.

And gently now,

I would like you to invite into your mind's eye a situation or an event that has been a little difficult lately.

It might have been an interaction with somebody or maybe it's just life as it is in the moment that is not easy to live,

Not easy to breathe through.

So if this is life in general that is difficult in the moment,

Allow this to be with you and to be known.

If it's a more specific situation,

Bring that situation to mind,

But please choose one that is not too difficult.

Anything that you know you can be with today,

You know your own limits.

So choosing the one that you can stay with today is also a practice of compassion and gentleness towards yourself.

So once you have that situation into mind,

See if you can be with it as vividly as possible.

You may want to acknowledge that this hurts,

This is difficult or whatever words comes to mind to acknowledge the difficulty,

The unease of this moment.

You can either say it out loud or mentally remembering the words for yourself.

And you may notice that this difficulty is somewhere alive in the body.

Maybe feeling some strong sensation of unease,

Maybe in the belly,

In the chest,

Sometimes in the throat,

Or maybe in the face.

So notice what's happening right now without judgment and see if you can open your heart to this.

This is part of your living experience in the moment and it does need your attention and your care.

And gently inviting a touch or a gesture of comfort.

Maybe bringing a hand into this place that hurt most.

Maybe offering yourself a gentle hug.

It might be bringing your palm together in some kind of prayers.

Maybe resting a hand on your belly and one on your heart.

So find that gentle touch that resonates most with you and allow this to be a moment of care for this difficulty.

I'm here for you.

You're not alone.

You can also ask what do you need and allowing an answer to come to the light.

And this difficulty doesn't define who you are.

This is an experience,

An experience of being human.

This is not who you are.

You are much bigger than this.

Can you believe it?

You are much bigger than this experience.

And remembering too that on this planet somewhere there is someone that is having a very similar experience as yours.

So see if you can comfort yourself too with this fact that you are not alone.

Other beings are experiencing difficulty at the moment.

This is part of life.

And life can be difficult.

And it can also be magnificent.

So taking this moment to remember the magnificence of it,

The ordinary miracles of each day as simple as this breath,

This gentle touch that you offered yourself.

And see now releasing this experience,

See if you can bring to mind something that you are grateful for.

No need to look for big.

It can be very simple.

The sight of a bird at your window.

The blooming of the first flower of spring.

The cloud in the sky.

The rain and its gentle song.

This cup of tea.

Your cat coming for comfort.

Taking this moment to acknowledge the miracle of life.

Life that is taking care of you in every moment of each day.

And once your experience is complete,

Gently bringing your attention back onto your anchor which might have been your breath or a place of ease within the body.

And resting there for a moment.

I will ring the bell to mark the end of our practice in a moment.

When you hear the sound,

Allow it to envelop you,

To surround you,

To help you being here.

And now you are safe.

You are safe and loved.

You are safe and loved.

You are safe and loved.

Starting to deepen your breath.

And welcoming some gentle movement in the body.

And if your eyes were closed,

Allowing them to open gently to take in the reality surrounding you.

And welcome back.

Thank you for sharing this moment with you and with me.

I'm wishing you a beautiful day of ease and peace within and without.

Until we meet again,

Please take care.

Reviews

What a completely beautiful version of self compassion meditation 💕 thank you so much, I am bookmarking this for repeated use 💕

Thank you very much. This was a lovely remedy to a difficult day.

Thank you so much that was really lovely just what I needed 💗

Beautiful

Beautiful, gentle and soothing meditation. Thank you.💝

The practice is so warm and caring