Taking a seat on the floor or laying down.
As we do this,
It's called a NOW practice,
N-O-W-W,
Practice for self-compassion and being on your own side.
Allow yourself to soften your gaze or gently close your eyes.
Getting into the body,
Out of the mind.
Beginning to feel all of the sensations present in the body.
You might notice tightness somewhere.
Openness in another place of your body.
A tingling feeling.
Just letting yourself feel into the host of sensations in your body.
Without judgment or wishing it were different,
Just noticing what's present right now.
And letting yourself feel into your hands,
Feeling the hands from the inside out.
Tingling or coolness or warmth.
And I want you to bring to mind something that you're struggling with right now.
It could be a place where you're being overly self-critical or a place where you feel stuck or frustrated.
Or something that you're hard on yourself about.
Not something where there's trauma,
But something that's bothering you now.
Maybe the pressure of work deadlines or feeling like you're always behind.
Or maybe it's something about not living up to the healthy lifestyle you had in mind for yourself.
Or a recent mistake you made.
Just bringing one thing to mind and then just noticing how it feels in your body.
Where are the sensations strongest?
And then noticing the quality of the sensations.
Noticing is it lumpy or pulling,
Searing tight,
Gripping,
Pressured.
Just noticing the quality of the sensation in your body.
And then just recognizing that when we judge ourselves,
When we're hard on ourselves,
It creates this discomfort in our body.
And just bring your attention to that discomfort.
You could say to yourself,
This is hard,
Or ouch,
This hurts,
Or this is unpleasant.
And many times our inner critic will chime in saying,
Oh,
It's not that bad,
Or others have it worse than me.
Just letting those thoughts float like on leaves down a stream.
And then bring your attention back to that bodily sensation,
That area of tightness or tension or discomfort.
And letting yourself pause and acknowledge the pain or the discomfort,
Knowing we need to first recognize there's pain because once we recognize that,
The compassion flows naturally to our discomfort.
This feels pretty bad now,
Or this is uncomfortable.
Just finding a phrase to acknowledge what is.
And then connecting to the wisdom and truth that everyone feels this way sometimes.
Everyone feels this way sometimes.
Letting the belly be soft and loose.
Everyone feels the pain of self-judgment.
Everyone feels uncomfortable when they have really high standards for themselves that they don't live up to.
You're not alone in this experience.
Everyone feels this way sometimes.
And then placing your hand gently on your heart,
Letting the belly be soft and loose.
Letting your heart beat beneath your hand.
And then bringing the warmth of compassion and kindness to yourself,
Saying,
May I be kind to myself in this moment.
May I give myself the compassion I need.
And turning towards yourself like you would a dear friend.
Just like you'd have care and concern for a dear friend or loved one that's having a hard time.
Say the same phrases of comfort and connection to yourself.
I'm sorry this is hard right now.
I know what you're going through.
Everyone feels this way sometimes.
I believe in you.
I know you can do this.
Remember to be kind to yourself,
You've got a lot on your plate.
And just letting those phrases of self-compassion touch your heart.
Feeling the intention of kindness and being on your own side.
May I be kind to myself in this moment.
May I give myself the compassion I need.
And just bringing a gentle smile to your face.
Letting yourself take a nice luxurious inhale and exhale.
Letting the belly be soft and loose.
Letting the feelings of compassion wash over you,
Touching every cell in your body.
And then gently wiggling your fingers and your toes and when you're ready you can gently open your eyes.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
