This meditation will help you to build self-compassion.
It can be helpful for those of us who suffer from chronic pain or trauma.
For those of us that find it effortful to be grateful or compassionate,
Or even to feel compassion.
Compassion for yourself may seem like a selfish or ungrateful act,
But it's not.
Self-compassion is the foundation,
The first step.
Before giving compassion to others,
It's like donning your oxygen mask first before assisting others.
It's hard to give from an empty will.
Even though some of us manage to do just that,
Giving every drop away.
This is your time to build self-compassion.
As an added bonus,
You may experience the absence of pain from doing this meditation.
An experience of pure bliss.
You'll be lying down in your bed on a yoga mat or on the floor.
If you like,
You can place a bolster underneath your knees.
A pillow or weight on top of your belly to make you feel safe and secure.
An eye mask or light lavender pillow on top of your eyes.
And make yourself as comfortable as you can.
So let's begin.
Place your arms out 45 degrees from your body,
Palms facing up.
Close down your eyes if you haven't already.
Your spine is long and tall,
Yet comfortable.
Allow the crown of your head to guide your head upwards.
Smooth the lines of your forehead and in between your brows.
Allowing the skin to soften and release.
Relax your eyes.
The outside corner.
The inside corner.
And gently lying your eyes down to rest in the soft bed of the sockets.
Relax your ears.
Relax your cheeks.
Relax your jaw.
Your neck is long and relaxed.
Relax your shoulders down.
If you need to,
Lift up from the floor to neatly tuck your shoulder blades into the spine.
And then lie gently back down to rest.
Bringing your awareness to your breath.
Focusing the breath at the tip of your nostrils.
Breathing in and out through your nose.
Notice how the cool air comes in and the warm air goes out.
Draw your breath in down deeper into your legs.
Slowly squeeze and release the muscles of your legs to the rhythm of your breath.
Tensing up as you inhale to a count of four.
And then exhaling,
Slowly releasing the tension to a count of six.
Squeezing two,
Three,
Four.
Letting go two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Squeezing two,
Three,
Four.
Letting go two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
And repeat this three more times.
Now letting go of the practice for the legs,
But keeping the rhythm of your breath.
In for four counts and out for six.
Focus the awareness of your breath within your heart space.
This is the area of your chest,
Both the front and the back.
Breathing in two,
Three,
Four.
Breathing out two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Breathing in two,
Three,
Four.
Breathing out two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six in your own time.
Now that you are in a state of pure relaxation,
It is the perfect time to practice self-compassion.
Turn the corners of your lips upwards into a smile.
Letting your eyes join in on the fun.
The half Buddha smile.
Observe the difference just a smile makes.
The front of your body is soft and your back is strong.
Notice this.
Your back is supported by the framework of your spine.
It holds your values,
Your boundaries,
Your strength.
Allow your shoulders to roll outwards like lava.
The front of your body is soft,
Gentle.
It's receptive,
Caring and curious.
Your smile welcoming,
Friendly.
Your eyes underneath your eyelids are sparkling,
Alive,
They're interested.
Become aware that your heart has naturally opened.
This is your most compassionate stance.
Bring your awareness into your heart.
Visualize metta,
A warm golden light glowing in your heart.
Imagine this warm golden light growing and growing.
Overflowing into your chest,
Lungs and upper back.
Meta filling the entire area of your heart space.
And now flowing downwards into your abdomen,
Your diaphragm and your mid back area.
Radiating into your belly button,
Your intestines and your lower back.
Meta spreading into your hips,
Your pelvis and your buttocks.
And then oozing into your right and left legs at the same time together to your thighs and your hamstrings.
Flowing into both knees,
Warming them.
The golden light of meta radiating into your shins,
Calves and ankles.
Seeping into the tops and the soles of your feet.
Meta moving into the right and left big toes,
The second toes,
Third toes,
Fourth toes and the little toes.
The warm golden light of meta radiating up towards the right and left hand at the same time together.
Starting in both pinky fingers,
Spreading to the ring fingers,
Middle fingers,
Pointer fingers and both thumbs.
Flowing into the tops and palms of your hand,
Expanding into your wrists,
Forearms and underarms.
Then into both elbows.
Spreading up into your biceps and triceps and into both shoulders and then flowing back into the heart space.
The warm golden light of meta circulating around your whole body.
And swelling up into your neck and throat.
Spiraling to the back of your head,
The top of your head and into your brain.
Incasing and filling your forehead,
Temples and your brows.
Radiating into your cheeks,
Your ears and your eyes.
Flowing down into your nose,
Your lips and your tongue.
Seeping into your chin and jaw.
The warm golden light of meta entirely filling all of your head and all of your body.
Your whole body bathed in sweet meta.
Seeping into the very depth of your core.
Into your bones,
Your bone marrow and your organs.
Soaking up into each and every cell and infusing all the spaces in between.
Warm golden light of meta dancing and celebrating in and out and all around your skin.
Dropping into follicles and filling every pore.
And feel it bursting forth from the boundary of your skin and into the space just surrounding you.
Building up and growing.
And expanding further out with every breath.
Stretching as far as you can imagine.
The sweet golden meta radiating from inside of you and completely surrounding your beautiful compassionate being.
When you soothe yourself with a healing balm of self compassion.
You change your mental,
Emotional and physical experience.
Changing your body chemistry and your brain pathways.
Literally using your own body to heal.
Releasing pain and suffering.
Place your hands on your heart.
Repeat either out loud or in your mind after me.
May I be well.
May I be happy.
May I be free from stress,
Pain and worry.
May my life be filled with deep compassion and unconditional love.
May I be at peace.
May I be well.
May I be happy.
May I be free from stress,
Pain and worry.
May my life be filled with deep compassion and unconditional love.
May I be at peace.
Now rubbing your palms together,
Creating a buzzing warmth.
Gently cup the eyes with the palms of your hands.
Placing a very slight pressure to the outer rims of the eyes.
Dropping your hands now.
Gently wiggling your toes and your fingers.
Bigger wiggles into your arms and legs.
And when you're ready,
Rolling over onto your right hand side.
And into a seated position.
Thank you for practicing self compassion today.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be free from stress,
Pain and worry.
May your life be filled with deep compassion and unconditional love.
And may you be at peace.
Namaste.
