Hi,
It's Mandy here.
Welcome to this practice of compassionate breathing.
So today we're going to work with the process of breathing as a way to encourage and develop a sense of compassion towards our experience,
Turning towards the body and the sensations within the body with a sense of acceptance and ease as best we can.
It's very common to meet difficulty by ignoring or with worry or fear or getting frustrated.
So in this practice we're beginning to try something new,
To instead meet the difficulty with a sense of tenderness,
Kindness and compassion.
And we're going to use the breath to help us with this.
Over time practicing in this way can help cultivate a sense of acceptance and decrease the amount of resistance you might have to your experience.
So begin by finding your way to a comfortable position.
There's no magic posture,
So just explore whatever feels comfortable for you today.
Might be sitting,
Standing or lying.
And once you've found that place,
Just settling in,
Maybe taking a moment to really offer your body up to gravity,
Sinking,
Softening,
Settling,
Allowing the body to be supported in whatever way feels safe for you right now.
And really noticing that contact between your body and the surface supporting you.
Really leaning in to what it feels like to be held in this way.
And when you feel ready,
Draw your awareness to the body.
Really allowing yourself to be rocked and cradled by all the small movements of breathing in the body.
As you inhale and exhale,
Just notice how the breath moves through the front,
The sides and the back of the body.
360 degree breathing.
Expanding and subsiding.
Inhaling and exhaling.
Just breathing.
Nothing to do,
Nowhere to go,
No person you have to be right now,
Just breathing.
And can you continue to rest your awareness here,
Just in the rhythm and flow of each breath?
And if it feels okay,
Perhaps opening your awareness to take in a part of the body that might be hurting right now,
A discomfort,
A sense of fatigue,
Or some difficulty that you're experiencing.
And just knowing too,
That if you're not up for it today,
That's okay,
You can just continue to rest here with your breath,
Perhaps just listening,
Or bringing your attention to another part of the body that feels maybe neutral or more steady.
And as you draw your attention to that part of the body,
Can you be with it in a way that you might,
If it was a loved one who was hurting,
Offering that same sense of compassion and tenderness.
And breathing with this for a few moments.
And if you notice any resistance or fear coming up,
Just seeing if it's possible to breathe with that,
And notice that.
Not trying to change or fix anything,
Just breathing with whatever's here.
Can you become curious about your experience,
Noticing sensations in the body,
Maybe senses of tingling,
Throbbing,
Pulsing,
Warmth or coolness,
Noticing if the sensations are moving or still.
Perhaps even getting curious and playful and seeing if the sensations have a shape or a texture,
Even a colour.
Just seeing if you can stay with this,
Pay attention to this difficulty or discomfort,
Knowing that you're safe and that your breath is here to guide you,
Moment by moment.
And if these sensations are particularly strong or unpleasant,
Just remembering that your body is safe in this moment,
Dropping into the feeling of being supported and breathing.
And just knowing that your experience is always shaped by many things,
Your thoughts,
Emotions,
The state of the nervous system.
Maybe you even notice a sense of relief for meeting this difficulty in a new way,
With kindness and curiosity,
And a sense of compassion.
Maybe you're noticing thoughts and emotions bubbling away along with this discomfort,
Maybe they're particularly familiar thoughts or emotions.
No need to change anything,
Just noticing,
Allowing them to come and go as they will,
Moment by moment.
No need to ignore or suppress anything,
But no need to get carried away by any thoughts or emotions either,
Over-identify with them.
Just seeing if you can soften with each breath.
Just resting here with this experience,
These sensations,
The thoughts,
The emotions,
The urges and impulses,
All parts of your experience,
Arising and passing away,
Changing with each breath.
Just as the breath comes in and flows out naturally,
You might notice how all parts of our experience change.
Just seeing if you can be with this for a few moments more,
Bringing a sense of kindness,
Patience,
And tenderness as best you can.
Just breathing,
And knowing too that each breath is an opportunity to show your brain that you can pay attention in this way.
You can breathe with kindness and ease.
If it is feeling a little overwhelming,
You can always open your awareness a little bit broader,
Taking in other parts of your experience,
Other sensations in different body parts,
Opening the eyes and taking in the visual field,
Or listening to sounds close by or further away.
Just allowing your experience to unfold in this wider container,
Broadening the perspective can sometimes help.
And of course using the breath to help soften any resistance,
Maybe noticing how the breath can bring a sense of soothing and calm.
And that natural softening that happens as you exhale,
Maybe even just the tiniest shift towards some ease.
And for the last part of this practice,
Can you imagine your breath being filled with self-compassion,
Offering yourself the kind of kindness you would to a loved one?
And also acknowledging the courage that it's taken to sit with your experience in this way,
Acknowledging this moment of pain or discomfort,
And of course that it's understandable and so human to find that sometimes it's tough too.
So just breathing a sense of kindness towards yourself and your experience,
And as you exhale just bring that sense of warmth and friendliness towards yourself,
Allowing the whole body to be rocked and cradled by this tender,
Kind,
Compassionate breath,
Opening to this idea of welcoming yourself just as you are in this moment,
No need to change or fix anything,
Just breathing with the as-is-ness of this moment.
And when it feels right to you,
Perhaps expanding your awareness to take in the whole room,
Opening your eyes if they've been closed,
Bringing a bit of movement to the body,
And just remembering that this practice is available to you at any time,
Maybe throughout the rest of the day or in the weeks to come,
Practicing and cultivating this ability to turn towards your experience with kindness,
With this kind,
Compassionate breath.
And just breathing with your experience as it is,
Moment by moment by moment.
Thanks,
I'll see you next time.
