So go ahead and get started,
Bringing yourself to a comfortable position,
Resting your hands,
Maybe in your lap,
Palms up or palms down,
Closing your eyes or leaving them open and just softly focused.
Feeling your seat settling into your chair,
Your feet settling into the floor.
Just taking a moment to notice your body today,
What it feels like,
What your breath feels like,
What your mind is,
What's occupying you.
Notice the breath coming in and out of the nostrils or the mouth.
Your breathing through your nose,
Noticing if one side is easier than the other,
If you're dominant on one side,
Not changing it or judging it,
Just bringing your awareness to that feeling,
That sensation.
And when your mind wanders,
Just bringing it back for the next few breaths to the feeling of the air coming in and out of your nose.
If you feel like there's anything else you need to do to become just a little bit more comfortable and settled in your seat,
Feel free to do that.
You need to roll your shoulders or your neck.
You need to really plant your feet on the floor to change how you've rested your hands.
Go ahead and do that.
Come back to stillness.
Today's meditation will be focusing on compassion,
The self-compassion and then compassion for the world.
So to start,
Bring to mind some kind of recent kindness,
Something that you've done that you feel is kind and that can be small or it can be large.
It can be letting go of your frustration with the guy in front of you who was driving 10 miles an hour this morning when you were in a hurry.
It can be that you genuinely smiled when you got your coffee instead of that practiced smile that we do sometimes.
It can be a favor you did for someone.
It can be something kind that you did for yourself.
And if nothing comes to the top of your mind,
It can be a quality in yourself that you feel is kind.
You haven't practiced it recently that you can remember,
But it could be something you just like about yourself.
So bring that to your mind.
And if nothing's coming,
It could just be,
I'm here at this meditation and that's something very kind for yourself to show up,
To take those 10 minutes to call in.
Notice how that feels in your body.
Whether maybe a smile kind of comes to your face,
Your shoulders drop a little,
Your breathing changes.
Maybe you just feel a little bit more of a sense of contentment,
Wanting more of that feeling,
A little pride in yourself,
Patting yourself on the back.
Maybe you're one of those people who thinks of something kind and says that that wasn't enough.
I should have done more.
There were so many other things I could have done better.
So let that go.
It's not a competition.
Focus on whatever small kindness you identified.
And then breathing in,
Breathing out that feeling of kindness,
Imagining it spreading out to people around you.
Breathing in,
Breathing out compassion,
Imagining the feeling of compassion spreading out to people around you,
Even if there's no one in the room with you.
Breathing in,
Breathing out joy,
A wish for other people to feel joy.
And now breathing in kindness for yourself,
Taking that in,
The feeling of kindness,
Being kind to yourself.
Breathing in compassion,
That feeling of compassion,
Of patience,
Caring about yourself.
And breathing in joy,
Wishing yourself joy and happiness.
And finally breathing in a sense of worth.
I am worthy.
Remembering that just by being alive,
Just by being here,
You are worthy.
You are worthy of kindness.
You're worthy of compassion.
You're worthy of joy.
You don't have to do anything.
You don't have to do something to deserve those things.
You inherently,
Unequivocally,
Unequivocally,
Big word,
You deserve kindness.
You deserve compassion and you deserve joy just for existing.
Breathing in those feelings and then breathing them back out.
Breathing them into your body and then back out into the world.
And then return your awareness to that moment of kindness that you started your practice with.
Noticing if anything feels different about it now,
Especially if you're one of those people who didn't feel like yourself quite enough.
Remember that you are inherently worthy.
And being kind to other people is the icing on the cake.
And then just gently letting that go.
Taking a moment to notice the sensation of your feet on the earth,
Your hips in the chair,
Your hands in your lap.
Notice the whole length of your spine.
Notice your ankles and your wrists and your neck and your jaw.
Notice the breath in your nostrils again.
Notice the sounds in the room around you,
Buzzing of computers,
Of light,
Sound of the air conditioning,
Sound of people talking out in the hallway,
Cars going by,
Planes overhead.
Whatever you hear.
Gently starting to wiggle your fingers and your toes if that's something you like to do.
Maybe shifting your head or shoulders from side to side.
And if you had your eyes closed,
Letting them open,
Taking your time.
Let me just sit for one more second,
Maybe a deep breath and a sigh.
Thank you so much for joining me.
I hope this helped.
May you have peace in your thoughts.
May you have strength in your words.
May you have joy in your hearts.
And remember,
You are inherently worthy of kindness,
Of compassion,
And of joy.
Have a wonderful day.
