Hello,
Welcome.
Om Bytes.
This meditation is entitled,
Self-Compassion is Not for Sissies.
Wow.
All the bumps and bruises and the rocky roads that we've encountered in our lives can sometimes harden us,
Make us less compassionate toward others.
No one understands what I've been through.
How can I have compassion for them?
They just need to be tough like me.
Then we begin to soften and hold our own selves as tender beings,
Cultivating this inner sense of self-compassion.
Then we can't help but see more softly another relating with greater tenderness to humankind,
Animal kind,
Insect kind,
Plant kind,
Earth,
Mother earth.
So inevitably care toward other beings begins with care toward self.
Come to a very comfortable position,
Finding laziness in your posture all but for your head.
If you feel safe,
You're welcome to drop your eyelids closed or cast your gaze downward at something non-moving.
Self-compassion is not for sissies.
Sometimes we think spending time on ourselves,
Self-loathing can be selfish.
But as it turns out,
You matter in this world and so your well-being,
Love toward self,
Feeling whole,
Taking care within on your own time makes your presence matter and impactful.
I'll sound the symbol to begin and to conclude.
So I used to hold a lot of resistance around compassion.
This is for hippies.
This is for wussies.
Compassion is for soft and mushy people until I started with honestly a bit of resistance practicing self-compassion.
And then I cracked.
It was an easy crack.
It was a readily received crack.
It was a safe environment to crack.
So I did and then I understood.
I softened my inner critic,
Harsh judgment toward self,
Honoring what I've gone through to arrive at my place on this earth at this time.
Then I could more clearly see and relate and identify with others and their unknown journeys to me.
But there's an honorable nevertheless.
So cradle your heart space.
Identify where the hard and steely sharp cornered edges are in your mind and your body and your heart space right now.
The bravado,
The ego,
The hypercritical inner judge.
This inner judge shows up in your actions,
On your face,
In your expression and in the energy you put out into the world.
So knowledge starting at home begins to soften the barriers between us.
There's somebody there.
Is there someone there?
Notice where you are.
Notice what you're experiencing.
Notice it's a completely foreign concept.
Start with what it took to get in your seat.
Start with what it took to be able to listen and understand.
Start with what it took to even open your mind enough to meditate.
Hold and honor this bravery.
Notice your physical response.
Notice if there's any shame.
As you illuminate and become more aware,
Notice where frustration might arise in thinking how unaware others are.
This is normal.
We have compassion for that too.
Everyone's on their own journey in their own time.
And then finally,
Probably the most difficult component on these steps of self-compassion is this notion of mourning.
Mourning the loss of what could have been had I been practicing self-compassion earlier in my life with greater intent.
It's okay.
You are here now.
You are practicing now.
Everything in your life has led up to this moment.
Only drop the shield,
Polish the gold within,
And shine.
Release your bones,
Release the walls,
Release the bravado.
Be soft and tender and vulnerable in your safe and sacred space.
Find the smallest of events,
The smallest of efforts to begin acknowledging,
Honoring,
And holding with your compassion like a new tender baby.
This newborn needs protection and support.
Honor the process.
Take a big belly breath in and a long and soothing breath out.
Namaste.
