Welcome to the Mindful Agility Meditations podcast.
I am your guide,
Mirela Petali.
Failure and mistakes are inevitable and necessary at the same time.
It is through mistakes and failures that we learn and improve,
Although we know this to be true.
Every time we make a mistake or feel like we failed,
We judge ourselves,
Feel inadequate,
Less than perfect,
Experience low self-worth and self-esteem,
Or even feel unworthy of love and respect.
We are often the harshest critics of ourselves and may even feel paralyzed and reluctant to try again after a failure.
Alternatively,
When a loved one or a dear friend makes a mistake or fails,
We tend to be less harsh,
More forgiving and understanding.
We might even try to comfort them and help them see the bigger picture.
We might say to them,
It's going to be okay.
In this case,
We are practicing compassion.
Similarly,
Although much more difficult,
We can learn to offer compassion to ourselves.
When we practice self-compassion,
We can decrease the suffering that comes from these feelings,
Accept reality as it is,
And have confidence to try again.
Self-compassion is not about giving ourselves a pass and not caring about the consequences of our actions.
It is about understanding that we are human and that we make mistakes like everyone else.
Self-compassion allows us to soften and be kind to ourselves so we can clear our minds and open up to learning from our failures and how to be more skillful when we try again.
In today's meditation,
We will learn how to be more compassionate and kind with ourselves through mindfulness and loving-kindness.
Self-compassion is an ongoing practice that you can use at any time,
Both in formal meditation as well as throughout the day,
On the spot.
You can find the corresponding discussion on failure and how we deal with it in episode 16 of the Mindful Agility podcast at mindfulagility.
Com.
And now,
Let's meditate.
Find a comfortable position,
Either sitting or lying down.
You can close your eyes or keep them slightly open.
Focus downward in front of you.
Let's start by taking a few deep,
Long,
Slow breaths to settle in our bodies and relax.
Now allow your breath to return to normal.
Bring your attention to your body.
Relax your jaw,
Your shoulders.
Let your arms and legs feel heavy.
Relax your back,
Your chest,
And belly.
Let your whole body rest.
There is nothing to do right now.
Now bring your attention to your breath.
Notice the body breathing,
The air coming in through the nose,
The movements of your chest and belly.
If you get distracted by thoughts,
Sensations,
Emotions,
Or sounds,
Just notice that you have been distracted and gently bring your attention back to the breath.
Breathing in,
We know we are breathing in.
Breathing out,
We know we are breathing out.
We'll use our breath as our anchor.
We can return to it at any time.
I invite you now to bring to mind a mistake or a failure that you've had recently,
Something you have been criticizing yourself for,
But nothing too major,
Something small that made you feel uncomfortable or inadequate.
Notice how does this make you feel when you think about this mistake or failure.
Do you feel sad,
Ashamed,
Embarrassed,
Scared,
Isolated,
Inadequate?
Notice what feelings and sensations come up without judgment.
What thoughts come up with that?
How does it manifest in your body?
Do you notice any tension in your shoulders,
Tightness in your jaw,
Your throat,
Your chest,
A pit in your stomach,
Heaviness in your head?
You feel cold?
Just notice what sensations are there.
If the sensations and emotions become overwhelming,
It's okay.
Let them go and bring your attention back to the breath.
Breathing in,
We know we're breathing in.
Breathing out,
We know we're breathing out.
And whenever you feel ready,
You can go back to thinking about the mistake or failure and notice the emotions and sensations that come up without judgment.
There is so much suffering caused by thoughts and feelings of inadequacy,
Self-judgment,
Feeling like you did something wrong,
Not being good enough,
The belief that somehow we're not perfect,
That we're not worthy.
We are going to give ourselves the same compassion,
Kindness,
And forgiveness we would give to a dear friend.
Now place one or both your hands gently over your heart.
We will repeat some loving kindness phrases to ourselves.
May I be well and happy.
May I be safe and healthy.
May I be kind to myself.
May I be at ease and filled with joy.
I invite you to think about other people who have experienced similar failures and have made similar mistakes as you.
Everyone feels inadequate in some ways.
Everyone fails and makes mistakes.
This is a common human condition.
Think about how they must feel,
How emotionally difficult it must be for them to deal with these mistakes and failures,
How hard they too must be on themselves,
And how much they struggle with self-judgment as you do.
And see if we can extend some loving kindness phrases to them as well.
May you be well and happy.
May you be safe and healthy.
May you be kind to yourself.
May you be at ease and filled with joy.
Now we will repeat some loving kindness phrases to include all living beings.
May you all be well and happy.
May we all be safe and healthy.
May we all be kind to ourselves.
May we all be at ease and filled with joy.
Now we'll let go of the phrases and bring our attention back to the body.
Notice how do you feel.
Now we are going to slowly get out of meditation.
Bring your attention back to your whole body,
The room.
Start slowly moving your fingers and toes.
And whenever you're ready,
You can open your eyes.
Thank you for taking the time to meditate with us today.
