To begin this meditation,
Come into a comfortable posture,
Choosing a posture that feels best for you,
Either lying down or sitting upright in your chair or on the floor.
It is important that you choose a position that allows you to feel comfortable,
Safe and relaxed for about eight minutes or so.
Take some time to settle into your body,
Turning your senses inward by closing the eyes or lowering the gaze,
Transitioning from an outward focus to an inner focus,
Checking in with how you are feeling in this moment,
In your body,
Your thoughts,
Your emotions.
Treat yourself at your own door and ask yourself how you are doing.
This meditation is a practice of opening the heart by cultivating an attitude of kindness and care for ourselves.
It can be done at any time,
But can be particularly helpful when you are feeling vulnerable to difficult emotions.
Human meditations can help you to cultivate a sense of safety and calm,
An anchor to return to when the body and mind are feeling unsettled.
To begin,
Take a moment to bring to mind an inner resource that is familiar to you,
An image that can be helpful to you in times of difficulty.
It can be an image of a person who has cared for you,
A place where you feel comforted and safe,
Such as somewhere in your home,
A place in nature.
This resource can also be an animal or perhaps a wisdom figure.
Hold this image in your own mind's eye and allow your body to feel it,
Taking it in,
Savoring this image and feeling the sense of calm and wholeness that it brings to you.
Know that you can always come back to this image if you are feeling that emotions are becoming overwhelming.
Now from this subtle place,
Form an image of your whole body,
Your whole self,
Sitting upright in the chair or lying on the floor,
As if you are witnessing yourself as a kind observer.
Hearing an intention of treating yourself as your own best friend and offering yourself feelings of kindness and compassion.
Noticing what thoughts and feelings arise as you turn towards this intention of being kind to yourself.
Is there resistance or perhaps there is a slight opening of your heart?
Take some time to feel your body breathing for a few breath cycles as you sit with this intention of wishing yourself well.
In the next part of this practice,
We will now bring to mind some phrases that express this intention of opening the heart.
Take some time to bring forth some words to express your deepest wishes for wellness for yourself,
Just as you would to a loved one in your life who is suffering.
It can be a very simple wish like,
May I be happy,
May I be open to joy in my life.
In this practice,
Find the words that are meaningful to you and silently repeat them in your mind.
Some traditional phrases from these heart centered practices are,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy in my body and mind,
May I be safe and free from danger,
May I be at peace and live in ease.
You can choose one phrase or perhaps even just one word to repeat slowly,
Carefully.
There is no need to rush.
Just notice the effect of repeating these words of kindness on your body and your mind.
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
May I be safe and free from danger,
May I be at peace and live in ease.
Sometimes some strong emotions can come up when doing this practice.
Know that this is okay and you can choose to either stay with the practice if it is within your window of tolerance for strong emotions or you can let go of the practice and either return back to the breath,
Your anchor or your inner resource.
The intention of this meditation is to practice self-care and cultivate self-kindness and only you know how best to do this for yourself.
As we transition out of this practice,
Take a few moments now to just rest in your breath,
Noticing the effects of this practice on how you are feeling right now.
Set an intention for yourself to bring this attitude of compassion and kindness into the rest of your day.
Perhaps choosing a word that you can silently repeat as you go about your daily activities.
