Giving And Receiving Compassion

This practice is one of the core meditations of the Mindful Self-Compassion program co-created by Drs. Kristin Neff and Chris Germer. Giving and Receiving Compassion is a practice of giving compassion to ourselves and others.

Transcript

This practice is called giving and receiving compassion, Inviting you now to find a comfortable position, Giving yourself a moment to settle in and lowering your gaze or closing your eyes, Whatever feels most comfortable and available to you right now and if you like offering yourself soothing or supportive touch and allowing this touch to be a reminder, A signal to your body that we are practicing bringing loving, Warm, Gentle, Caring attention to this present moment experience and to this being here now. Let's begin by taking a few deep relaxing breaths, Noticing how breath nourishes your body as you inhale and soothes, Maybe even relaxes your body as you exhale. Now letting your breathing find its own natural rhythm, Continue feeling the sensations of breathing in and breathing out. If you have palms on abdomen or heart space, Maybe even tuning into sensations of expansion as you breathe in and gentle falling as you breathe out, Allowing yourself to be internally rocked and caressed by the rhythm, By the movement of your breathing, Maybe even allowing your body to gently sway with the movement of breath in and breath out. Now focusing your attention on your in-breath only, Really tuning in and allowing yourself to savor the sensations of breathing in, One breath after another, Tuning into the ways that the in-breath energizes and nourishes your body. Life force energy in, Breathing in nourishment. And if you like, As you breathe in, Breathing in kindness and compassion for yourself, Feeling the quality of kindness and compassion as you breathe in. Maybe there's a word or image, Something that really embodies a sense of kindness and allowing that word or image or quality to ride your inhalations. Breathing in, Aware of in-breath and maybe aware of the nourishment of each inhalation. Noticing how it is now and when you're ready. Shifting your focus to your out-breath. Feeling your body breathing out. Feeling the ease and soothing. Feeling the relaxation of the body exhaling. And as you breathe out, Sending the ease, The relaxation, The soothing of your exhalations out into the world. Breathing out kindness and compassion. With each out-breath, One breath after another, Giving the generosity of kindness and compassion out into the environment around you. Maybe even tuning into the space where it might appear that this body is separate from the environment and just noticing what happens when you tune into the reality that we are one with the environment around us. Noticing this flow of life force energy in and out of this body here now. This flow of kindness, Of compassion. Tuning in now to the sensations of both breathing in and breathing out. Aware of breath coming in. Aware of breath moving out. And really savoring the subtle qualities of the movement of the breath. Breathing in for me and breathing out for you. Letting every in-breath be for you. Allowing your inhalations to nourish this body here, This being here. Restoring, Nourishing, Resourcing. Now getting curious about finding the right balance at this moment in time between breathing in for yourself and out for others. Giving yourself permission to breathe in for yourself as often as you like. One breath after another. When you feel your cup is full, Whenever you're ready, Begin breathing out for others. If you like offering that quality of kindness, Compassion, Loving awareness along with your breathing. Letting go of any unnecessary effort, Releasing any resistance. Softening into your seat, Into your practice. Allowing this meditation, This practice to just be the breath moving. Allowing your breath to flow in and out. Like the ocean going in and out. A limitless, Boundless, Infinite flow of coherence. Flow of nature. Dissolving any sense of separation between self and environment and allowing yourself to be part of this limitless, Boundless, Infinite flow. A notion of kindness, Compassion, Loving awareness. Resting, Abiding in this loving, Compassionate awareness. Giving and receiving compassion whenever we need it. Whenever you're ready. Allowing yourself to gently open your eyes. Slowly reorient to your space and see if it's possible to bring with you this loving, Compassionate, Kind awareness into the next moments.