Hello,
This is Ryan and welcome to 10 minutes of self-compassion.
Sometimes we find that the voice that we have to talk to ourselves is one that's not very kind.
In fact,
We may talk to ourselves worse than we would talk to our worst enemy.
So what we can do is begin to practice,
To cultivate ideas and words that are kind to ourselves instead of ones that are harsh.
And we can do that through intentionally practicing self-compassion.
So that's what this meditation is designed to do.
And let's begin this meditation by finding a dignified sitting posture or lying down or whatever you prefer and bring your awareness to the breath and to the body as a whole.
Breathe and rest here,
Establishing a relatively stable platform for moment-to-moment awareness,
Riding on the waves of the breath.
And when you feel comfortable,
Resting with the flow of your breathing,
Picture someone in your life who loves you or who loved you unconditionally,
Evoking and giving yourself over to feeling the qualities of selfless love and kindness they accord you or accorded you and the whole aura or field of their love for you right here,
Right now,
Breathing with these feelings,
Bathing in them,
Resting in the warmth and radiance of their heartfelt embracing of you just as you are,
Or drinking in the experience that you are unequivocally and unconditionally loved and accepted as you are without having to be different,
Without having to be worthy of their love,
Without having to be particularly deserving.
In fact,
You may not feel particularly worthy or deserving.
That does not matter.
In fact,
It is irrelevant.
The relevant fact is that you are or were loved.
Their love is for you,
Just as you are for who you are now,
Already,
And perhaps always have been,
Allowing your own heart to bask in these feelings,
To be cradled in them,
Entrained into them,
To be rocked moment by moment in the swinging,
Rhythmic beating of the loving heart of another,
And in the cadences of your own breathing,
Allowing your heart to be held and bathed in this way by the warmth of this radiant,
Pulsing field of loving kindness.
If you encounter some difficulty in bringing to mind or conjuring up such a person from memory in this moment,
Then see if you can imagine someone treating you that way,
And imagine with great vividness the feelings of love and kindness and regard,
And that can actually serve equally well in this practice.
And whenever you feel ready,
See if you can become the source as well as the object of these same feelings.
In other words,
Take on these feelings for yourself as if they were your own rather than those of another,
Lingering as best you can with the rhythmic beating of your own heart,
Cradling in your own heart these feelings of love and acceptance and kindness for yourself,
Beyond judgment of any kind,
Just basking in the feelings of loving kindness,
Akin to the all-loving embrace of a mother for her child,
Where you are simultaneously both the mother and the child,
Resting here in these feelings as best you can from moment to moment,
Bathing in your own kind regard,
Your own complete acceptance of yourself as you are right here in this very moment,
Letting this feeling be self-sustaining,
Natural,
And in no way forced or coerced.
And in resting here in this field of loving kindness,
This embrace of loving kindness,
You may find it useful to whisper to yourself the following phrases,
Or hear them being whispered to you by the wind,
By the air,
By your breath,
By the world,
Or even asserted more strongly with great feeling.
May I be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm.
May I be happy and contented.
May I be healthy and whole to whatever degree possible.
May I be at peace.
May I experience ease of well-being,
Gently,
At your own pace,
Over and over,
Inwardly whispering,
Inwardly hearing,
Feeling,
Sensing,
Affirming.
May I be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm.
May I be happy and contented.
May I be healthy and whole to whatever degree possible.
May I be at peace.
May I experience ease of well-being.
May I be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm.
May I be happy and contented.
May I be healthy and whole to whatever degree possible.
May I be at peace.
May I experience ease of well-being.
At first,
It may feel artificial to be saying such things to yourself,
Or even thinking about them.
After all,
Who is this I who is wishing this?
And who is the I who's receiving these wishes?
Ultimately,
Both vanish into the feeling of being safe and free from harm in this moment,
Into the feeling of being contented and happy in this moment,
The feeling of being whole in this moment.
Since you already are whole,
The feeling of resting in ease of well-being,
Far from the dis-ease and fragmentation we endure so much of the time,
This feeling,
This very feeling is the essence of loving kindness.
But you might object,
If this is a selfless practice,
Why am I focusing so much on myself,
On my own feelings of safety and well-being,
On my own happiness?
One response would be,
Because you are not separate from the universe that gave rise to you,
And so are worthy as anything else of loving kindness.
Your loving kindness cannot be either loving or kind if it does not include yourself.
But at the same time,
You don't need to worry.
It's not limited to yourself,
Because the field of loving kindness is limitless.
If you like,
You can think of the loving kindness meditation,
As we've been engaging in it up to this point,
As tuning your instrument before you play it out in the world.
In this case,
Tuning the instrument itself is a huge act of loving kindness and not a means to an end.
So let's continue.
May I be safe and protected and free from inner and outer harm.
May I be happy and contented.
May I be healthy and whole,
To whatever degree possible.
May I be at peace.
May I have ease of well-being.
And when you're ready,
Perhaps with an out breath,
As you breathe out,
Letting go of any strong feelings you may be having right now,
And returning to paying attention to the sensations of the body,
To the sensations of breath.
And now let's begin to draw our practice to its natural close.
Before we do,
Remembering that practicing the self-compassion helps to cultivate this kinder attitude towards ourselves.
So perhaps creating some intention to continue doing this practice regularly.
And now we'll draw our practice to its close with three rings of the bell.
