Hi there,
Welcome to this self compassion meditation.
To begin,
I invite you to sit comfortably,
Relax your shoulders and lay two arms and wrists on your laps.
Whenever you are ready,
Go ahead and close your eyes.
Take a couple of deep full inhales and exhale fully,
Releasing all of the stale air from your lungs.
Inhale fresh oxygen and exhale fully.
Do that a few more times.
Focus your awareness on your breath.
Use your breath as an anchor to your awareness.
Pulling your awareness again and again to the experience of breathing.
As you inhale,
Allow your awareness to follow your breath moving into the body.
And as you exhale,
Allow your body to relax.
Exhale awareness,
Exhale relaxation.
As you inhale,
Feel the air coming in,
Touching your nostrils,
Your nose,
Your throat,
Your chest,
Your lungs and as you exhale,
Soften your body.
Soften your muscles while maintaining a straight spine.
As you watch your breath,
Continue to concentrate on the sensations in your body.
And if you find your mind wandering,
Be nice to yourself and just come back to your breathing.
From this state of relaxation and openness,
We are going to focus on self-compassion.
So first,
Bring to mind something you've been criticizing yourself for lately.
It might be so many things,
But for this purpose,
Choose one thing,
One aspect of yourself that you're critical of.
Maybe it is a mistake that you've made and you are still charging yourself for it.
Whatever it is,
Bring this thing to mind and focus on it.
Focus on how you feel to criticize yourself.
Notice any sensations you're feeling as you focus on that mistake.
What emotions are you feeling in your body?
And instead of resisting these emotions,
Just observe them.
Continue to breathe with awareness and bring your full attention to how it feels when you're critical of yourself.
Exhale and exhale,
Becoming more and more aware of the feelings arising in your body.
If it feels natural to you,
Take your hand and place it gently over your heart in a comforting manner.
Breathe in and out.
See if you can sense your heart right now.
What we will do now is to repeat some phrases designed to help you feel self-compassion towards yourself.
As you silently repeat these phrases,
Allow yourself to let go of self-custicism,
Feel yourself of self-compassion and notice the sensations that arise in your body as you repeat these comforting words.
May I be safe,
May I be peaceful,
May I be gentle and compassionate with myself,
May I allow myself to be as I am.
If your hand is covering your heart,
Become aware of the warmth of your hand,
Notice the sensations in your body,
Notice how you're feeling as you repeat these words.
May I be safe,
May I be peaceful,
May I be gentle and compassionate with myself,
May I allow myself to be as I am.
As you repeat these words,
Really connect with the meaning of each phrase and the feelings that arise in your body.
If your mind is wandering again,
Be compassionate and nice of yourself,
You can even smile and gently just return to the repeating of the phrases.
May I be safe,
May I be peaceful,
May I be gentle and compassionate with myself,
May I allow myself to be as I am.
Keep observing the sensations you're feeling in your body of kindness and acceptance,
Give yourself the same kindness you would extend to a friend in need.
May I be safe,
May I be peaceful,
May I be gentle and compassionate with myself,
May I allow myself to be as I am.
Continue to repeat these phrases silently to yourself,
Feeling the warmth of the words in your body.
May I be safe,
May I be peaceful,
May I be gentle and compassionate with myself,
May I allow myself to be as I am.
Gently breathe as you become aware of the way your compassionate self feels like.
Take a moment and appreciate the feelings you are experiencing.
Now before we end this meditation,
Let's take a couple of deep breaths together.
Go ahead and inhale deeply and exhale.
Let's do that again one more time.
Inhale deeply and exhale.
Now start feeling the environment around you,
The touch of the clouds on your body,
The sound from outside,
The birds singing,
The car buzzing,
The neighbors talking.
Come back to yourself,
Draw your palms together to your heart and whenever you feel ready,
Go ahead and open your eyes and see this wonderful world we live in.
Thank you for spending some time with me today.
My name is Saha and I wish you a beautiful day.
Namaste.
