Welcome to the Self-Compassion Practice.
To develop self-compassion,
It is important to experience connectedness.
This means acknowledging that all people experience difficulties and make mistakes in their lives.
We often forget this fact.
Instead,
We like to believe that things should go perfectly and that there's something wrong with us when things turn out differently.
Again,
We feel isolated and alone with our problems.
In this meditation,
We will practice focusing our attention on the three components of self-compassion – mindfulness,
Common humanity and self-kindness.
To feel safe and cared for,
We will experience the effects of soothing touch.
Come into an upright and relaxed sitting position.
Feel the contact of your feet on the floor,
The contact with the chair and the touch of your hands on the thighs.
Lengthen your spine and allow your chin to lower slightly to your chest and the shoulders to soften.
Then,
Bring your attention to the breath.
Consciously,
Notice the movement of your breath in the body.
Now think of a situation in your life that's stressful,
Where difficult feelings are present.
Consider a situation with a medium level of difficulty,
Perhaps a health or a relationship issue or a problem at work.
Bring the situation to your life,
Into your mind's eye.
Where are you?
Who's present?
Is something being said?
What's happening?
Notice what you feel in your body now,
That this difficult situation is present in your mind.
Can you describe them?
Do you perceive discomfort,
Ease or no sensation at all?
Where do these sensations,
If present,
Show up to you?
There's no need to adjust or change anything.
Simply notice and experience these sensations.
If you notice that,
Emotions or sensations become intense and you feel overwhelmed,
Gently bring your attention to your hands on the chair or to your body,
Whichever keeps you safe.
Once the intensity of the experience subsides and you feel ready,
Then come back to the difficult situation.
Explore the sensations in your body and now you can say to yourself,
This is a difficult moment in my life.
Or you may prefer to use a different face,
Such as this hurts or this is stress.
Now you can say to yourself,
Difficulties are part of life or I'm not alone,
Other people feel the same way or we all experience difficult times in our lives.
This connects us to others and is an expression of our common humanities.
If you like,
Put one or both hands over your heart.
Feel the warmth and the gentle pressure of your hands and you can ask yourself,
What is it that I most want to hear right now?
You may consider phrases such as these,
Whatever feels appropriate to you.
May I accept myself as I am or may I forgive myself or may I be strong or may I be patient.
If you find it difficult to find the right words,
Imagine a good friend who's in a similar situation.
What would you say to that person from a perspective of compassion?
And now see if you can give that message to yourself.
Remain seated for a moment with open attention to whatever may show up right now.
As we near the end of this practice,
Bring your attention back to your breath.
Take a deep breath in and a long exhale and then begin to move your fingers,
Hands,
Arms,
Stretch and open your eyes if they were closed,
Returning your attention to the outside world.
Feel free to integrate the practice of self-compassion from this meditation into the rest of your day and you may want to conclude by thanking yourself for the time you took to do this practice.
Thank you.
