Welcome to the Compassionate Breathing In-and-Out Practice.
Coming into a comfortable position,
Standing or sitting or even lying down.
Making sure the body feels as relaxed and supported as possible.
Starting by getting in touch with your body,
Dropping awareness into the body to notice what's here and now in the present moment.
What does the body feel like?
What sensations are here?
Taking a few deep breaths,
Letting any tension move through on the outflow.
Taking a few deep breaths,
Letting any tension move through on the outflow.
Taking a few deep breaths,
Letting any tension move through on the outflow.
A few deep and slow breaths,
Feeling the tension or stress moving outwards.
Letting the breath return to normal now.
Seeing if you can notice the breath where it feels most vivid in the body.
At the belly rising and falling,
At the chest,
Lungs expanding,
Contracting.
Or at the nostrils,
Just noticing what the breath feels like.
No need to control the breath or slow it down or visualize it in any way.
This is just a natural bodily process.
Your body just naturally knows how to breathe.
As you sit here breathing,
Adopting now just the slightest of a half smile,
A really tiny one.
Just raising up the corners of your mouth a little bit without forcing any facial expression,
Without forcing anything about this tiny half smile.
Noticing how this makes you feel when your face adopts an expression of peace,
Of contentment in this moment.
And as you breathe in and out,
Noticing how each in-breath feels.
Noticing how each out-breath feels.
Seeing if you can let the breath be infused with kindness and compassion for yourself and others.
Letting each in-breath be infused with kindness and compassion for yourself.
Letting each out-breath be infused with kindness and compassion for others.
Even if you don't feel this particular way now,
This is not a problem.
This is not a practice of forcing anything.
It's just setting an intention.
Setting an intention to be kind and compassionate as you breathe in and out.
Maybe as you breathe in,
Quietly saying to yourself,
Compassion for me.
And as you breathe out,
Quietly saying to yourself,
Compassion for others.
The mind will,
Of course,
Naturally wander as you practice.
There's no need to judge this at all.
This is just what the mind does.
It's very natural.
And so just acknowledging when the mind wanders.
And then gently returning awareness back to the breath and reacquainting with the intention to breathe with kindness,
Compassion,
And tenderness.
Compassion for me on the in-breath.
Compassion for others on the out-breath.
And where's the mind now?
And where's the breath in the body?
Maybe even bringing some compassion or gratitude for the breath,
This life force that's with us from the day we are born to the day that we die.
Noticing each breath entering and leaving the body.
Half smiling and intending to bring compassion and kindness to yourself and others.
Breathing in,
Bringing compassion to me.
Breathing out,
Bringing compassion to others.
Letting the breath soothe and comfort the body.
Just riding the gentle waves of breath in and out.
Taking your hand now and raising your palm up towards the heart.
In a gesture of tenderness,
Gentleness here.
Feeling the palm against the heart,
The heart against the palm.
And thanking yourself for taking this time to practice.
This is an act of self-compassion.
Seeing if it's possible to open your heart up to receive this thank you.
Regüg personne et Engineure you
