Compassion: Making Space For It All

Tap into your body and breath to open up to kindness and compassion. Feel a sense of spaciousness, relaxation, and care for what's present. Allow yourself to be embraced in a warm hug of self-compassion.

Transcript

Bring your attention into the breath for some time here,

Allowing your body to soften,

Settle,

Melt with each exhale.

See if you can sink into the support beneath you,

The chair,

The cushion,

The earth.

Sensing that support with your feet,

Your seat.

Soften the belly,

Soften the jaw,

The eyes.

Soften the neck and the shoulders.

The heart.

You may put a hand on the heart or a hand on the belly or both.

Feeling the warmth in your hands,

The pressure,

Feeling the rise and fall of the breath.

Bringing an added element of listening.

I like to imagine that my hands are the hands of a wise grandmother,

Someone who's caring and compassionate,

Sitting with me through whatever is arising,

Offering me loving presence,

Warmth,

Care.

And if an image like that is difficult to bring to mind,

You might picture a pet sitting by your side,

A dear friend,

Or even just sitting in the company of nature,

A tall tree offering its presence and love.

And as you sense into your heart,

Your belly,

With your breath,

Your hands,

Your attention,

Whatever is happening here is just fine.

There's no expectation or need for it to be a particular way.

It's okay if it's hard to feel the heart.

We suffer and struggle and stress when we want things to be different than they are.

And we can have care and warmth for this moment as it is.

There's so much more ease available.

And if it feels difficult to accept this moment as it is,

Let's see if we can offer kindness to that,

To the struggle.

And if there's a full heart and lightness,

Let's be here with this,

With compassion.

Whatever is here,

Say hello to it.

Let your hands and your breath help you be with it,

With some softness,

Some warmth,

Some care.

Let's be here with this.

Using each inhale and exhale with your body,

Instead of thinking about it,

Feeling it from the inside out,

Feeling the lift and fall of the chest or the in and out of the belly,

The expansion and contraction.

We can often feel our breath throughout our entire body.

You can imagine your breathing in and out through your heart center.

And the breath can still be organic.

It doesn't have to be any particular way.

In fact,

It's best if you can allow it to be really easy without controlling it in any which way.

See how your body wants to breathe you today in each breath,

In each moment.

Let's be here with this.

Feeling the physical sensations of your heart and the area around your heart with curiosity and care.

And if there are any judgments or thoughts about how it should be,

Simply putting those aside and coming back to the felt sensation of your heart.

When you notice you're commenting on it,

You can allow those thoughts to go into the background and fill up your mind with simply feeling the heart.

Notice if it's heavy or light.

Does it have a temperature to it?

Does it feel protected or contracted in any way?

Does it feel open and full?

Does it feel numb?

Does it feel light?

As you pay attention to it,

You might notice a softening or a natural release.

You might notice a tension.

Whatever is here,

Let's hold it with as much care as we can,

As much kindness,

Just like we would hold a sweet child.

Whatever is happening,

We're here for it.

Thank you.

And for now,

Continuing to stay with the simple sensations,

Breathing in and out through the heart center,

And whenever the mind comes in with a distraction or a story,

Simply return to the sensations.

We don't need to figure anything out right now.

We don't need to uncover anything.

We don't need to get to the bottom of anything.

We simply are making space to be with ourselves with so much presence without pressuring ourselves into needing to do something here.

We're simply feeling.

There's nothing more to think about now.

Okay.

Every time we inhale,

Our lungs expand and our lungs actually squeeze our heart,

Give the heart a little bit of a massage.

And then on each exhale,

The opposite happens.

There's a little bit of a release,

Rest.

You might feel that as you investigate your breath and your heart.

Realize how your heart and your lungs are cohabitating and supporting each other.

There's a sudden changes as you go and your spinal cord isn't pulling.

.

.

You can check back in with your whole body and notice if there's any tension that's crept in,

Inviting it to soften,

Sink,

And melt with each exhale.

In the belly.

The jaw.

The eyes.

And the neck and shoulders.

And allow yourself to keep sinking.

Keep melting,

Feeling the support of the earth beneath you.

And allow yourself to keep sinking,

As your whole пример promises,

To be fully chocolate-del expense.

I've already given you this idea of the urge to take a deep breath and welcome an exhaling fy.

The water,

Fresh,

Appropriate,

Ning'i,

Breathing staind,

Foreseeable younger men.

And if you're noticing that thoughts and emotions are arising,

We can expand awareness and the heart to hold anything that's here.

See if you can make space for whatever's happening right now with some kindness,

Some compassion.

Feeling your hand there on your heart or your belly,

Feeling the warmth,

The care.

And if your hand's not there on your hand or your belly and you can't feel any warmth or care,

That's okay,

That's normal.

No need to be anything that you're not.

You are doing enough right here,

Right now.

When I'm in something really challenging and I'm practicing like this,

I often imagine that Y is carrying grandmother with her hand on my belly or my heart.

And I also imagine her saying something to me like,

I'm here with you,

I see you,

You're not alone,

You are enough.

So check in with yourself for a moment and see if there's anything like that that would feel helpful for you to say to yourself right now or to imagine a wise being is saying to you.

I often hold my own hand when I practice and I feel that connection there in my heart when I can feel my hands clasped and warm.

I kind of imagine holding on to a little child who's hurting,

In pain,

Lost,

Confused,

Needing some validation,

Needing to be seen,

Needing to know she's going to be okay.

So here we're cultivating this observer,

This wise part of ourselves so that we can be here for ourselves no matter what is happening.

If it feels hard to access that,

Keep practicing even if you can't feel much and over time it will happen more and more.

I'm here with you,

I see you,

You're not alone,

You are enough.

You're doing enough.

This moment is enough.

You're doing enough.

Starting to feel your breath in your body,

Experiencing each inhale and exhale as if you could breathe in and out through your heart,

No matter what you're feeling there,

Offering as much kindness as possible in this moment.

Tap into the support of the earth beneath you,

It's there for you,

It's holding you up,

Caring for you.

See if you can feel that in your bones,

In your muscles,

Let your weight sink and be held.

Ailand any point if thoughts or emotions become too much or overwhelming,

So much that it's hard to stay present.

All you have to do is come back,

Feel your hands,

Feel your heart and your breath.

Allow the story to go into the background.

There's nothing to figure out here,

Nothing to fix.

I know it sounds so easy and it can be difficult,

But over time becomes easier and easier.

You stop believing your thoughts so much,

Stop believing that you need to be figuring it all out.

You just come back to the simplicity and the intimacy of you being here with your own heart,

Your hands,

Your breath,

And the support beneath I'm here with you.

I see you.

Something we often forget and miss is to be here with what feels pleasant.

So if you are having a beautiful day right now and experiencing a full heart,

Sitting here with compassion and presence makes a lot of space for more and more of that to be possible in your life.

So don't miss that moment.

Let it be here with your caring attention.

And it's just the same when things are good.

I'm here with you.

I see you.

You are enough.

This moment is enough.

We don't need to cling to it or push it away.

Simply be here with it.

Keep ourselves company in it.

May you be at ease.

May you be happy.

Reviews

Brought me to a much more gentle place. Thank you. I’m trying out using this everyday to see if I can instill the sense of a loving presence in myself that I can be confident of.

Wow, I mean wow. Such a wonderful guided meditation. Love the teachers sweet, soft, and warmly enveloping voice. Thank you for this today. 🙏🏼🧡🙏🏼🧡

Really connected with my heart. Just what was needed. Thank you

So comfortable, familiar, and compassionate. Just what I needed to hear, creating space and support. Will bookmark this.

Many thanks. Rejuvenating and peaceful.

Truly one of the best meditations I have tried. I loved the image of the old wise woman holding me in her presence. :) Much gratitude to you.

Thank you -very helpful and relaxing

Thank you for a very soothing end of the year meditation 🙏

Very soothing and needed. Thank you.

Very nice ! A gentle guiding voice and a nice amount of quiet to allow for practice of staying in the moment .

Thankyou and namasté🕉☮

Love the direction towards the hands and the image of being hugged. Wonderful thankyou

Give up the struggle....open your 💞