Deep Practice For Self Compassion

In this guided meditation, we offer ourselves love, gratitude and self-compassion. We focus on the parts of our body that may be holding onto tension, pain or fear. With awareness, we gently bring our attention to it so that we can begin to relax.

Transcript

You are listening to a guided meditation on a deep practice for self-compassion.

My name is Sonia Lee and I'm very excited to be guiding you through this meditation.

Our goal is to practice self-compassion on a regular basis so that you can feel more at peace.

So with that in mind,

Let's begin.

Today's heart meditation will be another version of compassion practice,

What I've come to call the reign of compassion.

And I think probably the most beautiful way I know to begin is to simply sense your own intention to experience your heart in its full capacity,

To experience the awakened heart of compassion.

As a way of leaning in,

We'll begin with what is called in the Taoist and Buddhist traditions a smile down.

We create the maximum receptivity and openness in a very physical cellular way.

And that starts with actually imagining the sky,

Sensing a great openness,

Extending into all directions,

And sensing the curve and spirit of a smile filling the sky.

As much as possible,

Try to visualize that and sense that openness of the sky filling your mind and allowing that smile to also spread through your mind.

Connecting with openness,

Availability,

Possibility,

Letting the curve of a smile spread through the eyes.

You can sense the corners of the eyes uplifted a bit.

Soften your eyes allowing the brow to be smooth.

Relax your jaw and maybe try to introduce a slight smile at the mouth.

See if you can sense the inside of your mouth smiling.

Are you smiling with your eyes,

Your mouth?

Are you relaxed through the throat as you breathe in and out,

In and out?

And again,

Sense the same curve and openness of that smile on your face.

And then imagining that you can smile into the heart,

Sensing the curve of your smile spreading through the heart and chest area,

Sensing it emerging,

The smile emerging from inside out,

A natural openness in space.

Your eyes are also smiling and the mouth,

The throat,

The heart.

And see if you can soften the belly and feel the breath deep into your torso.

Imagine and sense that same smile spreading through the belly and of openness into the dantian,

The area right beneath the belly.

Sensing an openness and ease down into your hips and your legs,

Down into your feet.

Sense that openness through the chest and make space in a way that you can allow whatever might be tense or tight in the body to loosen and relax.

Resting in natural receptivity or relaxed attentiveness,

Let a rainfall of compassion flow through your life.

Life as you're experiencing it today,

Allowing whatever issues and situations that are activating you,

Release.

Whatever you think you need and want in your life,

Let that go for right now.

Release any pain and suffering.

Release anything that isn't serving you so that you can be in a place where you can do this meditation with all of us today.

Take a few moments and sense what naturally comes to your consciousness.

Maybe there are difficult situations,

Some pain in your body.

Maybe there's something that you don't like about yourself.

Perhaps there's some fear,

Tension,

Grief,

Anger,

Hurt,

Or whatever is coming up for you.

Let's put that aside for now.

There might be a situation in your life that involves another person.

Maybe you are in conflict.

It might be a situation at work or something to do with your health.

And as you let yourself settle on whatever it is you'd like to work on and release,

Bring your awareness back to the front and center.

And this is an invitation to actually let the story be there.

Let the triggers,

Even if it's another person,

Let them go.

You might see another person's face,

Hear their voice,

Their conversations,

Or any words that might set you off.

Release it from your mind.

And if you're anticipating that something's going to happen,

Try to release that from your mind's eye.

In other words,

If you're running a movie of this story in your mind,

Gently pause that.

Allow it to disappear and fade away.

And when you've done that,

Let the rain begin with compassion and recognizing that you are right here and this is merely a part of the experience of life.

In other words,

Acknowledge with honesty that this is a part of your life.

And see if this pause right now can be a part of just allowing it to be there.

Have a sort of willingness not to try to force it out of your mind or to change the outcome.

The beginning of rain is just about recognizing and agreeing to be where you are right here,

Right now.

Buddhist teacher Ajahn Sumedho put it like this.

He says,

When the circumstances arise and we sense what's triggered,

If we can just say,

It's like this,

It's like this.

It's the beginning of a healing presence.

So for now,

Just to recognize and allow what's there,

Just let it be.

And with the quality of kindness and introspection,

We begin to investigate what really triggered you.

What's going on inside right now?

What's it like?

Notice the range of emotions that your mind might be swirling around.

Just notice what it's like.

As you investigate what it's like inside,

It's helpful for you to have your hand on your heart as a way to remind yourself that this investigative work of kindness is all we need to do right now.

I'll make some suggestions on how you might investigate,

But feel free to go down whatever track feels most alive to you.

Some people right from the start just start sensing,

What am I believing?

What am I believing when this is going on?

Am I believing that this means I'm a bad person?

Am I believing that I'm failing?

Am I believing that my life will never work out the way I want it to?

Am I believing that another person doesn't care about me?

Am I believing that I'm quite broken or unlovable?

These are just some core beliefs that often stick inside of us.

And these beliefs can get quite mental.

But feel into your body and sense,

Why do I allow this belief to live in my body?

When I'm believing this,

What does it feel like inside my body?

And so together,

Let's scan through the body,

Feel the throat,

The chest,

The belly,

The common areas where we feel like we might hold that tension in our life experience.

Am I believing that it will never be different?

Am I believing that I will always be like this?

That I'll never be happy?

What does that feel like in your body?

Sensing the worst part of this,

What is the worst part of it all?

What are you really afraid of?

What's the worst part of this experience?

Sometimes letting the face express the feelings gets you more in touch.

And if you're feeling anger or sadness or disgust or whatever it is,

Allow your face to just express it.

And then come back and feel into your body again.

Which part of your body is the most reactive?

Which part do these emotions live in your body?

Can you sense where that is?

See if it's possible to go right inside to that part of you that's most reactive,

Most hurt,

Angry,

Afraid,

And look at the world through its eyes.

Take the shape of that part of you.

Feel it from inside out and sense what does this part of my body want the most?

What does this part of my body need the most?

Sometimes the part will say it in words.

Sometimes you might see visuals.

You might see a movie.

Just feel into that.

Notice the possibility of widening out your attention.

Allow yourself to float larger than that part of your body so that you're occupying as much space as you can possibly imagine.

And if you could just listen and feel into the body and be awake and recognize which part is suffering.

Is it possible to recognize that this part of your body is suffering just in a very pure way?

Oh,

This is suffering.

And offer yourself compassion.

It's what you need the most right now in this moment.

Allow your body to soften and relax.

Make sure that you touch your own heart and light enter it.

Relax your cheeks,

Your belly,

Your arms,

Your thighs,

Your feet,

Your hands.

Which part of you needs the most attention right now?

Offer it healing.

Offer it love.

And say to yourself,

I'm sorry.

I love you.

Every part of your body needs compassion.

Send your awareness back to the center so you can offer it love.

Sometimes it's difficult to offer yourself what you need the most.

Kindness,

Compassion,

Love,

Gratitude.

And say thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Realize that the awakened heart and mind,

That awakeness is available to you for you to trust and rely on,

That you are compassionate and wise,

Full of hope and joy and healing.

I want you to express that to yourself.

Each time you judge yourself,

You break your heart.

Each time you judge yourself,

You pull away from love and vitality.

Let the time has come to live and trust in the greatness that you are.

Your true essence is pure awareness,

Love and compassion.

Let no one,

No idea or ideal,

Either yours or from someone else obscure this truth.

And if this idea comes forward,

Release it with forgiveness and let it go.

Just breathe into the goodness that you are.

Explore what it means to truly offer yourself a loving presence.

Offer yourself understanding for what it's like to be you.

Release yourself as if you're holding a child,

A cat or a puppy and it feels warm and light.

Connect with whatever it is that can bring you this sense of pureness in your heart.

As you sense this loving presence holding the life within you,

Explore and investigate this moment.

Where is the love inside of you?

Where does it live?

Is it expanding or contracting?

Just notice it.

And then rest.

Allow that rain of compassion to wash over you.

The heart of a Buddhist practice is that of compassion.

And the heart of compassion is compassion to the life that's right here.

And there's a natural widening that unfolds when we open our hearts.

So let us explore that openness by inviting the mind to peek into ourselves.

What we're thinking,

Experiencing,

Sensing,

Feeling.

This is a beautiful opportunity to bring healing energy and your consciousness to someone you care about or even just to yourself.

And even in the same way where we put our awareness into a situation in your life,

Let's do the same for someone else that you care about.

Recognize,

Sense and observe what comes up as circumstances in this person's life.

Just acknowledge it.

Recognize and allow and realize this is what's true for that person.

This is how it is.

You are in the space of just being.

And in this space of being,

You can begin to bring that person close into your awareness.

Imagine that person right here so that you can sense his or her presence and sense what's really going on closely.

We begin the investigation with kindness.

That if you could look through this person's eyes at the world,

Feel with this person's body and heart,

What will be the worst part of what this time is for him and her or her?

What is the fear that exists in this person's life or the pain and hurt inside out?

In this compassionate practice,

We return to our breath and help release any tension.

You might breathe in and feel that you are experiencing this other person's tension or suffering.

Maybe you are sensing their loneliness,

The fear,

The doubt,

The hurt.

Release that pain.

Release that hurt.

Release it with a loving presence.

Offer them compassion and know that they are human too.

Know that compassion and greatness is available to you or to the other person.

Bring your awareness back to what is really in this space.

And as you continue to breathe,

Perhaps you are sensing or touching this person's suffering.

What do they need the most?

What kind of understanding do they need?

Do they need to be loved,

To be seen,

To be held?

What is it?

Continue to breathe for this person.

Release him or her in your heart and offer them wisdom,

Love,

Gratitude,

Compassion,

Whatever it is they need the most.

Widening out even further to your sense that you understand that all beings also struggle.

No one is immune to suffering.

No one is immune to pain.

And with each breath,

Offer kindness,

Gratitude,

Awareness,

Non-judgment.

Sense what it is that they need.

Sense what it is that you need.

Focus on your breath in and breath out and return to your body.

Sense if there's any remaining tension that needs to be released.

Offer that part compassion.

Open your heart.

Offer it love.

Breathing in these final moments together,

I share with you my open heart of compassion.

With radiant love in the place of my heart,

I want you to see that love.

I want you to sense into the universal mind,

Universal soul,

The universal collectiveness,

Collection.

Are you there?

Enter into this open space that is the heart and give yourself to it with total,

Total gratitude.

Sink into that joy,

Into that perfect spot and know that this journey,

This experience is something that we all share.

I want you to remember to return to your place in your heart if you need to release anything that is not serving you.

Know that your heart is available to you whenever you need it.

Know that this meditation is available to you whenever you need it.

You are home in your heart and that is the only place that you need to be in right now.

In these final moments,

Let's share a couple of breaths.

Deep breath in and exhale love.

Deep breath in,

Exhale joy.

Last breath in,

Exhale compassion and gratitude.

I thank you for joining me in this practice for self-compassion.