Hi.
Welcome.
Good day.
I hope you're well wherever you are.
Please find a comfortable seat that you can commit to.
Take a moment to just commend yourself for showing up.
Because I know how easy it is to stay in the busyness of the mind.
Just remember that each day,
By taking this time out,
You're actually expressing compassion for yourself.
And compassion is such a powerful lesson.
Such a powerful act.
And it took me quite a few years to actually comprehend what it meant to be compassionate.
And then probably another couple of years before I could feel what it meant to have an open heart towards myself.
The ability to go beyond all of the voices of the mind,
All of the inner critics,
All of the inner judgments.
And to learn what it feels like to embrace your own self.
To embrace myself with compassion.
And understanding that when we feel empathic and when we feel this compassion for others.
And it's in the moment.
It's a process.
It's also not something all of a sudden you're a compassionate person.
It's has moments arise.
Are you willing to accept another person exactly how they are?
With the view to promote their healing.
And when we express compassion for ourselves.
It's this ability to hold our own pain.
And to recognize how brutal we can be to ourselves.
But by recognizing it and noticing it and acknowledging it.
And meeting it with our presence.
We integrate that pain into wisdom.
And once we've integrated these parts of us.
More and more we can look at others and understand that they also might be aching inside and might be feeling pain.
And even though it's not our responsibility to fix anybody.
It's not our responsibility to please.
But as human beings we have this incredible capacity.
To be with another.
Not in judgment.
Just to be with them.
And to accept them.
And to acknowledge them.
And this is so healing.
So please close your eyes if you haven't already.
Today we will be focusing on compassion.
Self-compassion.
What it actually feels like in the body when we allow ourselves.
To feel completely whatever is present.
Taking 100% responsibility for who we are.
No blaming.
No guilt.
No victims.
From this moment on completely honoring our pain.
And owning who we are.
So feel the weight of your body.
On your cushion.
Let your body settle.
Give yourself permission to let go of the thoughts.
Of any of the narratives.
Of the past.
The shoulds and coulds.
Let go of the future.
And bring your attention into your body.
By feeling the pressure of your body against the ground or the chair.
Feel that connection to the present moment.
Let your body ground.
And then let's breathe together.
Breathing is the best entry point.
So take a deep breath in through your nose.
Suspend your breath.
And exhale out your mouth with sound.
Exhale all the air out.
Squeezing the air out of your abdomen.
Really feel that sensation of releasing.
Of letting go.
Feel your body grounding.
Let go of the air.
Squeezing it out of your belly.
Hold the air out.
And then breathe in again a nice deep breath.
Filling up the four corners of your lungs.
Take in some more air.
Open your chest and lengthen your spine.
Suspend your breath.
And exhale out your mouth with a sigh.
Make some sound.
Really connect to your throat.
Empty out your throat.
Empty out your belly.
Bringing your navel to your spine.
Feel what it feels like to hold the air out.
Noticing roots growing out from the bottom part of your body.
Anchoring you.
Notice the stillness in your body.
And then breathe in again.
Lengthening your spine all the way to the top of your head.
Breathing in.
Taking in some more air.
Some more.
And exhale.
Letting go of tension in the body.
Letting go of stress.
Exhaling.
Exhaling all the air out.
Exhaling.
Grounding.
Hold the air out.
And then when you're ready,
Breathing in and out of your nose.
Turning your gaze towards your breath.
With the intention of settling and finding clarity in your mind.
Just noticing the qualities of your own breath.
Taking a moment to pause at the top of each inhalation for a moment or two.
And then exhaling out your nose slowly,
Gently,
Naturally.
Exhaling all the air out.
Really lingering in that pause.
Between the bottom of the exhale.
Before inhaling again.
This exercise of aligning to your breath is the quickest,
Most fastest way of giving your mind a nudge to relax,
To slow down.
And telling your body that it can be calm now.
Letting your nervous system know that you're safe.
So always keeping your foreground on your breathing.
And whenever you find yourself lost in thought,
Knowing that that's completely normal during a meditation,
We all have thoughts.
The special little trick is just to not attach to them.
So a thought may come.
But you just don't give it your attention.
You're meditating right now.
You can think about it later.
The lists,
The things to do,
That's after.
Right now you're strengthening your awareness by focusing on your breathing.
And letting your breath breathe you.
So letting your body feel grounded,
Anchored.
Take a moment just to acknowledge the ground beneath you.
Thank you.
Great Planet Earth.
Thank you Mother Nature for supporting me,
For supporting all of us here.
Thank you for keeping us nourished,
Sheltered.
Thank you for all of the beauty that we see when we look up at the sky.
All of the beautiful clouds,
The trees,
The flowers,
The water.
And let that reverberate up into your body.
That stillness and beauty.
And calming down your nervous system.
Let your intention for your day.
Intentions may change each day,
Or you can work with an intention for a year or for your life.
But it's important to find focus in our lives.
And often,
I just bring up the intention for my highest good.
And I let that resonate in my body.
May I feel self compassion.
May I have compassion for my pain,
So that I may heal those parts of myself that need attention.
And I'll let those words resonate in your body,
Phrasing as you like.
Letting them meet the stillness and inhabit your heart.
And have it all of your being.
This desire of wholeness.
And feel the weight of your body.
Again,
Grounded in the cushion.
And then extend your spine,
Lengthening upwards.
Bringing your attention to the center of your chest.
Putting a hand on your chest and a hand on your belly.
And breathing in.
Noticing how your lungs expand and your belly expands.
Pausing and then exhaling at your nose.
Opening up your senses,
Feeling the touch of your hands on your skin or your clothes.
Noticing the touch of the air on your face.
Any sounds in your room.
And then inviting you to listen in with your inner ear.
And ask yourself.
Where have I been struggling recently?
Right now?
Let your body answer with sensations.
Just scanning and sensing your entire body.
Noticing where you've been triggered lately.
With something said.
Or have you been judging yourself,
Criticizing yourself for not being good enough?
Can you acknowledge areas where fear is present?
Whether it's just the fear of the uncertainty.
Or the fear of not doing the right thing.
Breathing into those areas.
And as you breathe in and acknowledge these parts of ourselves that are struggling.
Let them soften on the exhale.
Listening within to your irritations or frustrations,
Just letting yourself be vulnerable.
So often we're putting up an act.
But how are you feeling if you're really honest with yourself about the situations in your life?
And now as you turn toward yourself with a kind and interested attention.
Hold yourself with compassion.
Bringing to your mind's eye an image of yourself when you were younger.
Maybe seven.
Six or seven years old.
Just see your young face.
You needed to be cared for and valued.
For who you were.
But possibly those around you just didn't notice.
Because they were too busy.
Or too angry.
So looking this younger version of yourself in the eye.
Ask her or him what she would like from you now.
And let them respond.
Mind wants just attention and love.
So either picking up this younger version of yourself,
Putting them on your knee or just getting down on your own knees so you can see them in their eyes.
Holding them.
And saying to them,
You are seen.
You are worthy.
You are worthy of all of the grace and the beauty that the world has to offer.
And right now I'm giving it to you.
I'm listening to you.
I'm holding you.
And let this child receive as your body softens and your heart opens.
Let yourself receive this blessing.
Let's take three deep breaths together with your younger child within you,
Breathing in together.
Exhaling,
Releasing out your mouth.
I exhale all the tension,
All the worry,
All the pain.
Just let it go.
Breathing in again together.
As your hearts unite and you fill up with this compassion.
And exhale.
Exhale all the air out as you transmute this pain into awareness,
Strength.
Seeing yourself fully.
Breathing in again.
Taking in some more air,
Really feeling this sense of full and radical acceptance.
And exhale.
Exhale all the air out.
Hold the air out.
Noticing the stillness in your body.
Breathing in and out naturally,
Melting this child version of you into your heart.
Taking a moment to thank your angels,
Your guides,
Mentors or teachers,
The divine itself for this support.
Remembering that we are always surrounded by benevolent beings.
And it might just be remembering your ancestors.
Remembering us here in our absolutely marvelous container we've created each day.
That we're here for one another.
So rocking,
Just gently soothing your own being.
Filling up our cup first with compassion.
So that we can show up for others.
Filling up and healing that wound,
That absence of compassion that we received as children.
Just saying to yourself,
Today I am showing up.
I will no longer abandon myself.
I am connected.
I'm whole.
I'm courageous.
I am loved.
Just remembering that this day as you step out and you notice your thoughts,
You notice your behaviors,
You notice your patterns.
Remember that that is the precise moment.
That foot in the door that you have to heal yourself.
By recognizing the voices of judgment.
Recognizing the desire to run,
To numb.
And just taking a moment and putting your hand on your body,
Finding your breath and just giving yourself this self compassion.
Instead of acting out.
Or lashing it yourself within.
This is the transformation.
Really thank you so much for showing up.
And it's an honor to share this with you.
It's been so transformative for myself.
I encourage you to just keep remembering and know that it's hard.
Sometimes,
But the beauty that you'll receive.
As a result,
Is absolutely undeniably the most powerful thing that you can experience.
You really see with yourself how you transform.
And how much our society,
So much of our society is the complete opposite.
How much we valued extrinsic and inferior values.
And when we learn to value ourself,
How less and less we need to own things,
To be something.
All of a sudden,
You feel from within this deep sense of being recognized and enough.
More than enough.
Just by being in your body.
And it's a moment to moment practice.
So it's just by showing up to each moment every day.
And when you lose presence,
Noticing it.
I just spent,
Like when you go to bed at night,
Lay in bed,
Remembering your intention.
Think about where you lost your presence during the day.
And where you had it.
And do that every day.
Such a good practice.
Because our superpower is our awareness.
That's what makes us more evolved as human species.
Is that we can notice what we're doing.
There's that part of us that is that higher self,
The authentic self that can witness.
That's just incredible stuff.
Much more interesting than getting involved in the narratives of mainstream media.
So please limit that and spend time doing things that you love.
So it's like nourishment for your soul.
And I will be on my own retreat for the next three days.
I'm really excited about it.
I can't wait to come back next week and to share everything that I'll be learning.
It is a deeply healing,
Soulful retreat.
And I'm very excited about it.
So I will let you know next week.
I'll be back on Monday.
Thank you.
Have a wonderful day.
And I'll see you and ask any questions if you have.
DM me.
Thank you.
