Compassion is the feeling of concern and care.
It is something that you might have for yourself or for others.
It involves three stages.
First,
Acknowledging that there is suffering.
Next,
Recognizing that it is our shared humanity.
And finally,
Practicing some kindness towards that suffering.
Having compassion to yourself is no different from being compassionate towards others.
This is Suresh from Blossom Meditation.
And I'll share a self-compassion meditation with you that you can use for self-care.
Take a nice long inhale and a long exhale releasing.
You can breathe out through your mouth,
Breathe in through the nose.
And let's do that a couple of more times.
And now for the next few moments,
Just focus on your breath.
Notice that you're breathing in and breathing out.
You can use phrases such as breathing in on the in-breath and breathing out on the out-breath.
Stay with the sensations of the breathing wherever you feel it.
Maybe in your nostrils,
Maybe in the chest,
Or deep down in the belly.
Let's do this for a minute or so.
You can release the focus on the breath.
Now start to picture someone who is close to you.
Someone towards whom you feel a great amount of love.
It could be your pet dog.
Notice what feeling it generates for you and where you're feeling it.
Maybe you experience it in the heart.
Continue breathing and focus on these feelings as you visualize your loved one.
Now bring to mind a suffering they might have had recently.
Maybe a health issue or a loss of a loved one or anxiety through the crisis.
As you breathe out,
Imagine that you are extending a ray of light that holds your warm feelings from the center of your heart.
Imagine that that light reaches out to your loved one,
Bringing them peace and happiness.
At the same time,
You can silently recite these phrases.
May you have happiness.
May you be free from suffering.
May you experience joy and ease.
May you have happiness.
May you be free from suffering.
May you experience joy and ease.
Keep repeating these phrases for a minute or so.
If you don't get the phrases exactly right,
It's quite alright,
Choose the ones that come to you.
And you can release that person.
Sindhu Bhairavi is a soulful,
Carnatic raga.
It evokes moods of compassion,
Devotion,
As well as separation.
In this short piece,
My friend and flutist,
Shrikant,
Uses the southern Indian flute in the raga Sindhu Bhairavi to enable you to go deeper and experience compassion for yourself.
Reflect and recognize that you too went through suffering from recent event.
As you listen to this piece,
Focusing on compassion to yourself,
You can keep repeating,
May I have happiness.
May I be free from suffering.
May I experience joy and ease.
May I have happiness.
May I be free from suffering.
May I experience joy and ease.
May I experience joy and ease.
May I experience joy and ease.
May I experience joy and ease.
May I experience joy and ease.
May I experience joy and ease.
May I experience joy and ease.
May I experience joy and ease.
May I experience joy and ease.
May I experience joy and ease.
May I experience joy and ease.
The Sanskrit word for compassion is karuna.
It comes from the root kara,
To do or to make.
In its Sanskrit origins,
Compassion is about doing an action to alleviate suffering.
Let me end this meditation with a quote by the Dalai Lama.
If you want others to be happy,
Practice compassion.
If you want to be happy,
Practice compassion.
