Welcome to this short guided meditation on cultivating self-compassion within.
Let's start by lowering your gaze or closing the eyes and coming into an upright position with a dignified posture and really feeling the weight of your body on the chair or cushion below,
Anchoring you to the earth in this present moment.
If you are sitting on a chair place your feet on the floor roughly hip distance apart and you might want to gently roll your shoulders back just really allowing yourself to settle and to land here to be gently held in this moment.
And I invite you now to take a couple of slightly deeper breaths to bring your awareness there,
Noticing your breath going in and going out.
Then just let the breath find its own gentle and natural rhythm,
Settling where it wants to be,
The body instinctively knowing what to do,
So no need for you to strive or change anything.
And if your mind wanders and thoughts or stories take you away during this practice,
That's okay,
That's what minds do sometimes.
Just gently without judgment encourage your awareness back to being with the breath and the current moment.
This practice is about being kind to yourself and offering yourself grace.
We are going to focus on self-compassion.
I want you to bring to mind an aspect of your life where you are self-critical.
Maybe you are judging yourself or giving yourself a hard time over a mistake you've made.
And just notice what happens to the body,
If any bodily sensations come up as you take your thoughts there.
Now I want you to place one hand softly over your heart or if you prefer you can cross one arm lovingly around your waist as if you are pulling yourself in for a warm hug.
Now I want you to silently repeat in your mind these phrases after me.
May I be safe.
May I be at peace.
May I be gentle and compassionate with myself.
May I allow myself to be just as I am.
And really connect to the meaning of these words and invite them to land with you.
They are for you.
May I be safe.
May I be at peace.
May I be gentle and compassionate with myself.
May I allow myself to be just as I am.
Give yourself the kindness and compassion you'd extend to someone you deeply care about and don't want to see suffer.
The gentleness you'd extend to another if you heard them speak harshly to themselves often.
May I be safe.
May I be at peace.
May I be gentle and compassionate with myself.
May I allow myself to be just as I am.
Just take a moment to appreciate and notice any sensations in your body.
Look upon anything that comes up with kind curiosity.
In a moment we are going to draw this practice to a close but know that this practice is here for you anytime you need it and want to cultivate your internal compassionate voice.
So you may want to start by wriggling your fingers and toes,
Maybe stretching and when you are ready gently lower your head and open your eyes to look around the room once more.
