Hi there,
I'm Taylor Evans,
And today I'm going to lead you through a self-compassion meditation.
Working with self-compassion can feel strange and foreign for many of us.
In a world constantly telling us to change and that we're not enough,
Being kind to ourselves in moments of strife can feel counterintuitive or even wrong.
But you are not wrong,
You never have been.
You are a resilient human navigating difficulty as it is so human to do.
Having human reactions and human emotions to this very,
Very human experience we are all having.
Today's meditation is a rain meditation practice inspired by Tara Brock.
Recognize,
Allow,
Investigate,
Nurture.
Let's begin.
Take your eyes to close if you feel comfortable doing so.
Find a comfortable position for your body to be in for the next few minutes and allow your shoulders and face to soften.
Find five clearing breaths.
Perhaps the exhale is audible as you sigh out your breath.
Take a moment to briefly scan your body from the crown of your head to the bottoms of your feet.
Each time you notice discomfort or tension,
Can you soften this experience by just 10 percent?
As you drop further into your body and into this moment,
Recognize a present point of difficulty you are experiencing in your life.
Oftentimes by first naming the thing causing suffering in our lives,
It lessens the charge.
Allow yourself to be here and be with.
Breathe.
Breath in for the first time these several moments.
For the last phenomena,
Investigate your experience.
What circumstances have led you here?
What loved ones or dear ones are involved?
And why does this impact you so?
As you explore your experience,
Can you zoom out and take a bird's eye view?
And when you are ready,
Can you let your exploration go and be with yourself as you are in this very moment?
Our investigation is not to blame or victimize,
Rather we investigate so that we might come to understand ourselves just that much more.
Finally,
We come to nurture.
May you see yourself with kind eyes and a gentle heart.
How very human of you to hurt,
To experience sorrow and grief.
How human it is to feel and to know and to not know.
Placing both hands on your heart or wrapping your arms around your body.
Allow yourself to stay with whatever thoughts or feelings are coming up for you in this moment.
Self-compassion is experiencing ourselves through the lens of love.
Take a deep breath in.
And out.
As Karen Bluth and Kristin Neff share,
Self-compassion is a way of relating to ourselves in times of suffering that is characterized by increased kindness and reduced self-judgment.
Increased feelings of common humanity and decreased feelings of isolation.
With greater mindfulness and less over-identification with difficult thoughts and feelings.
Find one last deep breath in.
And deep breath out.
And when you are ready,
Slowly open your eyes.
And as you take in your surroundings,
Remember you are human worth loving today.
