Let The Light In: From Self-Criticism To Self-Compassion

This guided meditation invites you to explore the felt sense of self-criticism and self-compassion within the body. This practice will guide you through the practice of embodying self compassion somatically.

This 12 minute practice offers a grounded blend of insight meditation (mindfulness), somatic awareness, and self-compassion practices. In this meditation you’ll be guided to gently explore the body's "felt sense" and begin to notice how criticism feels as well as how it affects your posture, breath, body sensations, and more. We will also explore what begins to shift when compassion, softness, and supportive presence are introduced instead of self-judgment.

Through reflective inquiry and body-based awareness, this practice supports emotional healing, nervous system regulation, and a more compassionate relationship with yourself. This meditation is suitable for all levels.

Transcript

Hello, My friends, And welcome to this self-compassion meditation where we'll be moving from self-criticism to self-care and self-compassion. Somatic practices, Mindfulness, And self-compassion go hand-in-hand because they help us to connect with what we're feeling in a gentle and non-judgmental way. So we'll get started by finding a nice, Comfortable posture. You could lay down for this practice. If you're feeling tired, I definitely suggest to stay seated upright in a nice, Comfortable meditative seat. You can start to lean back against the support if you're sitting in a chair or on the couch, Or have a nice upright spine if you're just seated without support. Begin to close down the eyes, Relax the shoulders, Settle in. And as you arrive, You might take a few deeper breaths here, Drawing the breath in through the nose and out through the mouth, Just starting to release tension in the body. Arrive into this present moment, Collecting your awareness here and now, Softening the belly, Relaxing through the heart space, Soften the jaw. As you arrive into this practice, You might rock from side to side, Get grounded, Feel the support beneath you. Once you feel settled here, Begin to recall a recent time where you were caught in self-judgment. This could be a time where you were criticizing yourself for an action, A time that you turned against yourself with your self-talk. This could be a moment where you felt like you fell short or didn't do your best in some way. Just begin to scan your life and notice a moment in time recently where you felt slightly uncomfortable, Where you were judging yourself, Criticizing yourself, Or maybe you fell into the trap of unworthiness and not feeling good enough. As you recall this moment in time or this mistake, Notice what happens in your body. Scan through your chest. Notice your jaw. Bring awareness to your belly, Your shoulders, Even the pace of breath. Notice the temperature of the body, The limbs, Hands, Fingers, And toes. Notice what it feels like when you're caught in self-judgment, When you've been really hard on yourself. As you bring that experience into this moment, How does the body feel? When you're being hard on yourself, Does the body feel tight in a certain place? Heavy? Does it become contracted? Is there a place of buzzing? Where do you feel the self-criticism in your body? Where do you feel the judgment? Does it feel or cold or mild? Gently observe, Not trying to change anything. As you breathe with these places that experience the judgment and experience the criticism, I invite you to give yourself one supportive gesture. This could be a hand on your heart, A hand on your belly, Or even placing a hand on the place that's experiencing the criticism the most. If it feels like tension in your shoulders, Maybe you bring both hands to your shoulders. If it feels like it gives you a little support, You could even place one hand in the other and give yourself a little gesture that you're here for yourself, Holding your own hand. You could gently rock from side to side or give yourself a hug. Or if when you notice that you're caught in self-judgment, The body starts slightly curl forward, This supportive gesture could be slowly returning to an upright posture, A nice tall spine. If the body constricts in self-criticism or self-judgment, Maybe you just take a deeper breath or a few deeper breaths. This supportive gesture could also be kind words towards yourself. It makes sense that I feel this way. I'm allowed to be human. It's okay to be imperfect. I can take this moment by moment and by day. This is difficult right now, And it's going to be okay. As you offer this supportive gesture to yourself, What happens? What softens or shifts? Does some part of you resist this care and compassion? Come back to your natural breath. Don't try to change anything, Just notice. Remembering that part of you that feels inadequate, Anxious, Or self-critical, And instead of judging it, Pushing it away, Or analyzing it, Just say internally, I see you. I'm here with you. Notice what happens in your body. You could imagine this part of you that feels inadequate, Not good enough, Or that has been judged. That part of you is younger, Or that part of you is just overwhelmed. How would you approach this part of you? You might say to this part, You don't have to do this alone. I am here with you. You're allowed to take up space. Let your breath soften and become slightly slower. Just notice what this feels like to approach yourself in this kind and compassionate way. It might feel like being wrapped in a blanket. You could imagine warmth around this part of you that's feeling tender or judged. If self-compassion had a temperature, What would it be? If it had a texture, Would it be smooth or soft, Flowy, Fluffy? Or maybe it feels solid, Like a grounding sensation or like a safe container. If it moved, How would it move? Like a ripple of water, A warm embrace. How would this self-compassion move? Stay here for a few breaths, Noticing how it feels to approach yourself in this way without judgment, With care, Kindness, Support. Notice if anything softens or shifts, Even if it's just 1%. Let that 1% matter. And begin to come back to this reflection. What does self-criticism feel like in your body? What does self-compassion and self-care feel like in your body? Noticing the difference in posture, Sensations, Feelings, Texture, Temperature, Thoughts, And imagery. And when you offer yourself kindness, Care, And compassionate attention, What does that feel like? Does any part of you resist that support and that care? Coming back to your breath. Taking a few deeper breaths as we begin to come out of this practice. When you're ready, You can start to return to your space, Opening up the eyes if they were closed, Letting light back in, Bringing movement to the body. And continuing forward throughout your day and throughout your week, Continuing to notice those moments where you might be judging yourself, Falling into that story that you're not good enough, Or have fallen short in some way. Noticing those stories, Noticing how they're showing up in the body, And then bringing in compassion and care, And noticing what that feels like instead. Steeping in those moments of self-compassion and self-care. Thank you so much for practicing. I hope that this was helpful. Have a beautiful rest of your day, And take it day by day.