Welcome to this meditation where we will be focusing on compassion.
In meditation we are aware and mindful of where we are placing our focus.
In Buddhism there is a practice of watering the seeds in our store consciousness.
One of those seeds is the seed of compassion.
And in this meditation we are going to water and nurture that seed of compassion.
So give yourself a moment to arrive into what here feels like.
Noticing the inside of your experience.
Hearing thoughts,
Observing emotions,
Physical sensations.
In as much or as little detail as feels helpful to you at this moment.
This is what here feels like.
This is what now feels like.
And so my invitation to you as you gather your awareness and you gather your focus.
Is to lean into the quality or the trait that you associate with compassion.
What characterizes compassion is that sense of kindness,
Generosity,
Connectedness.
Yeah.
It often has a warm,
Gentle,
Yeah,
Very specific quality to it.
Notice what that feels like for you.
We often associate compassion more with others.
With that sense of desire to help or be of support to somebody else.
It can be helpful to get a sense of what it feels like when we feel compassionate to others.
So that we can draw on that feeling as we bring in the practice of compassion to ourselves.
Many of us find it easier to be compassionate to others than to be compassionate to ourselves.
So in whatever way you find it easy or easier to connect with compassion in this moment.
Lean into that.
What are some of the thoughts,
The emotions,
The physical sensations that you connect with,
That you experience when you lean into compassion.
Give yourself a breath and just be present with that feeling.
You may find that thoughts come and go and that your feelings ebb and flow.
This is all part of the practice.
Whenever you notice that your breath is your portal to now.
Connecting with the sensations of breath.
And using your breath to lean into compassion.
So that breathing can get the sensation of a compassionate act.
You and you taking a breath together.
You can water the seeds of compassion.
Whether you are feeling good about yourself or bad about yourself.
At any time,
Watering the seeds of compassion,
Just like you are doing now,
Is a way of growing and strengthening your compassion.
Just like a seed can take its time to make it up through the surface of the soil.
And it takes seasons,
It takes rain,
Sun,
Nurture,
Nutrients to grow.
So it is with our compassion.
It can feel a lot easier to water the seeds of compassion when we are feeling good about ourselves.
So this is also an invitation to remember to be compassionate to ourselves when we don't feel so good about ourselves.
Or when we feel that we have not been skilful.
We can often shame ourselves or criticize ourselves when we have done something unskillful.
And in some ways,
That's when we need our own compassion the most.
Just like we are likely to be coined to a good friend in their hour of need.
The invitation here is for you to give yourself that gift.
Being present with yourself as much as you are able to in this moment.
And sometimes it's only a little bit.
And that is enough.
And through that practice of watering your seed of compassion,
You can feel it grow.
You can feel it strengthen.
You can feel it become more and more sturdy.
So notice what it feels like to imagine that.
To get a sense of that.
When more and more of your time,
Of your day is rooted in compassion.
As we come to the end of this meditation,
My invitation to you is to give yourself a breath.
And a moment to absorb and observe what here feels like.
And what thoughts,
Emotions and physical sensations you have noticed during this meditation.
Remember,
Feelings are always information.
And it is more helpful to be curious than critical.
