Self-Compassion Meditation For Highly Sensitive People

This meditation calls on us to practice self-compassion in our everyday lives. We will explore our emotions and feelings around challenging situations and how to acknowledge and process them with self-love and kindness in healthy and productive ways.

Transcript

Hello my highly sensitive friends.

This is Tanya and welcome to your self-compassion meditation.

In this meditation,

I'll invite you to think about a situation in your life right now.

Something that is difficult for you.

Maybe you're feeling stressed or you're having a problem with a relationship.

Perhaps you're worried about something that might happen.

I invite you to think of something that is difficult,

But not overwhelmingly difficult,

Especially if you are new to practicing self-compassion.

Let's begin.

Find a comfortable seat,

Whatever that means for you.

Elongate your spine and close your eyes.

If closing your eyes is not a safe feeling for you,

Then just soften your gaze onto something that is nearby.

Soften your body,

Allowing your legs to become heavy,

Releasing your shoulders away from your ears,

And letting go of any tension you may be holding in your jaw.

Simply tune into your breath and just deepen it slightly.

Take a few more deep breaths in and out through your nose to center yourself,

And just to start focusing on where you are now.

Take a few moments to survey your body,

Adjusting yourself to make it as comfortable as possible.

Any clothing that might be uncomfortable,

Or maybe your cushion or pillow isn't straight.

Don't ignore any of these small details.

When parts of our body are still asking for attention,

They're not completely at ease,

And this can continue to disturb our central nervous system as we go into meditation.

Now let's turn our attention to our breath.

Inhaling through our nose,

Just being aware of our breath as it fills our lungs.

Our belly rises,

And without pausing,

Just begin to exhale,

Just allowing the rhythmic nature of our breath to take over,

Inhaling and exhaling,

Flowing effortlessly from one moment to the next.

As we focus on our difficult situation,

Getting in touch with it,

What's going on,

Maybe what has happened or what might happened,

Who said what,

Just taking a few moments now to bring that situation to life inside your mind.

Together we'll practice a series of phrases to help us remember three components of self-compassion so we can call on them when we are in need.

The first phrase is simply one of acknowledgement.

This is a moment of suffering.

This is a moment of suffering.

When we call on this phrase,

We are bringing mindful awareness to the fact that suffering is present in our lives,

That no matter how much we try to avoid it,

To deny it or run from it,

That suffering is part of our experience on this earth.

I invite you to find words that you can relate to,

Language that speaks to you and the situation that you're focusing on.

Perhaps the words,

This is really hard right now,

Or I'm really struggling.

When we acknowledge that we are in a moment or a place of suffering in our lives,

We're actually turning toward our difficulty,

Acknowledging it,

Naming it.

This is a moment of suffering.

If this way of thinking is new to you,

It's common to feel resistance.

If you're feeling reluctant to acknowledging that suffering is a part of living,

It's perfectly fine to feel this way.

It's part of our nature.

Simply sit with this feeling for a few moments,

Watching it.

We'll take a couple of minutes now to sit with this phrase.

This is simply a moment of suffering.

The longer we sit with our resistance,

The more we can get to know it and where it's coming from within us.

It's going to be different for each of us,

And the source of our resistance will change over time.

But for now,

We're only building awareness through acknowledgement.

Let's begin.

Our second phrase for self compassion builds our understanding.

Suffering is a part of life.

Suffering is a part of life.

When we call on this phrase,

We are reminding ourselves of our common humanity.

Although on many levels we're aware that suffering is a part of life,

Understanding that we cannot avoid it is never easy.

In our lives there is the reality of suffering,

And when we understand and recognize the fact,

Then we are free from it.

The only way out is to recognize it when it appears,

Get to know it intimately,

And go through it to come out the other side.

We do this by giving wise attention to whatever arises in our experience,

Instead of what we often do.

Ignoring,

Wallowing,

Maybe romanticizing,

Struggling,

Or endlessly distracting ourselves to escape from it.

Again,

Find the word or language that speaks to you.

Perhaps you would say,

It's normal to feel this way,

Or many people are suffering going through similar situations.

Our situations and degrees of suffering may be different.

The types of suffering may be different,

But suffering is a piece of life,

Part of being human.

When we bring our attention to understanding that suffering is a part of life,

We begin on a path that leads to a more satisfying and authentic,

Highly sensitive life.

Let's take a couple of minutes now to sit with this phrase,

Suffering is a part of life.

Remember,

The more we sit with any resistance to these phrases,

And where it's coming from within us,

The closer we come to freedom.

Our last phrase is,

How may I be kind to myself in this moment?

When we call on this question,

We're reminding ourselves that compassionate acceptance is always available to us.

When we ask ourselves,

How may I be kind to myself in this moment of suffering,

We can begin to see ourselves in a new way,

With less judgment and prejudice,

Admitting to ourselves that it is difficult,

Even painful at times,

To acknowledge these truths of suffering.

But if we wish to honestly know something of who we truly are,

We must look deeply inside ourselves,

Especially as we are confronted with the suffering of impermanence and the inevitability of change,

And that we are at the mercy of these conditions regardless of how much we resist or protest or try to control the outcomes.

I invite you now to put your hands over your heart or some other place on your body that feels soothing and comforting.

Feeling the warmth of your hands,

The gentle touch,

Allowing feelings of care,

Compassion and kindness to stream through your fingers and into all the places where your sensitivity,

Your emotions and your suffering hide within your body,

Your mind and your heart.

How may I be kind to myself in this moment?

Using any language that comes to you now that supports this kindness,

Maybe it's words that you would use with a good friend you care about who was going through a very similar situation.

Perhaps the words,

I'm here for you.

It's going to be okay.

I care about you.

Using any language that feels natural to you as we take a couple of minutes now to sit with the question,

How may I be kind to myself in this moment?

Bringing our awareness back now as we begin to let go of this practice and noticing how our body feels in this moment,

Allowing any sensations to just be as they are,

Allowing ourselves to simply be.

As we open our eyes,

We'll carry these phrases with us throughout the rest of the day.

I wish you wellness,

Joy,

And freedom.

Reviews

I enjoyed this, learning self kindness. Your voice is gentle kind as well as very soothing, thank you! 💚

Comforting and helpful meditation. Your voice is reassuring and easy to listen to. Thank you🙏.

Wonderful expansion of Kristin Neff’s work! Thank you ❤️

A lovely meditation, I’d find it helpful to have the phrases in writing as written and auditory cues are more easily processed & remembered by my brain than auditory cues alone but apart from that I really enjoyed it, thank you 🙏🏻 😊

i’m saving this to my favorites. i was able to give myself so much self compassion 🙏

This was so helpful. My highly sensitive soul thanks you for the practical ways to look at suffering and to be compassionate for myself. ❤️

thank you for this!