Welcome to your practice.
Empathy is a natural state of open-mindedness and open-heartedness that results when we turn our attention to whatever is alive in ourselves or another without any judgment about it.
But we just simply allow it to be as it is,
As a fact of existence.
Now this can take practice because judgments are also very natural,
As is attachment and aversion.
So if we experience judgments or attachment or aversion,
We allow this to be as well.
And this allows us a deeper level of self-empathy and empathy for others.
In this particular meditation,
We'll practice connecting fully to what's alive in this moment for us,
And we'll use this as a doorway into the thoughts,
The beliefs,
The feelings,
And the needs that are all activated in our present experience.
When we allow all of these aspects of our experience to simply be by welcoming them fully,
Accepting them as they are,
We've sown seeds of insight in greater heart opening and connection.
And more importantly,
We're cultivating a trust that every single thing that arises in our experience and the experience of others can be a doorway into deeper connection.
So begin by just settling into where you are,
Taking a few deep breaths,
And just checking in with your state of mind,
With your emotions,
With your body sensations.
Just notice what's flowing through in this moment.
All right?
As you're bringing your attention to your internal state of experience,
Choose one thing that you'd like to focus on,
Whether it's a thought or an emotion or a sensation or desire.
This is just something wanting your conscious embrace.
It's the way that the body knows to bring information to consciousness.
As you begin to focus on it and bring it more into your awareness,
See if you can also relax with it at the same time,
To just allow it to be and exist as it is,
As you focus on it,
As you relate with it.
It may change and morph as you do this.
That's okay.
You're flowing with it.
Associated with this life that's arising in you are thoughts,
Emotions,
Body sensations and desires,
And underneath all of that is actually information about what's precious to you,
What you value and what you're moving towards,
Your vision.
So let thoughts arise now that are associated with this and just notice them with curiosity and openness.
You can pick several thoughts if they're all related or you can just hone in on one.
But associated with this is a range of feelings or emotions.
What are the feelings that arise in relation to these thoughts?
And then give it a name,
Like feeling hopeful or sad or happy or peaceful.
Whatever it is,
Just name it.
Let those feelings deepens you.
Now,
These emotions are connected to values or needs,
Visions,
Or an essence of what you want that's underneath them.
So what might you be wanting or what might you value that's underneath these emotions?
Perhaps longing for more love or care,
Connection,
Harmony,
Movement,
Learning.
Whatever it is,
Connect with what you might be wanting at the essence level that's underneath these emotions.
Notice as you connect with your values,
What you're wanting,
You may also find that there's a very particular person that you want to meet these needs in a very particular way at a very particular time.
Even if the person in this case is you,
Try to bring your attention just to the need itself.
Let all the particular specific circumstances surrounding this longing and this desire just bring you closer to the preciousness of the value itself.
Keep bringing yourself back to the need energy itself of just love or just care or just rest.
How precious that is for you,
How much it enhances your life,
How valuable it is to you.
Letting all the specifics of circumstance drop away as you continue to build more connection to this longing and life and desire in you.
And now allow yourself a deep breath.
Just to settle in to what's arising for you now anew in this moment.
We're going to go one level deeper now beyond presence and begin to get curious about any beliefs that may have been activated by our thoughts,
Emotions,
And connection to our needs.
A belief is like the glue that holds all these things together.
It connects our thoughts and our emotions and our needs.
Our beliefs tell us whether our needs are met to our satisfaction or not.
So they have an enormous amount of power over our experience.
So we'll bring mindfulness to them as well.
You can often find a belief by asking the question,
What would I have to believe is true in order to have the experience that I'm having right now?
Beliefs can often be disguised as hopes or fears,
Shoulds or should nots,
Expectations or judgments.
With all this in mind,
What are you telling yourself must be true about yourself,
About others,
Or about the world for your experience to be what it was.
Beliefs are very important ways that we manage the complexity of reality by simplifying into manageable chunks.
When we don't update our beliefs consciously,
It's very often the case that other people's beliefs are working within us,
Either from the culture at large,
Our family,
Or our friends.
So when a belief is tied to something potentially limiting for us,
It's important to bring compassion to that,
To realize this is the best sense we could make of it at the time.
But there might be something truer.
There might be something more empowering.
There might be something more heart opening.
One way to make a belief more heart opening is to make an assumption that everyone is doing the best with the resources that they have,
And that they care to the best that their heart will allow them to express that care in a safe way.
So tell yourself a story where everyone in the story looks like they care and that they're trying their best,
Given their own limitations and resources.
Update your belief to make it more heart opening now.
We can also update this belief by making it more empowering so that when we think it,
It turns into an affirmation that mobilizes resources in the direction of manifesting what we want.
What's one way you can make this belief even more empowering so that when you think it,
It moves you in the direction of manifesting what you want and aligns you more with your values.
You've done very powerful work.
You've brought mindfulness,
Compassion,
Clarity,
And connection to all the aspects of your being.
And you've explored some of the beliefs underneath this experience as well as updated them so that seeds can be sown for better beliefs that are more empowering and more true and more current and authentic so that you can manifest more of what you want to create and be aligned with your values.
Blessings friend.
May you be well.
