Welcome,
Dear one.
This is your self-led morning practice.
And today we awaken one of the most luminous qualities of self.
The energy of compassion.
Take a moment to anchor into your seat for the next few breaths.
Allow your body to find a deep nourishing rhythm.
Breath flowing in and breath flowing out.
As you breathe,
Notice how your chest rises and falls.
Notice how,
With each breath,
There is a little more space for you simply to be.
Let your breath guide you inward,
Towards the inner landscape of your being.
And for a few moments,
Just contemplate what compassion feels like inside your own body.
How much compassion do you feel for yourself this morning?
How much compassion do you feel for others,
For the world,
For humanity?
Compassion is what makes us truly human.
Compassion is what connects us,
Heart to heart,
Through our shared fragility and suffering.
Notice what happens inside when your heart wants to feel into the energy of compassion.
Does your heart open easily?
Or does it feel like a little distant?
Maybe hidden behind layers of some sort of judgment,
Criticism.
Sometimes there are parts of us that struggle with compassion.
Parts that are hard on ourselves,
Self-critical,
Analytical,
Guarded.
When those parts take over,
We begin to move away from our heart center.
And instead of feeling for,
We begin to judge,
Reject,
Or gaslight ourselves and others.
Now gently turn towards those parts.
The ones that criticize,
Maybe compare,
Or guard your tender heart.
You may notice an inner critic,
That harsh voice that doesn't accept.
That part of us that says,
Don't feel,
Don't be vulnerable,
Don't be weak.
Just take a moment to notice this part and kind of stand by it.
Notice how these harsh voices fill in your body,
Where they leave,
And how much space they take today.
The question we need to ask is,
Do these voices remind you of someone?
A familiar tone from the past?
Maybe a teacher,
A parent,
Or someone from your life who once carried their own judgment,
Criticism.
These parts learn to protect.
Protect you through criticism and control.
They believe that by being hard,
They could keep you safe from rejection,
From exposure,
From shame.
So just for the first time,
Open your heart instead of pushing them away.
Open your heart with compassion towards these guys within.
Let them know,
With love,
I see how hard you work.
I get why you do this.
Thank you for trying to protect me.
Let these parts feel your presence.
Let these parts feel your compassion.
That warm,
Gentle awareness that doesn't need them to be any different,
Doesn't reject them,
Doesn't hide them,
Just welcomes them.
Notice what happens in your system as compassion meets the critic.
Does something soften?
At this point,
Simply let guarded parts know that today you are stronger,
Wiser,
And in a much better place to take care of yourself and them.
There are other ways to be safe today.
Ways that don't require hardness,
Control,
And closing one's heart.
So invite your parts,
The critics,
The protectors,
The ones afraid of rejection,
To gently soften and relax in your heart and your body.
And as you let them feel your presence,
Your maturity,
Your steady,
Grounded self,
Notice if they soften.
Can you sense your heart space opening just a little more with a warm glow,
With that current of compassion flowing outward?
Let the compassion flood your system.
Compassion towards your own parts,
Your own inner world,
Your own journey.
Compassion to your fellow humans,
Companions,
To the world around you.
Allow your whole inner world bathe in this radiant,
Gentle,
Unconditional acceptance.
Extending this warmth towards people in your life,
Even your tormentors,
Those who challenge you,
Those who trigger you.
Maybe now you can glimpse they are suffering too.
Maybe you can see their loneliness,
Their fears,
Their human experience.
So allow the flood of that compassion from your heart touch them lightly.
Not from pity,
But from clarity.
Heart to heart and soul to soul.
Let the compassion,
This warm vibration pouring right back into your own system,
Into your own body.
Healing.
Loving.
May your morning be soaked in the energy of compassion.
This very sacred quality of self heals and unites all of us.
Thank you for meditating with me.
Blessings for your day.
