Meditation for Recovery 6: Four Basic Needs

A meditation on loving-kindness through responding to ourselves with attention, affection, appreciation & acceptance. Music by Yeshe Chodron.

Transcript

Hello,

I'm Vimala Sara.

Welcome to day six,

Another day of loving kindness.

You can learn to cultivate more loving kindness in your life by paying attention to yourself.

Today,

The music has been arranged and composed by Yeshe Shodran,

Also known as Laurie Lesk.

To maintain recovery,

You need psychological independence.

This is an important aspect of sobriety.

You cultivate a sober mind that does not depend on substances or other people to feel okay.

You develop this independency by nourishing your heart with attention,

Affection,

Appreciation and acceptance.

You learn to cultivate these needs for yourself.

When you give yourself attention,

Affection,

Appreciation and acceptance,

You will no longer desperately seek approval from others.

You can begin to experience peace of mind.

So let's spend the next 16 minutes cultivating these basic needs.

Now,

Let's take a deep breath in and gently breathe out.

Get yourself comfortable wherever you are.

Firstly,

Practicing giving yourself attention,

Paying attention to yourself with warmth.

You could bring to mind a favourite photo of yourself and notice yourself as best you can with a sense of warmth.

Attention,

Noticing yourself.

Go on,

Look at yourself with a smile,

Giving yourself some attention.

Secondly,

Practicing giving yourself some affection,

Looking at yourself with warm,

Kind eyes.

Perhaps literally giving yourself a hug or if you are in public,

Just imagining holding yourself.

Affection,

Looking at yourself in a mirror or at a photo with warm eyes,

Giving yourself some affection.

Now,

Let's take a deep breath in and give yourself some attention.

Get yourself comfortable with the feeling of warmth.

Thirdly,

Practicing giving yourself appreciation.

You could appreciate that you have stepped onto the road of recovery.

You could appreciate that you are willing to listen to this meditation and are trying to make real changes in your life.

Appreciation,

Appreciating yourself for being open to maintaining a sober mind.

Giving yourself some appreciation.

And fourthly,

Practicing learning to accept yourself.

As best you can,

Being willing to be with yourself and face yourself without judging or putting yourself down.

Acceptance,

Accepting yourself right now in this moment.

Letting go of judgments and accepting yourself.

Giving yourself some self-acceptance.

Thank you.

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 This is Vimalasara wishing you a day full of cultivating attention,

Affection,

Appreciation and acceptance towards yourself.

Reviews

At 8+ years into recovery, I didn’t realize how much I needed what was offered in this meditation, or really what I was able to practice offering to myself during it. Thanks you.

AAAA and 5⭐ . Deep bow Vimalasara. Such a simple yet effective practice. The ryhthm of this meditation is great to focus without tension. Music is wisely added. 🙏I will go back to it to anchor myself.

Deeply helpful! Some of the pauses were long and my attention wandered a bit, but by the end I felt much more connected to myself. Thank you.

The meditation was absolutely outstanding! So glad I found Vimalasara!

Thank you loved this meditation! Shall practice through out the day! Namaste 🙏

Thanks so much really appreciated this!

Thank you very much

more time with this one than others of hers to meditate in silence which I love.

Thank you!😊
This meditation is absolutely amazing. In loving and accepting myself more I begin to feel more confident and ready to take on the next steps to come in my recovery process. I like that there is a little more time without words and I'm am forced to really focus on myself. The intervals of speaking were great to bring me back incase my mind wandered also. This is one of my favorites for sure. I find the timing between
each part was perfect for me. Thank you!!! Great meditation❗ 🤗🙏

I wasn't expecting no chant, but I liked the silence. Helped me see where my mind was at.

Perfect message and the time after each direction was just right

Thank you for the wonderful meditations on loving kindness towards myself.

Thank you so much! May we all be well

Wonderful meditation. I love the silences with music between instructions. Very rare and unusual but excellent!

I like it! The 4 A's. Attention, Affection, Appreciation and Acceptance.

The music, her voice, and instruction were wonderful! Attention, affection, appreciation, and acceptance, so i had the 3 A's: Awareness, acceptance, action...and now i have the 4 A's for my self! FYI, it helped me to think of how i treat others i love, how i look at them and then apply that to myself, and also how people who love me must look at me (sister/ husband/good friend) and try "looking at myself through their glasses". Thank you-much gratitude!

Nice mix of piano music and guidance. Very relaxing and helpful.

Wonderfully helpful. Appreciate the message and length as well

Beautiful, thank you