Let's begin this meditation on compassion with a brief mindful check-in.
Getting ready to hear the bell,
To listen to the bell,
Just get comfortable,
Relaxed,
And open in the posture,
Listening.
Let's tune into the body resting here,
Feeling points of contact,
Feet touching down,
Parts of the legs,
The buttocks,
Noticing pressure,
Temperature,
Texture,
Parts of the back,
Arms,
Hands resting,
Feeling held and supported by the chair,
By the earth,
And noticing any sensations throughout the body.
What's here now?
Being the witness,
The loving awareness that knows this is how the body feels right now,
Allowing any tension to soften and checking in with common areas of tension for you,
Which may include the eyes,
The jaw,
Neck and shoulders,
And the belly.
Noticing now any areas of ease in the body,
Even just one area of ease or relaxation.
And now taking a moment to check in with the mind state,
If the mind is wild or beginning to settle or resting.
Checking in now with emotions.
What emotions are here,
If any?
Naming them silently to yourself,
Feeling emotions,
And noticing if you feel an emotion in the body or if there's an absence of emotion,
Acknowledging this.
Now bringing awareness to breathing,
Deepening the breath,
Slower flowing breath,
Allowing any tension to soften with the exhalation.
With the inhalation,
Bringing in nourishment,
Comfort,
Whatever's needed now.
With each exhalation,
Letting go of anything that's not useful.
After the next exhalation,
Releasing the deep breath,
Noticing any effects,
And feeling the natural gentle breath rhythm.
Invite in the heart-focused breathing,
Imagining an opening at the center of the chest or two like nostrils,
Envisioning breathing into the center of the chest all the way in toward the spinal column.
The breath touches the heart.
And with the exhalation,
Breathing forth from here.
And this can be a simple way to offer to yourself and receive loving attention.
As I guide us in a meditative reflection on compassion,
Know that whatever you experience is the practice.
So it's complementary to mindfulness and utilizes mindfulness.
So whatever's here,
Noticing with curiosity,
With care.
And if at any point you need to let go of the meditative reflection and just come back to the breath or the heart-focused breath,
Then trust yourself.
So the practice is as simple as is appropriate.
Now call into your awareness,
Into your heart,
An uncomfortable,
Intense,
Or unwanted emotion that you felt recently,
Such as anger or hatred,
Harshness,
Greed,
Jealousy,
Fear,
Or sadness.
And if there's any intense physical discomfort,
You can use this meditative reflection on compassion or physical discomfort.
So choosing something specific,
An uncomfortable,
Intense,
Or unwanted emotion or mind state,
Naming it.
And notice how you feel about that emotion or experience and any specific thoughts about it.
Do you wish it were different?
Are you ashamed of it?
Do you dislike yourself for it?
Do you feel you should have been able to prevent it from arising?
Or do you consider yourself bad or wrong for this feeling or experience?
And notice what happens if you translate any sense of bad,
Wrong,
Or defective to painful,
Recognizing that this uncomfortable or intense experience in combination with the feelings and thoughts about it is a painful state.
It's a state of suffering.
Notice what happens to your relationship to that feeling as you make this translation.
Notice if you feel the intensity in your body,
The anger,
The frustration,
The fear,
Whatever it may be,
Now held with compassion and kindness.
Observe various sensations such as tightening or constriction and sense the nature of the compassion that is holding it,
That is surrounding it.
So being aware of both the pain and the compassion.
And you may find it useful here to repeat a phrase silently to yourself,
Such as,
I'm sorry you're hurting,
Or may I,
In my suffering,
Be held in compassion?
May I be held with love?
And you also may find it useful to place a hand on your heart,
I'm so sorry you're hurting.
I'm sorry this is hard.
Whatever rings true for you in this moment.
Reflect on the fact that we can't control the arising of these feelings or sensations.
We didn't invite them,
We didn't wish for them,
But as conditions come together,
They arise,
And we can see them.
We don't need to be overcome by them,
Defined by them,
Fall into them,
Act from them.
But we're actually not able to prevent them from arising.
This is just in the nature of being human.
We can commit ourselves to being aware of them,
Recognizing their painful nature,
Having compassion for ourselves.
I'm sorry this is hard.
And when it feels appropriate,
Letting go.
Simply feeling the body resting here,
Breathing the heart-focused breath,
Being present with however you're feeling.
You may find it helpful to say to yourself,
I've got you.
I'm here with you,
I'll breathe with you through this difficult moment.
Experiment with offering compassion to yourself and to all others who are going through,
Who are experiencing something similar at this moment.
May I and all others experiencing something similar be held in compassion for myself and all others.
I'm sorry,
This is so hard.
I'm sorry you're hurting.
May we feel held by love,
Allowing space to notice any sensations throughout the body,
However you're feeling,
Breath by breath,
Moment by moment.
One more minute,
Heart-focused breath,
Being present with whatever is within you now for yourself and all beings.
May we be safe.
May we be filled with deep healing and goodness.
May we be held by love.
