Many times in life we could be our own worst critic,
Criticizing ourselves for something maybe we're doing at work,
With friends or family,
Kind of creating our own misery and being self-judgmental and critical.
It's very important to take a self-compassionate view.
So many times with heart-based meditations in the Eastern traditions,
People focus very quickly on others,
Which is very important that we think beyond ourselves.
We're not just thinking in a selfish way that all these holistic health practices are for only us.
But the truth is that in these traditions,
You always start with yourself before you move to others.
The tradition states you start with yourself,
Then you put your awareness on a loved one,
Then a neutral person,
Then someone you have difficulty with,
And then all sentient beings.
So what I want to focus on in this practice is bringing this sense of self-compassion to yourself.
So in a very meaningful way,
You bring kindness and compassion to yourself.
So we're going to do that through what's traditionally called the four immeasurables,
Which is working with feelings of kindness,
Or some people call it loving kindness,
Compassion,
Joy or empathetic joy,
And finally,
Equanimity.
So take in a seat,
Or if you're just really tired,
You could lie down and just really relax,
Recognizing that this time is very important.
It's not you checking out,
That bringing this health and healing practice for yourself is of utmost importance.
So taking a couple just relaxing breaths,
Relaxing the body,
And bringing attention to just how you feel,
Not judging it right now,
Not trying to change it.
First,
Connect with the quality of kindness,
And you could say to yourself,
May I be safe and well,
Really feeling that emotion,
Not letting it be superficial,
Not just saying the words,
But that you really deserve to be safe and well.
Next move to the feeling of compassion and embodying that feeling of compassion.
You may say to yourself,
May I be free of suffering,
That could be physical,
Psychological.
Once again,
I want you to connect deep to that feeling.
We're not saying these words superficially,
Just to kind of get the practice over with,
But truly embodying that feeling of compassion for yourself,
To free yourself of suffering,
To let it go.
Third,
We move to the quality of joy.
This feeling that the one thing that connects us as human beings is that we all want to be happy.
We all want to experience joy in our lives.
You could say to yourself,
May I experience happiness and contentment in my day-to-day life?
Making a reminder to yourself,
What are the things that bring you happiness and joy?
And making a point to do those in your day-to-day life and not get carried away with responsibilities and work,
But making time every day to take part in activities that bring you more happiness and joy.
This might be socializing with friends and family,
Might be exercise,
Might be time out in nature.
Whatever it is that brings you more happiness and joy,
Make that a priority,
Because this is the number one priority for your life.
And the fourth quality is this feeling of equanimity.
This is a deeper practice and essentially a deeper,
Essential way of experiencing life,
Which is that your happiness,
Your joy,
Essentially a feeling of contentment,
Is not dependent on what happens in the outside world,
The ups and downs of how people act to you,
The ups and downs of what happens at work,
The ups and downs of how people are relating to you.
That you could connect to a deep sense of contentment.
That's essentially your core being,
And whenever you need to,
You can connect to that and cultivate that sense.
That just simply being alive on this planet,
Experiencing the miraculous and magical nature of existence and reality,
That you could find just really simple pleasures and very simple things.
And just surfing out ups and downs,
But always being able to come back to this deep sense of calm,
Joyful awareness.
So this is a beautiful practice to come back to in your daily life.
Just connecting for yourself,
This feeling of kindness,
Compassion,
Joy,
And equanimity.
