Alright,
We're going to do another compassion practice.
And so once again,
I want you to close your eyes if that's comfortable for you.
And you can have your hands just resting in your lap.
Or if you like,
You can be clasping your hands.
And that clasping is kind of like an extra bit of support or an extra bit of scaffolding.
Nice move.
And we start off noticing our breathing.
Noticing those points of contact with chair or floor,
Hands.
We're noticing temperature,
Clothing against skin.
And so as we're breathing in,
We breathe in with the intention that each breath is bringing with it a sense of kindness,
Of support.
And compassion for yourself.
So in case I didn't mention it before,
We can invite in that soothing breathing rhythm as that bit of extra support.
And you might choose some other words.
And that might be that each in-breath is bringing in or you're inviting in a sense of safety.
A sense of rest.
Maybe a recognition that you've been really kind of pushing hard with everything that's going on.
And that you're opening to this possibility of softening.
So we don't have to feel anything in particular.
It's not like the successful outcome is to feel some kind of warm glow with unicorns prancing on rainbows or whatever else.
It might feel kind of cool and neutral.
So it's that recognition that extending kindness towards yourself,
Especially if you've kind of been a bit defensive,
That that act of intending to breathe in kindness might make you feel just a little vulnerable.
That you might have needed to be defensive at different points in your life.
And that fundamentally that defensiveness,
That part serves a protective function.
It's doing its best to keep you safe.
That's your brain's job number one,
Keep you safe.
Not make you happy,
Keep you safe.
So we're kind of inching towards this possibility that we might slow down a little and have each breath bring in these qualities of kindness,
Of ease.
And you can play around with the words a bit.
You might silently say to yourself as you breathe in,
May I,
And as you breathe out say,
Be at ease.
May I be safe.
May I give myself permission to take a break from striving and struggling.
Even for just a moment or two as an experiment.
And you might even imagine that as you're breathing these qualities in that they are slowly kind of inching their way throughout your body and mind.
That they're bringing a sense of warmth and safety and support.
So we can have all sorts of different reactions to this or responses.
So one response might be that we kind of don't really feel anything,
Just kind of feel a bit numb,
Maybe a bit tired.
And if that's our experience,
That we can send this kind of wish to that numbness.
That even though we might not particularly like it,
Because it feels maybe a bit unpleasant,
Some kind of recognition or acknowledgement that it is actually okay to feel that.
That that part has a job to do and it really wants to do that job well.
But sometimes it might not always do it so skillfully or it might switch on at a time when it's not necessarily going to best meet our needs in this moment.
Sometimes when we extend this kindness to ourselves or this permission to be at rest or this invitation to safety,
That we get a bit more of that kind of back-drafty type response where we are inclining our minds towards kindness,
But what comes back in response is some kind of agitation or discomfort or just feeling unsettled.
And so if that arises,
Just as we did for neutral,
We might even silently name that feeling,
Perhaps where it's experienced in the body.
We might even extend a kind acknowledgement to it,
Like a recognition that it believes it's got a job to do to keep us safe.
And that sometimes it might get a little over-enthusiastic in that job.
And we stay in that window of tolerance as best we can and we can always choose to back off a bit,
Put the brakes on,
And just go back to breathing.
So as the breath continues,
The qualities are invited to permeate our bodies and minds to greater and greater degrees.
And if what we're noticing,
If the elements of our experience have this pleasant feeling tone to them,
And taking some care to essentially notice how you know it feels pleasant,
Or just notice the fact that it is pleasant.
And we're just spending a bit more time staying with the pleasantness of that experience,
If that's what's happening for you.
Sometimes it can also be helpful to see if the pleasantness expands.
So we might notice a softening in our jaw,
And we might sense down into our neck to see if it's there as well.
And we're looking to get this kind of experiential semantic knowing of extending this kindness towards ourselves,
And this permission,
This softening.
And sometimes this might be the first time we've done something like this,
So we can feel a little awkward,
A little uncertain.
It's like we're just learning to navigate around a new town or a city,
Getting to know the streets,
Knowing where shops are,
Parks and things like that.
Alright,
When you're ready,
A few deeper breaths,
Gently opening your eyes.
