Welcome,
My name is Celia Roberts and I'm from the Biomedical Institute of Yogaring Meditation.
Today we're looking at compassion meditation and the science and research that goes behind the practice.
So we're going to come into our heart space,
Into the actual physical representation of the sternum and chest and bring our attention to this part of the body.
See if you can breathe in and out of the heart space which we call Anahata Akashana Yogic tradition.
Whenever we practice in the Buddhist tradition,
Metta Bhavana,
The idea is that we rest our attention in the heart space before giving compassion to all human beings.
The research done by the HeartMath Institute says that we have an electromagnetic field around the heart that sits at least six feet out from the heart space and increases when we elicit positive emotions such as compassion,
Kindness and calm.
So as you rest in the heart space,
Your attention,
Your physicality and really feel into this region of the body,
Try and breathe in and out from the heart.
So you're regulating the breath.
Compassion Focus Therapy founder Paul Gilbert says we breathe in five,
On the count of five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Breathing out for five,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Breathe in for five and out for five.
Breathe three times at your own pace.
As you even out the breath in this way,
You're actually improving vagal tone and managing your heart rate variability.
Both of these are very important to your mental health and your ability to cope with the moment.
So they will help with PTSD,
Trauma,
Anxiety,
Depression and feelings of shame or even the lack of self-worth.
So breathing in and out of the heart space.
And as you do this,
Start to spread this feeling of compassion around your body.
So I might get you to try and spread it to the hands and to the feet,
A feeling of compassion towards self,
As if you're almost massaging the body with this feeling,
This emotion,
This idea of compassion,
Compassion towards self.
And here we employ the science of psychoneuroendocrine immunology.
So as we start to think about our limbs or certain parts of the body,
We can actually increase the blood flow to that area of the body.
And so as we come into the relaxation response,
As we practice,
Hopefully this reduces cortisol and increases the flow of lymph around the body as well as blood flow in a very gentle way.
So breathing compassion to the face,
To the hands,
To the feet and all over the body.
And really bathe yourself in this sense of kindness towards self,
Self-acceptance,
Kindness and compassion towards oneself.
So you're coming from a compassionate place.
In compassion-focused therapy,
We call it the compassionate self,
Which might be speaking to the anxious,
Depressed self.
And we want to try and pacify those parts of ourselves.
Sending compassion around the body.
This time,
See if you can practice compassion in the eyes.
So really clearly coming into the eyes and feeling a sense of relaxation,
Perhaps,
In the eye muscles as you practice compassion coming from the eyes.
And then from there,
We're going to see if we can offer this compassion from our eyes and our heart to a loved one in front of us.
So you might visualise them or hold them in your heart space and offer loving kindness or compassion to this human being.
Don't you love?
Be careful.
Really wish them well,
Health,
Happiness,
Peace and compassion.
Then from there,
We're going to spread this compassion further and offer it to a neutral person.
So this would be a person who you've met once,
Twice and you either like or dislike.
And you want to spread this compassion to them through,
Again,
The heart space and the eyes and your intent.
Really wishing them well,
Health,
Happiness,
Peace and compassion.
OK,
This time,
As we work with compassion,
We start to work it towards someone who might be difficult for us,
Who's caused us harm.
And we try and remember that they are also suffering as we are.
And sometimes if we heal the suffering that we experience in ourselves,
Then this can heal a relationship that might be fraught with difficulty.
And so all we have is the power to change ourselves and what is within us and the perception and the thought and the feeling within us.
So if you can,
See if you can come from that place of understanding within self and self-compassion for the difficulties you've faced.
And really work hard now to offer this person compassion through understanding suffering,
Suffering in self and suffering in others.
And we want to make sure that at every time in our lives,
Every point in our lives,
We have the ability to suffer.
And this person can benefit from your good intent,
Sending them compassion if you can through the heart and through the eyes.
And then from there,
We'll send compassion to all living beings.
We want to expand the heart space to send compassion to all living beings everywhere,
All living beings everywhere.
All sentient beings,
All forms of life.
And see if you can spread the compassion beyond the physical realms of the body.
So we know that we have this electromagnetic field of the heart and we know that the body has a field of energy that governs it.
And so see if you can expand this heartfelt energy to incorporate all living beings.
And we bring this loving kindness finally back to ourselves,
To our own heart,
To our eyes,
To our lips,
Our face.
And then the other part of the video talks about compassionate posturing.
So just make sure that your posture is one of compassion because the way you breathe affects your mental states and your emotional states.
So if your breathing is easy and free,
Then you'll be more compassionate,
Free of angst and sadness in your breath and body.
So if you're in a compassionate posture,
Soften the whole body,
The limbs,
The spine,
The face,
The eyes.
Again,
Remain with the breath five in and five out.
And know as you come to breathe in and out,
Through the eyes of compassion,
That we change our vagal tone for the better,
Our heart rate variability.
We create epigenetic changes right down to the level of our DNA.
And we actually shrink the size and activity of the amygdala,
Which is a part of the brain that recognises the fear response and can send us into states of trauma,
PTSD or fear.
If we've had those prolonged feelings over a long period of time.
So we reduce the activity and size of the amygdala with compassion,
Mind,
Compassionate mind training.
May you be happy,
May you be healthy,
May you be filled with deep compassion and may you be at peace.
I wish you well.
Thank you.
