Welcome to Community Mindfulness Project's self-compassion meditation.
Inviting you to position yourself in such a way that you feel grounded and supported physically.
Perhaps that's with both of your feet on the floor or just having a sense of balance in your posture.
Bringing attention down into the body,
Sensing into that groundedness and connectedness with whatever is beneath you.
So often we don't pay attention to what is beneath us,
Glossing over it.
But it can be really helpful to turn towards it and notice it.
Maybe there's a sense of being cradled or maybe held up,
Supported.
Sensing into what's beneath you right now.
And so much of life,
We may not have a choice over certain things,
But in other parts of our life we do.
And we can choose how we sit when we meditate.
So just choosing now perhaps how it is that you have your hands.
Maybe you sit with a sense of dignity,
With the sternum raised.
Maybe it's a choice to allow the chin to tilt down just slightly so that we can relieve some of the burden on the back of the neck.
Or it's a choice to separate the teeth and allow the jaw to hang a bit.
Undoing maybe some clenching.
Sort of opening the gates,
Allowing ourselves to feel both the strength and the stability and the dignity,
But also the vulnerability that we can embody.
So noticing now how you've chosen to sit in this moment.
And now just noticing what it's like to be here,
Present for yourself in this moment.
Maybe acknowledging yourself,
Maybe just saying with great kindness to yourself,
I see you and I'm here with you.
And just sitting with yourself as you would sit with a dear friend or loved one that you're offering support to.
And noticing what it's like to offer this care towards yourself.
And noticing too what it feels like to receive that care.
Okay.
Now,
If you like,
Placing one hand on the heart and the other on top of that and taking a moment to sense into what it feels like to offer yourself this gesture of compassion.
You may also try placing a hand on the cheek if you like instead of on the heart.
You may also try placing a hand on the cheek if you like instead of on the heart.
And as we did before,
Sensing into what the experience is like for you to receive this gesture of compassion.
You may also try placing a hand on the cheek if you like instead of on the heart.
And now at your own pace,
Taking three deep breaths,
Paying close attention to what it feels like to breathe this deeply.
And the physiological effect of this is like giving our nervous system a hug.
And now allowing your breath to return to its own natural rhythm and sitting in loving awareness of what that feels like.
Maybe like sitting next to a loved one and witnessing their breathing.
If you like placing a hand on the belly and feeling it rise and fall,
Move in and out with each breath.
And maybe using this as an opportunity to let go of some of the control that we like to have in our lives,
Just practicing letting go of that need to control by just letting the breath flow at its own natural pace.
Now,
Inviting you to extend to yourself a wish for your own well-being.
If you're experiencing a challenge in your life,
Anything from the way you judge yourself or illness,
Loss,
A struggle at work,
Just offering a wish for an end to that discomfort.
And you can use traditional phrases or a tailor-made phrase that resonates with you just in this moment.
And the traditional phrases include,
May I be free from suffering?
May I be free from inner and outer harm?
May I live with ease?
May I be at peace?
And one that sometimes is not traditional but very helpful,
May I cut myself some slack?
So selecting the phrases that resonate with you and offering them to yourself as a gift,
Repeating them to yourself.
And if the mind comes up with narratives or stories,
Knowing that there's ample time for that later on and just coming back to rest in this sense of caring for yourself.
That's Johnston breaths.
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And now inviting you to envision a circle of friends and loved ones,
Mentors,
Benefactors,
Teachers,
Coaches,
Neighbors,
Picturing everyone that has cared for you in ways large and small throughout your life.
Your team.
Pausing to notice who's on this team for you.
Taking that in.
Taking that in.
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Now feeling the love and the care that they have sent your way and are sending your way.
Either envisioning the words that these individuals might use to offer you care,
Or just resting in the felt sense of their love and care.
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Now offering a wish of well-being to the circle of loved ones,
To your team,
Either through a phrase or just a felt sense of outpouring of kindness.
Either offering it to each individually or to them as a group.
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