Cultivating Self-Compassion With Mind-Body Connection (6)

Hello,

Good afternoon everyone.

I am really happy to see you all.

Let me also start with a short self-introduction.

My name is Diana Mirzaeva.

I am a Mind-Body Connection coach,

A psychosomatic specialist and a meditation teacher.

Here on Insight Timer I have a Build Mind-Body Connection course which is available in English and in Spanish.

The Quantum Energy course which focuses on the inner work with ourselves,

Our energy,

Our states.

And I also give private consultations and I have an eight-week exclusive coaching program which is available to start in November.

If some of you guys will be interested in that you can find more information on my profile page here.

And I'm always glad to connect with you guys,

With the community from Insight Timer.

So don't hesitate to send me a direct message if you have any questions or you would like to connect or to work together.

And I am sure that all of you guys know the topic that we are all here today for.

We will concentrate on self-compassion in regards with the Mind-Body Connection.

We will explore what self-compassion is.

We will see different practices or techniques that will nurture the deeper self-compassion,

Our overall well-being,

And of course harmony between our minds and bodies.

And at the end we will have a closing self-compassion meditation.

And I can say that self-compassion it is first of all a practice.

Practice when you treat yourself with the same kindness someone close,

To a good friend,

To a family member,

To a pet,

During the times of suffering,

Failure,

Or simply when you're experiencing uncomfortable emotions.

The practice of self-compassion involves being mindful of your own struggles and responding to these struggles with empathy and non-judgment,

Supporting yourself.

And in regards to Mind-Body Connection,

I can certainly say that self-compassion is crucial for the Mind-Body Connection because it encourages us to be aware of our mental and emotional states without self-criticism.

So this awareness fosters a healthier relationship with ourselves and positively impacts our health,

Physical and mental health,

Our stress levels,

And overall well-being.

And I'm sure that we're able at some moments of your life to notice the benefits of self-compassion.

If you don't mind,

Please let me know what benefits of self-compassion do you find for yourself?

Self-compassion help you in the past?

How does it support you throughout your life?

And of course,

If you were not able to experience self-compassion yet,

It is totally normal.

I should say that until maybe three years ago,

It wasn't the practice that I could experience.

So I don't know how self-compassion felt.

Well,

Most importantly,

I would like to highlight main branches,

Let's say,

Of the benefits of self-compassion.

This would be physical and emotional benefits.

And we will discuss them in more details just in a moment.

And Suze,

You are saying that you can relate to self-compassion is something new for me as well.

Well,

Thank you so much for sharing that with us.

And that is amazing that you are here in this live event,

That you already made this decision for yourself to know more about self-compassion,

Right?

So I clearly can see your willingness either to learn to adopt it and your desire to feel it,

To support yourself.

So that's already,

I would say,

The biggest step on your way to self-compassion.

That's really important.

And you're adding,

Especially with sobriety,

Giving myself grace and compassion.

Otherwise,

I will shame,

Spiral,

And pile on the guilt trips.

Yeah,

Right.

So self-compassion is crucial.

It was crucial for me to stop this cycle that you're also here.

So when self-guilt is just growing like a snowball around you,

And self-compassion was the key to first realize it,

And then it can lose its powers.

Let's start with some scientific aspects of self-compassion.

There was quite a lot of research around it for the past years,

And it has proven that self-compassion can enhance our immune function.

We can better defend against viruses,

Or diseases,

Or infections.

It can slow the aging process,

Which seems incredible to me.

So it has to do something with telomeres.

Self-compassion preserves its length,

And thus we live longer and age slower.

So that still fascinates me how incredible science is nowadays,

That it can trace the influence of self-compassion of the practice,

The mindful practice on the body.

So it is just one of the examples.

Reduced inflammation,

For example,

Let's look at it through other angles.

So self-criticism and stress cause inflammation,

And now we lose this strong self-defense.

But self-compassion reduces the inflammatory responses,

And it can be linked to we are not only cold.

It can be something more serious too.

And again,

It shows the incredible power of self-compassion.

And certainly this would be,

I guess,

A bit more obvious for many,

Improved heart health.

So self-compassion is correlated with a healthier heart,

Which includes blood pressure,

A risk of heart diseases,

And a stronger heart overall.

So physically stronger,

That also an incredible advantage of practicing self-compassion regularly.

If to talk about psychological aspects,

We can talk about emotional intelligence.

So we would be able to better understand ourselves,

Our emotions,

Responses,

And because of that,

Better understand others.

Another aspect would be increased resilience to trauma.

So in this case,

Self-compassion would act as a deterrent to cope with trauma,

With adversity.

It will encourage constructive response to life's challenges.

It will make us more resilient and stronger.

Speaking generally,

Self-compassion can bring us better relationships.

And of course,

Any relationship starts with the relationship to yourself.

So the better we understand ourselves,

Can take care of ourselves.

And as a very exciting bonus,

Self-compassion can enhance creativity and innovation.

When we practice self-compassion,

We practice non-judgmental and nurturing mindset.

So it can unleash creativity when we allow ourselves to express ourselves creatively,

Freely in our everyday life.

As a result of all of these benefits of self-compassion,

We can see a profound transformation of a person's life,

How we can navigate through life challenges,

Or how we can enhance our well-being and start building the life that we truly desire.

Here,

I would like you guys to share maybe your stories with self-compassion,

How it helped you maybe in some difficult moments of your life,

Or all of the benefits that I have just mentioned,

Probably which one you find most important to yourself.

To me,

I would say I can definitely notice how it strengthens my physical health,

My heart,

And just generally speaking,

Immune system.

I'm having much less cold or flu,

Especially in the transition seasons.

And speaking about the psychological benefits and aspects,

Definitely they enhanced better relationships,

Especially with friends,

Which was very surprising to me with family members.

So now I can feel compassion not only towards myself,

But towards some,

Well,

Let's say challenging family members in my life.

And that's beautiful to see this transformation in my personal experience,

Which I never intentionally thought about.

Well,

Here also,

I would like to share maybe some of the cases of my clients with whom I was working as a Mind-Body Connection coach last and this year.

Of course,

It is quite difficult,

Right,

To extract how only self-compassion helped them because my approach is holistic and using all of the tools and instruments in my work with the clients,

I will just try to extract something related to our today's life event.

So,

For example,

This year,

I'm still working on my program with a lady who,

Well,

She came to me with a request to build more structure in her life and to generally speaking,

Find her purpose so she can not only find it,

But start to leave it.

And we are getting closer to the final week of our eight-week program and most of her life,

She was struggling with anxiety.

So,

When we incorporated some self-compassion practices in her daily routine,

She learned after a few weeks to embrace her fears,

The fear of the future and the fear of not knowing with kindness.

So,

It could help her to transform her anxiety into a gentle reminder to be kinder to herself,

To reshape her relationship with the fear.

Of course,

She is still experiencing anxiety,

But it cannot be compared to what she lived with before we met.

So,

The levels of anxiety are just drastically changing.

Another example that I would say highlights self-compassion,

This component in our work together was with a man we've worked last year,

About a year and a half already ago,

Who constantly faced setbacks in his career and his goal was to move to another country,

To move countries.

So,

It was a long way that we were walking together and by adopting self-compassion,

By learning,

By teaching his body how self-compassion feels,

What it is,

By practicing it regularly,

I think the most amazing result was that he just stopped blaming himself for everything,

For his failures,

For the moments that he didn't succeed in.

Meanwhile,

He had a lot of progress and he did amazingly in his daily life and work,

But he was just sabotaging himself.

And this new skill of self-kindness empowered him to bounce back stronger from any failures and to transform them into possibilities and opportunities.

So,

Eventually,

After a couple of months of our work together,

He was able to change his,

Let's say,

Work patterns.

He eventually moved to another continent and I was contacting him maybe three weeks ago to ask how everything was and I was so happy to receive his excited messages and to understand that he's finally living the life that he was scared to start,

That he just didn't know how to start.

And this gives me a lot of motivation to continue my work and to spread the word about the power of the mind-body connection and,

In our case,

Of self-compassion.

There are,

I would say,

Three or four bright examples of the self-compassion practices in my clients' lives,

But I would save it maybe for a few more life events in the future.

Suze,

Your comment,

How wonderful,

That must have been extraordinary to witness.

Absolutely.

I'm always saying that I'm just a guide when I'm working with clients because 50% of our work together depends on them and that is great to see how they start,

How differently they start looking at themselves to perceive themselves and how they discover what they truly want and how we together start building the path towards their dreams,

Right?

And to see how they start opening up this beautiful process,

To see their progress from a side is definitely just a marvel to me.

Yes,

You're very right about that.

And well,

I can talk a lot about my clients and they are beautiful stories.

Each of them is very different from each other and everyone has their own paths.

And yeah,

Maybe if it is of your interest,

Guys,

We could gather together for another discussion related to that specifically.

Well,

For now,

I would like you guys to share quite specifically if you have noticed how the body or the mind helped you with self-compassion.

So here we will try to see their relation of the mind-body connection and self-compassion,

If you have already witnessed it on yourself or maybe on somebody else.

And we will deepen a little bit into this relation in the next few moments.

All right.

So let me start while you guys are probably writing your comments,

How the mind-body connection enhances self-compassion.

So through this lens.

First of all,

The mind-body connection starts by tuning into bodily sensations and emotions with awareness,

With mindfulness.

So we can recognize easier the discomfort,

The stress on a physical or emotional level and respond to them with self-compassion.

So recognizing the signs of stress,

We can cultivate a very different compassionate response to stress or stressors or stressful situations.

And what is important,

We can stay non-judgmental first of all to ourselves.

Being able to observe what is happening inside of us without criticism is a fundamental aspect of building self-compassion.

And the physical health,

Emotional balance,

And also mental clarity altogether create a nurturing environment for self-compassion to flourish.

So that is how we can support,

How we can start self-compassion within ourselves on the physical and mental levels.

So having already built probably the mind-body connection,

If you guys have any questions about the mind-body connection itself,

Or maybe the first steps on the way of building it,

You can also once again check my course here on Insight Timer.

It is a 13-day course and each meditation each day brings us a slightly deeper meditation and practice and daily tasks that will help us to set this fluid communication,

This dialogue between our mind and body.

And the course is about interoception,

Which is,

I would say,

The top of the mind-body connection is when we can be fully aware of ourselves in response to the external world.

This is the comment from Yuta Tree,

What a good friend.

Absolutely,

That is the foundation of self-compassion indeed,

Not to just give to somebody,

But to set the direction of compassion to yourself the same way,

With the same kindness,

Support,

And love.

Absolutely.

For now,

Guys,

Let's have a look at our topic from another side.

So how self-compassion can help us enhance the mind-body connection?

As we mentioned previously,

That self-compassion can help us to reduce stress and the hormone on the physical level.

It can mitigate the impact of stress on the physical body in general,

Which will promote healthier well-being and health,

Stronger.

Also,

Self-compassion,

As for example,

On the example of one of my clients,

Can enhance resilience,

Which in turn will support us in maintaining stability and balance during difficult times.

And stability and balance are crucial if we want to start building the mind-body connection.

Also,

I can definitely mention here healthier behaviors.

So self-compassion,

Better understanding of ourselves,

It can encourage us to engage in more healthy behavior,

Such as probably having a slightly healthier diet or having a bit more physical activity in a day.

So these little actions can strengthen,

Can not only help us to adopt healthier habits,

But also to strengthen the mind-body connection thanks to these practices.

Again,

Speaking about the emotions,

Self-compassion will create a positive feedback loop with the mind and body.

And generally speaking,

Greater mindfulness,

Which will,

If we practice the skill,

Enhance it,

Will deepen the mind-body connection.

So of course,

That is quite challenging to divide the self-connection,

Their influence on each other,

Because it is an interplay and it's very dynamic.

So it leads to a mutually reinforcing relationship between both.

And again,

It is a very beautiful process when you start this journey to see how it unfolds for you and what it brings into your life,

How it changes your life to the better.

Well,

If you guys have any thoughts,

Any comments or questions that you would like to add to our discussion,

You are very welcome to do it here in the comment section.

I would be really glad to hear from you.

And once again,

I would like to thank Insight Timer and you guys for the donations,

Which will be very helpful in developing,

Hosting this weekly live events on different aspects of the mind-body connection.

I'm very thankful that we have this time together to spend every weekend to connect to the community and to feel the support of each other.

Because to me,

It is a very nurturing environment that also helps me to develop not only my professional skills,

But joy,

The society that we are building here on Insight Timer.

So thank you all guys for your presence and contribution.

Yes.

Thank you,

Suze,

For your comment.

I am thankful to you too.

And let's move to probably mentioning the practices,

The techniques that can help us to passion.

What techniques can you guys make best for you or which is our daily lives to strengthen self-compassion,

To feel it daily,

To remind yourself to be compassionate to yourself?

Well,

Let me start with a tool that I probably love the most because it is accessible to anyone and is always with us.

It is mindful breathing.

So not only practicing the breath work or observing our breath,

But trying to add a drop of kindness and love to yourself,

To each of the breaths that you are taking to the body that is breathing.

Another moment related to the body is a body scan.

The same way we can practice not only mindfully going through our body parts,

But also offering maybe support or love or liberating breath to each of the body parts that are feeling tense at the moment.

What else we can add to our meditation practices is self-compassionate mantras,

Which also are very powerful if we are not only pronouncing them,

If we are not only trying to learn them by heart or speak them out loud or maybe to ourselves.

But what is important when working with mantras is to allow them to sink into your physical being so you can feel their power,

Their meaning within your physical body.

And again,

The mind-body connection is the key here.

You can say to yourself something like,

I'm worthy,

I'm worthy of love and kindness,

Or may I be gentle with myself right now in this moment.

Whatever resonates for you,

Whatever is missing for you at the moment,

You can add this to your daily practice.

Another tool that works really well for me personally is gratitude practice.

So we can do it in many various ways.

What I prefer is journaling about the things that I'm truly grateful for,

Describing the details which resonate with me at the moment,

And again,

Feeling this emotion,

This feeling of gratitude to grow inside,

To tap into all the sensations that gratitude and gratitude to yourself,

First of all,

Cultivates in your body.

Another,

I would say already a deeper practice,

I would say probably more psychological,

Is visualizing your younger self,

Maybe your inner child,

Or remembering yourself in the situations in your childhood and acting there with your kid as an adult,

Offering more love,

Compassion,

Kindness to your inner child,

Or probably protecting him or her,

And so on.

Well,

It probably might take a bit more effort not only to visualize it,

But to allow yourself to feel it or to fully immerse yourself into that situation.

So probably a therapist or a specialist or a coach will be a big hand to that.

And again,

It's a very powerful journey,

I would say,

To your inner child,

Which will bring very big and very bright results to your present self,

Definitely.

Well,

Another one,

If we are talking about something more physical,

Is a self-hug.

Well,

I said that probably breath was my favorite too,

But no,

Sorry guys,

I will take my words back,

And I will say that it is a self-hug,

Because whenever I'm overwhelmed or too anxious,

What really helps me is just to touch my hands,

My arms,

And especially my shoulders to offer myself a hug.

And being in this state for a few seconds,

Or if I have a bit more time,

Maybe a minute will change all of the perception of the situation inside of me.

So it works very quickly,

And again,

Anyone can do that,

Right?

Well,

Another important one and very potent,

I would say,

Is a practice of forgiveness,

Of forgiving yourself and others.

And again,

It might be quite challenging to perform it or to dive into this practice just being on your own by yourself,

But if you have a chance to practice it with a specialist,

Or if you have a sort of support by your side,

Coming from your friend or a guide,

Or maybe an online instructor,

It will definitely unlock a deeper level of self-compassion,

A deeper level of accepting yourself,

Which in turn will give you a lot of power.

So you sort of unlock and grant yourself the power that you already have within you.

And,

Suze,

This will be very,

I guess,

Related to the comments that you have sent to us.

Engaging in self-practice,

In self-care practices,

Right?

Whatever it means for you,

Whatever you need at this moment,

When you start incorporating,

Adopting it into your life,

This will be very transformative.

This will not only help you cultivate self-compassion and deeper self-acceptance,

But also will help you build self-confidence or resilience and grow in all of the spheres of your life.

Probably grow spiritually,

Grow mentally,

Probably to have a better social life.

And,

Of course,

To grow in your career,

Because when you gain that power from within,

I think nothing,

Nothing can already stop you.

And,

Of course,

Don't forget to celebrate your big or small achievements,

No matter if it is a great milestone that you have finally achieved,

Or just a little daily victory.

Probably you could just go to sleep last night an hour earlier,

Or half an hour earlier,

And you feel better because of it this morning.

It's a big victory already for you,

No?

So do not hesitate to note it for yourself and to celebrate.

Well,

For now,

Guys,

Let's make a little pause.

I would like to hear from you if there is something else you would like to add to our today's discussion,

To what we have just mentioned,

And we will be smoothly moving to our self-compassion meditation.

Well,

This meditation that we will start in a couple of moments will take about 10 to 15 minutes.

So,

Meanwhile,

Try to find a place,

A position that you would like to practice this meditation in.

You can practice it either sitting or lying down.

Just make sure that your back,

Your spine is straight,

And you can breathe freely in that pose.

So,

Whenever you feel ready,

Take a deep breath in through the nose and let it out with a sigh through the mouth,

And close your eyes.

Place your attention on your natural breath.

Feel the cool air entering your nostrils and how it changes as you exhale.

Notice the raise and fall of your chest and abdomen with each breath.

Notice different aspects of your breath,

How easy it is to breathe in,

How a bit more relaxation the breath out brings you.

And if you notice any thought in your head,

Just let it go and shift your attention to your breath.

No need to resist the thoughts.

No need to be self-critical or judgmental.

And now place your attention on the part of your body which is affected by your breath the most.

It might be your belly button or the chest area.

Tune into the physical sensations in this area and spread your awareness to your whole body.

Beginning from the top of your head,

Scan your body and point out the places of tension.

And when you encounter them,

Send some love and compassion to this body part or uncomfortable area.

You can imagine your breath being infused with self-love and self-compassion and direct the out-breath to this tense area.

Slowly move down from your head to your neck and shoulders,

Your arms and fingers,

Your whole back,

Your chest,

Solar plexus,

Belly,

Your hips,

Glutes and genitals,

Your thighs,

Knees and lower legs,

Both of the feet and all of the toes.

Embrace with your awareness your whole body.

And if there are still some places that are tensed or uncomfortable,

Simply notice them without judgment and try to relax them with your intention.

Now,

In your mind's eye,

Visualize a source of pure,

Radiant love and kindness.

Whether it is a person,

A pet or simply a light,

Allow this love,

Kindness and compassion to flow towards you and envelop you in a warm,

Gentle and comfortable embrace.

Feel this love fill in your heart and spreading through all of the veins throughout your entire body.

Feel the love in every cell of your body and outside your skin.

And now see yourself being this source of life,

This source of light.

Now you notice that it flows from your heart or from your solar plexus.

Let this strong light shine from inside of you and surround you fully.

Offer this light and love to the world,

To the universe and to yourself.

Feel how it empowers you,

How much comfort it brings to you and allow this feeling to cover all of your organs,

Your limbs,

Torso,

Your head,

Every aspect of your being.

And now mentally or out loud,

Repeat to yourself softly,

I am worthy of love and kindness.

I forgive myself and let go of any self-judgment.

I embody self-compassion now and every day.

And express gratitude to yourself for taking this time to connect with yourself,

To tune into your inner world and all of the positive traits that you recognize in your being.

Now offer yourself a warm,

A big hug,

Wrap your arms around yourself and give yourself a caring hug with as much love and appreciation as you can.

Notice all of the physical sensations of this self-hug and all of the emotions that arise inside.

If it feels right for you,

Try to deepen your breath,

Feel the energy and worth,

Warmth inside and outside.

And when you're ready,

Open your eyes and carry this sense of self-compassion with you throughout today and every day of your life.

Well,

Welcome back guys.

This was the end of our self-compassion meditation today.

And please let me know your feedback,

How it felt for you,

Maybe what difference it brought to you in terms of sensations,

Emotions or mental state.

If anything has shifted,

Perhaps your body feels warmer or more relaxed,

Maybe your mind feels more at ease too.

And this was the final part of our live event today.

If you guys have any questions,

Comments,

Your thoughts that you would like to share with us,

Please let us know in the comment section.

And once again,

Thank you so much all for your time today,

For your presence.

Here is one last question that I would like to ask you guys.

What will you bring with you from our today's session?

Probably some highlight,

Insight,

Realization or something pleasant that you found in our today's live event.

Answering this question to yourself,

First of all,

Will help you to gather the essence of this time so you can bring it into your life.

So you can probably start adopting it into your daily life,

Making it a part of you or your life.

So you will not just leave this online space and go on with your day forgetting about what we have discussed,

But something that you would take and bring with you along.

I think for me,

This would be the soothing feeling of self-confidence that developed within me during our meditation practice.

And once again,

If you guys are interested in working with a specialist in developing the mind-body connection,

Cultivating self-compassion,

Or simply building the life that you know that you deserve,

I am always here.

Do not hesitate to contact me.

Once again,

I have an exclusive eight-week coaching program that I'm very happy to offer that I know works brilliantly and brings the desired outcomes to the clients.

You can reach out to me about that.

I also hold online meditations personalized,

Completely tailored to the client's request if it is something that might interest you as well.

And thank you guys one more time for joining our live event today on the mind-body connection and self-compassion.

Thank you all for your donations,

Present or future.

Please do not forget to check the library of the guided meditations that I offer here on the platform for free or for the plus subscription.

I'm sure that you will be able to find something that suits you well.

Denisa,

Here is the comment from you.

The self-hug.

I love to give and get hugs but I don't give hugs to myself so I will take that with me and incorporate it daily.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for sharing that.

That is brilliant to hear that you love giving and receiving hugs and that's an amazing practice to bond not only with others but with yourself too.

So I'm really glad that it was helpful for you today.

Thank you guys.

I hope to see you next week for another discussion.

Prepare your questions and have a great weekend.

Goodbye everyone.