The giving and receiving compassion meditation.
Practicing self-compassion in connection with others.
Caring for others without losing ourselves.
So sitting comfortably or lying down,
Whatever feels like it's going to support you in opening to your experience with a sense of ease.
Closing your eyes if that's comfortable and if you like putting a hand over your heart or another place where it feels soothing maybe on the belly or just one hand over the other.
As a reminder to bring not just awareness but loving awareness to your experience and to yourself.
And then just taking a few deep relaxing breaths.
So breathing in,
Maybe holding the breath for a moment and even bringing the shoulders up towards the ears.
And then as you slowly breathe out releasing the shoulders letting them drop down the back.
Maybe on the next inhalation clenching the fists,
Bringing the shoulders up towards the ears,
Holding for a moment.
And then as you breathe out releasing and softening the hands,
Relaxing the shoulders.
Just repeating this a few times if you need to,
If you're coming to this from a busy day.
Noticing how your breath nourishes your body as you inhale and soothes your body as you exhale.
Now letting your breathing find its own natural rhythm.
Continue to breathe in and out.
Continuing to feel the sensations of breathing in and breathing out.
The natural breath not forcing or trying to control the breath in any way but just receiving the breath coming in.
And then staying with the felt sense of the breath that naturally is released by the body on the exhalation.
Allowing yourself to be gently rocked and cradled by the rhythm of your breathing.
Just like the waves rising and falling.
Nourished on the in-breath.
Soothed on the out-breath.
And then we're going to focus for the next few breaths on the inhalation.
Really savouring the sensation of breathing in.
Noticing how the in-breath nourishes the body breath after breath.
And just exploring the possibility that as you breathe you could breathe in something good for yourself.
So breathing in something that it feels good for you to receive.
Whatever you need.
Whatever you need right now.
Maybe it's a quality of kindness,
A quality of calm,
Warmth,
Care,
Peace.
Imagine that you're breathing this in so you could just feel it or you could use a word or image so you could repeat the word silently to yourself or you could imagine breathing in this quality.
Maybe it comes to you as a colour or a particular place.
Breathing in a quality that feels good for you to receive.
Something that you need right now.
And then just naturally letting the exhalation come and then breathing in again.
This quality that it feels good for you to receive.
And now shifting your focus to your out-breath.
In touch with the sensations in the body as you breathe out.
Feeling the ease of exhalation.
And calling to mind someone,
Someone who you care about,
Someone who you love or someone who's struggling and needs compassion right now.
Visualising that person clearly in your mind.
Seeing this being in your mind's eye.
And beginning to direct your out-breath to this person.
Offering the ease of breathing out to this person that you're bringing to mind.
And seeing how it is to share with them something good.
Perhaps it's kindness,
Warmth,
Care,
Peace,
Calm.
As you breathe out.
So with each out-breath,
Sending something good to this person.
So just for the next few exhalations.
As you breathe out,
Again just your natural breath,
You're not forcing anything.
Sending something good.
To someone with whom you'd like to share some compassion,
Some kindness.
And now letting go of what you or the other person may need.
And just focusing on the sensation of breathing this care and compassion in and out.
And sending something good.
Receiving something good for yourself.
Sending something good on the exhalation for someone else.
So you could say to yourself as you're breathing in,
In for me.
And as you breathe out,
Out for you.
One for me.
One for you.
It might feel right to let it be an equal flow of breathing in compassion for yourself.
Breathing out compassion for another.
Or maybe it feels like right now you need to focus a little more on yourself.
Or maybe it feels like you want to focus on the other person.
Whatever feels right for you.
So using the sensations of breathing.
Breathing in,
Receiving.
Breathing out,
Releasing,
Soothing or giving.
You could breathe in something good for yourself,
Focusing on that.
And then just every now and again,
Breathing out something good for someone else.
You could also send something good to more than one person.
So if it's a group of people.
Allowing your breath to flow in and out like the gentle movement of the ocean.
In the same way that the ocean is limitless and boundless.
This flow of compassion is limitless and boundless.
Giving yourself permission to receive this care,
Kindness,
Peace.
And how it flows in and flows out of you.
Letting yourself be a part of this limitless,
Boundless flow.
In for me,
Out for you.
Resting in an ocean of compassion.
Or whatever your experience is right now.
Letting yourself feel however you're feeling.
Allowing yourself to be just as you are right now.
And then whenever you're ready,
Opening your eyes or choosing to stay for a few moments longer,
Just resting in a sense of ease.
Breathing in something good.
Breathing out,
Sharing something good.
A sense of receiving compassion and giving compassion.
