Giving & Receiving Compassion (MSC)

Firstly,

The invitation for you is to make yourself comfortable.

Check into how you're sitting.

You don't need to be in a very rigid position,

Just making sure that you can sit in a way that you can continue to stay seated for a number of minutes.

And then,

If it's alright for you,

If it feels comfortable,

You can close your eyes.

Or otherwise,

You can lower your gaze and just rest your eyes a few feet in front of your knees or feet,

Unfocusing your eyes.

And then checking in with your posture at the moment.

Maybe just briefly scanning your body,

Starting at the top of your head and scanning the way down,

Taking your time.

Just sensing the head and the face.

And noticing if there's any tension there.

Maybe tension behind the eyes.

And seeing if you can maybe bring a smile to the eyes.

The sense of a smile and softening that area.

Relaxing it.

And scanning further down to the cheeks,

The jaw and the mouth.

Perhaps bringing a hint of a smile to your lips as well.

When we smile,

Our face is in its most relaxed stance.

And then scanning down through the neck to the shoulders.

And sensing your shoulders,

Any tension,

Rigidness.

And seeing if you can bring a bit more relaxation to your shoulders.

Like eyes melting to water.

Then scanning further down through the chest,

The back,

The belly.

Letting the belly be soft and relaxed.

And checking a bit further down,

Your sit bones,

Your pelvic area.

In touch,

In contact with whatever surface you're sitting on.

Whether it's a chair,

A cushion,

A sofa,

The floor.

And seeing if it's possible for you to let yourself be carried by whatever you're sitting on.

Sinking into your seat.

And then scanning further down through the legs and the knees,

The ankles.

And then making contact with your feet.

Perhaps sensing the weight of the feet on the floor.

Perhaps you're able to feel the fabric of your socks touching your skin.

Or maybe a breeze on your skin.

And if you're wearing shoes,

Perhaps sensing the way that the feet are contained within those shoes held.

And then bringing your attention to the space around the body.

The space in front of you,

Behind you,

And to your sides.

Above you and below you.

Perhaps sensing the spaciousness of the place that you're in.

And then gathering your attention and bringing it to the breath.

And taking a couple of full deep breaths with full attention.

And first filling your belly.

Then filling your chest,

Your heart space,

All the way up to your crown as it were.

Breathing in oxygen fully.

And breathing out slowly.

Doing this a couple of times.

Feeling the belly,

The chest and heart space up to the top of the head.

And perhaps you'd like to place a hand over your heart or another soothing place to remind yourself.

To bring not just awareness to your experience in this meditation,

But kind and loving awareness to the experience and to yourself.

And then following the breath again,

Noticing how the breath moves into the body.

Fills the body with oxygen and moves out.

Perhaps noticing how nourishing it is to breathe.

Nourishing to inhale and how soothing it is to exhale.

And letting your breath find its natural rhythm.

So bringing your attention to the natural movement of the breath.

Continuing to feel the sensations of breathing in and breathing out.

Placing your attention there where you can sense the breath most clearly.

You hadn't done that already.

And this could be at the nostrils,

The upper lip.

Where breath moves in and a slightly warmer breath moves out again.

Or warmed by the temperature of your body.

Or perhaps you're sensing the breath most clearly in your chest.

The rising and falling of the rib cage.

Or perhaps in the belly.

The tightening and loosening of the abdominal wall.

And if you're noticing that your attention is very fixed and rigid.

And you're getting tired by doing this,

Then seeing if you can relax your attention a bit more.

Perhaps placing a hand on your belly and just resting your attention on the rising and falling of your hand.

And if the mind wanders,

Taking that as an opportunity to practice some self compassion.

And seeing if you can,

Whenever you notice the mind wandering,

Bring your attention back with kindness,

Friendliness.

Training a friendly attitude.

And then the next step in the meditation,

Focusing your attention purely on the inhalation.

So letting yourself savor the sense of breathing in.

Noticing how this in-breath nourishes the body.

Breath after breath.

And then seeing if you can,

Whenever you breathe in,

Begin to breathe in kindness and compassion for yourself.

Seeing if you can feel that sense,

That quality of kindness and compassion as you breathe in.

Perhaps you'd like to whisper in yourself silently a kind word to yourself.

Or perhaps if you're a visual person,

An image,

Something to bring kindness to yourself.

Perhaps a sentence like I am kind.

I am enough.

Whatever works for you.

And then letting go of the focus on the in-breath and the compassion to yourself and shifting your focus to the exhalation.

And being fully aware of breathing out.

Feeling the out-breath and feeling that ease of exhalation.

And then whenever you choose in your own time,

Bringing to mind someone that you love,

A close loved one,

Or someone that you know is struggling at the moment.

And bringing this person to mind and then with the out-breath sending this person your kindness and compassion.

Begin directing your out-breath to this person.

Offering them the ease of breathing out.

Perhaps like you did with yourself you'd also like to offer this person some kind words or visualize an image that brings kindness to them.

Something like you are loved or you are enough.

You are okay.

And sensing with every out-breath that natural connection.

Our natural ability to care for one another.

Out-breath after out-breath.

And now is the next step.

Focusing your attention on the in-breath as well as the out-breath.

Not thinking about yourself or this other person but simply and solely just focusing your attention on breathing in and out,

Savoring the sensations of the breath moving in and out of the body.

And then again beginning to breathe in for yourself and also breathing out for the other.

One for me and one for you.

And as you breathe drawing kindness and compassion in for yourself and kindness and compassion out for the other person.

And if you wish you can focus a little bit more on yourself.

Two for me and one for you.

Or the other way around.

One for me and two breaths for you.

Or just let it be an equal flow,

Whatever works for you,

Whatever feels right for you in this moment.

And as best as possible making this a joyous experience.

Letting go of any unnecessary effort.

Breathing in this meditation the ease of breathing to yourself and the other.

And breathing compassion and kindness in for you and breathing out compassion and kindness and kindness for the other person.

Allowing your breath to move in and out,

To flow in and out like the gentle flow of the ocean.

A limitless and boundless flow.

Flowing in,

Flowing out.

And letting yourself be a part of this limitless and boundless flow.

An ocean of compassion.

And then for the last moments of this meditation.

Letting go of yourself,

The focus on yourself and the focus on the other person and bringing into your breathing a sense of the people around you.

So including yourself and this other person but also other loved ones,

Your neighbors,

People in your village or town or city,

People in your country,

In Europe and including eventually all sentient beings,

All living beings on the planet and breathing in and breathing out for them.

Perhaps you'd like to whisper the following words silently to yourself as you repeat after me.

May all living beings be free from pain.

May all living beings feel held in loving kindness,

Loving attention.

May all living beings be carried in loving attention.

May all living beings feel the natural joy of being alive.

May all living beings be free.

And then to close the meditation whenever you hear the sound of the bell in your own time.

Opening your eyes whenever you're ready.

Maybe giving yourself a stretch.

Making sure that you're helping yourself move into a more active state of being aware.