Hello and welcome.
My name is Kimberly Johnson and I will be the one facilitating this meditation.
Thank you for joining me on my insight timer page.
If you want to find out more about who I am and the work that I do in the world,
You can check out my insight timer profile.
Today's meditation is going to be a meditation on compassion and the thought specifically with this meditation is using this meditation whenever you're feeling upset or frustrated with another human,
Maybe angry or feeling hatred towards another human or feeling sadness and upset towards another human.
And in moments when those emotions are big and present,
I'm hoping that this meditation might be a refuge for you,
A refuge that can begin allowing you to move through the feelings of upset into new feelings and whatever the new feelings are.
My hope is that through those new feelings,
A letting go might occur.
I will say this with letting go and compassion practice is that sometimes we have to return to it often.
So being patient and gentle as we practice together.
We'll start by taking a deep breath and as we take a deep breath,
Just beginning to let the body settle.
I always like to fidget around,
Move my body around until I feel almost like an equalness on my left and right side.
Until I feel a balanced feeling where I know that I can sit still for a while.
And as you find that in the body,
If it feels comfortable for you,
Maybe letting the eyes shut down.
And if that doesn't feel comfortable,
Knowing that that's also okay.
And maybe just gently lowering the gaze toward the floor or the wall in front of you,
Finding just a steady,
Steady breath.
And as your body settles,
Beginning to bring awareness to your breathing.
Maybe you'll notice the breath in the belly or maybe the chest or maybe the nostrils,
But wherever you're noticing it,
Just begin to notice the inhale and the exhale.
I always think that it's helpful to make my inhale and my exhale a little bit stronger in the beginning.
And once the attention can more easily be held on the breath,
Letting the breath fall to a more natural breath.
And as your attention is on your breath,
See if you can keep 50% on your breath and just 50% on the body and just see if you can let go of any tension that you might be holding.
One more relaxation of the body before we begin.
The jaw line,
The shoulders,
The belly,
Just letting your body fully relax as you keep part of your attention on the breath.
And now right here,
I want you to just begin bringing your attention and your awareness to the person or the situation that has you feeling upset.
And if this person is you,
That's fine too.
But letting the situation or the person come to your mind,
Thinking about what happened,
Thinking about what was said,
What was not said,
What was done.
Giving yourself permission to really bring it back in this present moment.
And just notice what's here.
Notice where do you feel it in your body and what does it feel like?
Notice how your language has changed.
Notice how your thoughts have changed.
What are you saying to yourself or wanting to say to the other person?
And notice what emotion is present.
Not judging it,
Just noticing it.
And right here,
I want you to just ask yourself,
Can I let all of this be here without needing to change it,
Without needing to fix it,
Without needing to react to it?
Can I let all of this be here just as it is?
Can I sit with my discomfort?
Okay.
Notice if the mind wants to wander or distract or focus on something else and just gently continue to ask yourself,
Can I let this be here?
Can I be with this just as it is?
Now,
Right here,
I want you to bring to mind the person's face.
I want you to see them.
And if you can't see their face,
See if you can see their body or see the energy of this person.
Just let them be right in front of you.
And I want you to ask yourself,
Can I let this person be here just as they are in this moment?
Can I let this person be here just as they are in my mind in this moment,
Not needing to change them,
Not needing to fix them,
Not needing to react to them?
Can I let them be here just as they are?
Okay.
Now take a second and gently maybe bow your head a little bit lower than it is.
This is a gentle act of just bowing,
Surrendering.
And I want you to begin sending this person compassion.
I'm going to say some phrases,
But if you need other phrases,
That's fine too.
Sending this person in your mind with your head bowed.
May you know peace.
May you know peace.
May you know peace.
May you know peace.
May you know kindness.
May you know kindness.
May you know kindness.
May you know kindness.
May you be free.
May you be free.
May you be free.
May you be free so I can be free.
May you be free so I can be free.
May you be free so I can be free.
Now gently place your hand maybe somewhere on your body,
Maybe your heart,
Maybe your belly,
Maybe your throat,
Maybe your thighs.
And I want you to take a moment to feel your own touch and comfort,
Your own natural support system right here.
And I want you to ask yourself what do you need?
Babe what do you need?
What do you need?
What do you need?
And I want you to listen.
And right here practice giving yourself what you need.
Right now practice giving yourself exactly what you need.
To let go,
To forgive,
To be free.
So long guys.
Take a really deep breath.
Pull yourself even closer.
Holding yourself a little bit tighter.
Taking one more deep breath.
And right here as you get still and silent.
Just notice what's here now.
Just notice what's here now.
Scored scale Taking another deep breath.
Beginning to bring movement back into the body.
Knowing and trusting that you can return to this meditation as many times as you need to.
