Cultivating Self-Compassion

Let's begin by finding a comfortable seat.

Taking a couple of deep cleansing breaths.

With your inhale,

Bring in your breath all the way down into your belly.

And with your exhale,

Releasing any tension or holding.

And now with the inhale,

Calling your energy back into your body from wherever you have been today.

Breathing all parts of you back into your own space,

Into your own body.

And exhaling anything that you're holding on to that is not serving you in this moment.

Letting go of any thoughts or judgments.

Letting go of any to-do lists or expectations.

Just allowing yourself to be right here in this present moment.

And one more time,

Taking a deep breath in.

And exhaling and releasing anything that is still left over and being held on to.

I want you now to bring your attention to your heart space.

Allow yourself to just be here in this moment.

Allow yourself to feel whatever it is that you're feeling.

Any pain or discomfort,

Grief,

Disappointments,

Resentments.

Just allowing whatever it is to be here right now in this moment.

Allowing yourself to hold on to that feeling without attaching any stories to it.

Just being in the experience of the emotion.

And when you notice your mind wandering to the stories that are associated with the pain,

Just bring in your attention back into your body,

Back into your heart space.

Making room for what is.

And as you're feeling this emotion right now,

I want you to imagine that your child or another loved one is carrying the same measure of pain that you are carrying right now.

Imagine this person that you love with all your heart feeling the same pain that you have right now.

And then in your mind's eye,

Imagine extending all the love and all the compassion that you're capable of and extending that to the person that you're envisioning being in pain.

What does it feel like in your body to feel compassion for somebody else?

What does it feel like to hold space,

To be present to the pain of somebody else?

What does it feel like when you give your empathy to another?

Knowing that they're hurting and knowing that they deserve gentleness,

Not judgment,

Kindness,

Not harshness.

So just imagine in your mind's eye again for a moment,

Extending that kind of love and compassion to another.

And now turning back into your own body,

Coming back to the pain that you're carrying in this world,

The pain that was likely created when you were a much younger child.

Imagine yourself now at that young age.

How old were you when that pain was created?

See if you can feel into your body and recognize the age of that pain.

Were you five years old?

Were you eight years old?

Maybe you were even a teenager.

Just imagine in your mind's eye how old you were.

How old is this pain that you're carrying?

And now with that younger part of you in your mind's eye,

Returning back to that feeling of compassion and empathy and love that you had for another,

Can you imagine now bringing that kind of love,

That kind of compassion,

That kind of empathy to the younger part of you that is carrying this pain for you?

Can you see yourself how young you were,

How fragile you were,

Having to hold that depth of pain?

And I want you now to place your hand on your heart space and with intention sending yourself that love,

Empathy,

And compassion.

And I want you to quietly repeat after me now with your hand on your heart repeating after me,

I love you.

I am so sorry for the pain that you're carrying in this moment.

I am here for you.

I will not judge you.

I will not shame you for the pain.

I will not make you wrong for your feelings.

You are loved,

Unconditionally loved and supported.

I will protect you with all of my heart little one.

You are safe here with me.

You are safe here in this moment in time.

You are safe to feel the pain and the discomfort and the disappointments.

I will hold you in this space with love,

Concern,

And care and allow you to have those feelings.

No judgment,

No chastising,

No reprimand.

I give you my undivided love,

Attention,

And compassion.

You are worthy of all of this love and more.

I love you.

And now when you're ready,

You can imagine again in your mind's eye that younger part of you standing in front of you.

Or you can imagine that younger part sitting in your lap visualizing yourself at that young tender age with all of this pain that you're carrying and give that younger part of you a hug.

Love that younger part of you.

Cherish that younger part of you.

You do not have to apologize.

You do not have to justify any of your emotions.

Feelings are meant to be felt.

Releasing the stories behind the feelings will allow the feelings to pass and each time those feelings will come up,

They will be felt a little bit less and a little bit less.

It is never our feelings that hold our pain in place.

It is always the stories that we tell ourselves about what has happened.

It's the stories of how we were wronged or how we have wronged.

It's the stories that keep the pain in place.

By allowing yourself to feel the feelings no matter how difficult and then bringing love,

Compassion and empathy to those parts of you that are in pain,

You will slowly release any of the suffering that you have been holding on to for far too long.

And when you are ready you can give that younger part of you one more big squeeze,

A big hug and then releasing her for now,

Bringing your attention back into your body.

Bringing your attention back into this room,

Wiggling your fingers and toes and then when you are ready you can open your eyes.

Thank you.