G'day,
My name is Rachel Grace.
Thanks for joining me for this practice.
I invite you to take a moment now to prepare for this practice by finding a posture that supports you to be both alert and relaxed.
Allowing your eyes to gently close or softening your gaze down to the floor if that feels right for you.
We'll start the practice with the ring of a gong.
Becoming aware now of the sensations of breathing.
Breathing in,
Know you're breathing in.
And breathing out,
Know you're breathing out.
Bringing awareness now to your body,
Noticing how your body feels in this moment.
Without judging what it feels like,
Just noticing what it feels like.
And what is the state of your heart and mind right now?
Holding whatever is there with a kind attention.
Wherever you are,
Whatever the state of your body and mind,
You are welcome to share in this practice from that place.
To set a steady foundation of focus and calm before we begin the self-compassion practice,
I invite you to take the next minute or so to bring a relaxed and focused attention to your preferred anchor.
Whether that's paying attention to the sensations of the flow of breath,
Or awareness of sounds arising and passing,
Or feeling the different kinds of physical sensations in your feet and hands right now.
Whatever your preferred primary anchor is,
I invite you to settle your attention there now,
And each time you notice that your mind wanders,
Gently return your attention to your anchor.
Compassion practice can sometimes be challenging.
If feelings of irritation,
Anger or upset arise,
That can happen and it's okay.
But if those feelings do start to get overwhelming,
Just remember you're welcome to take a break,
You can set the instructions aside,
And return to your anchor to allow yourself to rebalance before deciding whether to rejoin the practice or set it aside this time.
So please keep this in mind as we go through this practice.
In this first type of compassion practice,
The focus is on directing compassion to someone you care about.
So to begin,
I invite you to bring to mind someone close to you who you dearly love,
Or you care for.
There may be many people that come to mind,
Only a few people or just one person,
And that's okay.
For this practice,
I invite you to choose just one person to focus on in particular.
Now bring that person to mind and as you do,
Let yourself feel your natural and spontaneous caring for them.
That's how you hold them in your heart.
Then let yourself be aware of the difficulties they have had in the past,
The challenges they currently face,
And the forms of suffering,
Small and large,
That they have endured.
Feel how your heart opens to wish them well,
To extend comfort,
To share in their pain,
And meet it with compassion.
This is the natural response of the heart.
Now I invite you to inwardly repeat these phrases,
Directing them to this person you care for.
May you be held in compassion.
May your pain and sorrow be eased.
May your heart be at peace.
Continue repeating all the while you are holding them in your heart.
May you be held in compassion.
May your pain and sorrow be eased.
May your heart be at peace.
Keep repeating these intentions of compassion.
Or find other words that feel more suitable for you to express your feelings and compassionate wishes for this person you care about.
Now imagine that they turn to you and acknowledge the suffering that you have gone through and the challenges that you face as well.
They say to you with kindness the same phrases.
May you be held in compassion.
May your pain and sorrow be eased.
May you be at peace.
Take in these compassionate wishes and let them touch your heart.
Take a moment to notice the state of your body,
Mind and heart now.
Has cultivating compassion in this way impacted you?
Has there been a shift or change in any way?
If there's no change that's okay,
You can notice that.
But if something has shifted that's okay too,
Notice what that's like.
As we move to part two of exploring compassion.
The focus is now on directing compassion to someone who you find difficult.
There may be many people that come to mind,
Only a few people or just one person in particular and that's okay.
For this practice I invite you to choose just one difficult person to focus on.
And particularly since this is an introductory exploration of compassion,
It's important not to choose the person who has hurt you the most in the world or someone who it will be distressing to bring to mind.
Just someone who you find mildly to moderately difficult and bring that person to mind now.
Now I invite you to inwardly repeat these phrases,
Directing them to this person you find difficult.
This person has a body and mind just like me.
This person has feelings,
Emotions and thoughts just like me.
This person has in his or her life experienced physical and emotional pain and suffering just like me.
This person has at some point been sad,
Disappointed,
Angry or hurt just like me.
This person has felt unworthy or inadequate just like me.
This person worries and is frightened sometimes just like me.
This person has longed for friendship just like me.
This person is learning about life just like me.
This person wants to be content with what life has given just like me.
This person wishes to be free from pain and suffering just like me.
This person wishes to be safe and healthy just like me.
This person wishes to be happy just like me.
And this person wishes to be loved just like me.
And then from that place of recognition,
Wishing this person well,
Silently repeating these phrases as you hold them in your mind and heart.
I wish for this person to have the strength,
Resources and social support to navigate the difficulties in their life with ease.
I wish for this person to be free from pain and suffering.
I wish for this person to be peaceful and happy.
I wish that this person be loved.
Because this person is a fellow human being just like me.
Take a moment to notice the state of your body,
Mind and heart now.
Has cultivating compassion in this way impacted you?
Has there been a shift or change in any way?
If there's no change,
That's okay,
You can notice that.
If something has shifted,
That's okay too.
Notice what that's like.
As we approach the end of the veil practice now,
I invite you to join me in taking a deep breath in,
Filling the lungs right up.
And then relaxing your body and your mind as you breathe out.
And let go.
Allow the corners of the mouth to rise ever so slightly into a gentle half smile,
Savouring this moment.
And to conclude,
I'll ring the gong three times.
GONG Allow your eyes to open,
Gently bringing your attention back up into the environment around you.
Take a moment now to stretch or perhaps sit back a little and just notice how you feel.
Do you feel the same right now as you did before the practice or has something changed?
Take a moment to notice and perhaps savour the impact of this practice on the state of your body and your mind.
You can also take a moment to appreciate yourself for the dedication to your own wellbeing that you've just demonstrated.
Each time you practice,
You are changing your brain for the better and building your capacity to handle life more skillfully,
So well done.
May mindfulness positively impact you,
What you do and all of those around you.
Thank you for practicing with me.
I hope you'll join me again.
