10 Steps to Self-Compassion Set aside 15 minutes the first time you do this practice. Read through the sequence to get a feel for the flow of the practice before you begin. You will develop your own pace and rhythm as your practice grows, extending or decreasing the amount of time you need to get the most out of it. 1. Lie down or take a comfortable seat that feels both relaxed and alert. 2. Practice mindful breath: Become aware of your breath; breathe naturally while noticing in-breathing and out-breathing. Anchor your attention to a specific body-part, for examples you can focus at the tip of the nostrils or lips, sensing air entering and exiting the body, or you can focus on your belly as it rises while breathing in, and falls while breathing out. 3. Place one or both hands over the region of the heart, and bring a mental picture or memory of a loved one into awareness, someone with whom you have experienced a feeling of unconditional acceptance. This may be a human being or an animal, any being whose presence elicits natural happiness. 4. Recognize that your loved one, like all beings, experiences the vulnerabilities and the aspirations that life brings. He or she is subject to the sufferings of pain, accidents, disease, undo fear, or sadness, and eventual dying and death. 5. Bring the presence of this person into your heart-space while silently repeating the following: o May you be safe o May you be well o May you be happy o May you live with ease As you notice that your attention has wandered elsewhere, gently encourage your attention back to the presence of the loved one at your heart center, and resume the practice of repeating each of the four phrases. 6. Add yourself to the goodwill you are generating from the space of your heart, repeating the following phrases: o May you and I be safe o May you and I be well o May you and I be happy o May you and I live with ease Repeat these or other phrases that feel natural to you, while cultivating an attitude of openness, acceptance, and loving-kindness. 7. Picture the entirety of your mind-body. Gently and slowly begin to scan your body by moving your attention: o From the crown of the head down the neck, shoulders, both arms, hands and fingers o Along the front and back of the upper torso, and then the pelvic region o Up the body from the toes all the way to the crown of the head o Toward any areas of pleasantness and unpleasantness 8. Offer compassionate loving kindness to yourself by repeating the following phrases: o May I be safe o May I be well o May I be happy o May I live with ease 9. If it feels safe, then revisit areas of unpleasantness while holding a part of the mind-body in the heart space. Consider naming the mind-body part within the phrases, for example: o “May the knee that I am trying to take care of be well …” o “May the fear that I have tried to push away be at ease …” o “May I be at ease with the negative thoughts that I have fought for so many years … 10. Conclude your practice by bringing awareness back to the entire mind-body, and sensing the entirety of your being as a singular organism intimately connected with all other life forms. As you breathe, feel your connection with all of life. Lie or sit for some time in silence.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 09:59:03 +0000