Cultivate self-compassion by extending the same forgiveness and love to yourself as you do to others.

Secular

Recovery & Healing

Compassion Meditation

Healing

Secular Mindfulness

Visualization

English

Oftentimes, it can be most difficult to forgive ourselves. Join Yosra in this 10-minute meditation to cultivate self-compassion and bring to mind a greater sense of understanding and forgiveness. This track contains some instrumental music.

Finding Self-Compassion

 Hello there, my name is Yosra and this is your 10-minute meditation for self-compassion. Let's settle in. Take a moment to get comfortable, maybe taking a seat or lying down, letting yourself settle into your space, letting feet connect down to the earth, feeling your sitting bones land, and taking a moment to look around the space. Let your eyes wander, look around, letting your eyes wander around, maybe settling in, finding that maybe the eyelids come to a rest, closing of the eyes, drawing your breath in and out, taking a few breaths in this space. Notice what that breath feels like, how it settles in, and this noticing comes without an intention to change the breath, simply allowing this observation. Here, wonderful, and stay with that breath. Know that you can always come back to it, that noticing the inhales in and the inhales out. Oftentimes, we can be oh so critical of ourselves, more critical than anyone else, maybe, towards us. At the same time, we can forgive others for hurting us, although it's hard, right? Noticing that sometimes it can almost be more difficult to forgive ourselves. It feels different than how we can forgive someone else. Maybe we pick apart our actions or critique of compassion, self-compassion isn't the same thing as feeling pity for ourselves, but it's quite the opposite. An active self-compassion challenges feelings of self-pity, ways to show ourselves kindness, forgiveness, really an understanding that we are human. When it feels like you have no one to blame but yourself, these may be the moments when we need self-compassion the most. Join me in cultivating the spirit of self-compassion into our day, and seeing that we are imperfect humans who have the ability to learn. Let's take a deep breath in and out, shifting that focus back to your breath. Think of someone you love or appreciate, can be a friend, even a pet, look up to, bring to mind all that you appreciate about them, what traits or qualities you admire. Now, keeping this in mind, imagine that this person, this loved one, did something that may have hurt you or someone else around them, and say that by the love and admiration that you have and your ability to forgive them, that they apologize, and you do find it in yourself to forgive them. Notice that they are human, they are imperfect, and that they are also learning, just like you. Notice how we can still find these traits, these qualities that we love about these people, and just because they may have done something wrong, they may have been imperfect humans, like we all are, we can still see them as those lovable and whole beings. I want you to take that feeling of forgiveness, the understanding, the compassion that you just held, and picture that person now being yourself. Maybe you're looking in a mirror, seeing your reflection, can you say those same words to yourself? Acknowledge the love and admiration you have for yourself on this human journey, bringing to mind the same feelings of forgiveness, understanding, and compassion, reflection of you, maybe you're visualizing or thinking of in your mind. It may not be an easy practice, and it may take some time to be familiar, but stick with it, and these feelings will start to become more available, just to hear it from ourselves. So I hope that you can come back to this moment, come back to these feelings, that acknowledgement of your beautiful, imperfect, and ever-growing human self that deserves compassion, and so yet, maybe allowing, providing little movements back to your body. This can be wiggled through the fingers and toes, maybe gently taking your head from side to side, taking a moment to settle back into your space wherever you are, whenever you are practicing this. Thank you, my friends. Hope to practice with you again.