Idaho, USA

Katherine F.

Sacramento, CA, United States

Carole

London, United Kingdom

Robyn Couchman

Hamilton, New Zealand

Samantha CS

Sheffield, UK

Joanne

Lehighton

Andres

Monrovia Ca

Anna

Hereford, United Kingdom

Kathlynne

Narooma, Australia

Susi

Wellington, New Zealand

Jack

San Diego, CA, USA

Baywood-Los Osos, CA, USA

Lynn

Rio Rancho, NM, USA

Uncover your innate tenderness by connecting with your heart and offering yourself unconditional love.

Health & Happiness

Presence

Mindfulness Meditation

Buddhism

Mindfulness

Traditions

English

In the Buddhist tradition, the seat of mind is often described as the heart itself. In this practice we make visceral and attentive connection to our own hearts. We touch into the intention and most sincere desires of the heart, feeling breath here, and reminding ourselves that what we find through our meditation practice is not something outside of ourselves but rather our own innate and unconditioned goodness. Through practice, we touch the seat of love in our own beings - nothing to be cultivated or created rather simply uncovered: loving ourselves the way we often reserve loving for others.

Through practice, we touch the seat of love in our own beings: loving ourselves the way we often reserve loving for others. In this practice we make visceral and attentive connection to our own hearts.

Self-Love: Uncovering Our Innate Tenderness

 Hello and welcome. This is going to be a practice of coming home to ourselves, to our own being, to our hearts. Oftentimes we can get lost in the hustle, in the shuffle of living day to day, all the distractions, things to get done, the busyness of it all. That we often forget to, even at the end of the day, stop and come back to ourselves. So before we begin our practice, I'd like to acknowledge that it's that warm and tender place in your heart that brought you right here, listening to these words, that's already called you home to yourself. Perhaps taking just a breath to send that heart, that innate beauty within you, a tender thank you. To begin our practice, I'll invite you to find a comfortable seat, in a chair or on a cushion, or if you'd like, even lying down, resting in some way comfortably. We'll begin and end this practice with the sound of three bells. Letting those bells draw your full attention right here, right into this visceral state of aliveness. As the bell fades, letting your attention come to rest in your own body, sitting or lying here in space, feeling the support of your chair, cushion or bed. And allowing this to just wrap you, cradle your body in a sense of safety and support. Knowing you are safe. We can allow the body, granting it permission to soften and relax. Letting go of any tension in the forehead or the brow. Softening through the cheekbones, the jaw. Letting the shoulders come to drop away from the ears, melting down towards the earth. Feeling that sense of arriving right here. Having the mind permission to be at ease, nothing to do or control, nowhere else to be. You are exactly where you're supposed to be. And you deserve this time, this gift of self-love, self-care. Refilling your own cup so that as you move forward through your day, you have the time, the energy, the space to give to others. Having your whole body resting here, from the soles of the feet, through the legs, the hips and torso, down the arms and into the palms of the hands, through the shoulders, the neck, the face, all the way to the crown of the head. Letting awareness fill your body as if filling a cup with water. Focusing and touching all the aliveness that's right here. Whatever sensations are showing up and fading away. Welcoming them, welcoming them. Experiencing your own embodied presence alive right now. And as you feel this beautiful body here, you may notice this body is breathing. Filling on inhales and emptying on exhales in constant exchange with the world around you. The breath, the giver of life. Perhaps with a sense of curiosity, feeling the breath in your own body as if from the inside out. Letting the lungs expand and contract. The blood pumping through the body full of oxygen. Inhaling, expanding, exhaling and softening. Feeling this breath and now this one. And if you find at any point that your mind has wandered into thought or thinking, as it will of course and invariably do, that moment of noticing is a beautiful expression of returning back to yourself, to presence. Taking that as an invitation to re-relax, to soften again through the face and the shoulders. Coming back home to yourself every time we get lost. Lost in thought as an invitation to return home. Feeling this body, receiving this breath. Adrift peacefully in the flow of life's river with each coming and going. Each breath a new arrival. Each moment a new experience. This practice is a real opportunity to be with yourself and your experience without any sense of judgment or criticism. You cannot do this practice incorrectly. This cannot be a bad meditation. No matter what your experience in each and every moment, it is exactly perfect. Really dropping in and allowing each breath, each moment to be exactly as it is. And if you'd like in this next breath, I'll invite you to bring your hands to your heart's face. Planting your palm in the center of your chest and perhaps as the hand lands here, feeling the heartbeat beneath your chest. Touching your own heart physically and intentionally. And perhaps with a sense of curiosity and discovery, touching into the energy that's here. Focusing and feeling the deepest calling of your own heart. What is your heart yearning for, craving, seeking? Is it begging to be let free? Walls to be torn down? Touching your own heart, is there a sense here of vulnerability, of a willingness to be open, seeking connection? Feeling the hearts of other human beings, whether you know them or not. As we rest here in our own hearts, we trust and recognize that we have been brought here for a purpose. The beauty of your own heart already rests within you. You do not need to grow it, expand it, or cultivate the love that resides within your chest, within your body. It called you here to this practice. It simply needs to be unearthed, uncovered, given permission to guide each and every step of your life. Often in our lives, we have permission to love others freely, to be of service, to be kind and patient. And we are often as well our harshest critics. So I'll invite you in this moment here with your hand at your heart, breathing into your own tender vulnerability, to imagine stepping outside of your own body, walking three steps in front of yourself, and turning around to look at you here. Seeing yourself as if seeing the desires of your heart. And in this moment, offering yourself any words or gestures that arise within you as you see yourself here, as you hear and feel the callings of this beautiful, tender human heart. The desires to be loved, to be connected, to deeply feel your life around you. Perhaps seeing yourself not as you, but as a human being sitting in front of another human being. And in this way, what would you offer to this beautiful human being? What would you offer to this beating heart? You can imagine if it feels good to your being, wrapping your arms around yourself, holding you here, offering genuine wishes of love, of goodness, reminding yourself you are already enough. And noticing what's here in your own heart, as you care for yourself in the way we often care for others. Touching the openness, the receptivity, the energy and aliveness that comes from being and feeling loved, from knowing we are worthy of love. You're welcome for now to leave your hands at your heart or allow them to fall back into the lap. In these last few moments, refilling the whole body with awareness, softening back in, expanding out, breathing from the heart into the whole body. And seeing in these last few moments if you can give your heart permission to rest in this sense of openness. This powerful experience of unconditional love that's always here, right here with you in every moment. This unconditional love carrying you through each breath, each hurdle and wave life has for us. It's your own heart that has carried you through each one of them to this very moment. And remembering no matter what is happening in your external world, you are only one pause, one breath away from coming home, from finding and touching into your own tender heart, from opening to life just as it is. Thank you, dear one. Namaste.