A Self-Compassion Meditation for Listening Within

A Self-Compassion Meditation for Listening Within

This self-compassion meditation can guide you in going deeper to listen within and cultivate calm and mindfulness.

“There is a voice that doesn’t use words. LISTEN.”

-Rumi

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Our lives often become so fast and full that we get into a routine and may not even stop to reflect on the whys behind some of our choices. The holidays can become especially packed, filled with beloved traditions, time with loved ones, gratitude and joy, but also potentially overwhelm, disappointed expectations, and a lack of rest.

There are many practices from various traditions that can help us cultivate the stillness and inner sense of being that can help us to sink below the busyness of each day and reconnect with our innate knowledge and wisdom. Paying attention and being able to recognize and incorporate what you find, allows you to identify your true desires, passions, needs, and emotions as they arise.

Cultivating this type of mindfulness also helps you to recognize when stress threatens to become overwhelming so that you have the opportunity to choose how you react and where you dedicate your time and energy. For example, recognizing the types of triggers that set you into a stress response can help you take steps to reprioritize your choices and remember the distinction between events and your experience of them. This also allows you to start to leverage challenges as opportunities to grow and evolve which builds resiliency and buffers you from the negative impacts of stress.

A regular practice of prayer, meditation, walking in nature, listening to certain types of music, dance and other types of movement, breath work, and many other simple yet powerful mindfulness practices help us to practice being more aware—of or true selves, of our purpose, of what our bodies are trying to tell us, and of what path we want to take next.  

What mindfulness practices do you find give you a deeper connection to your inner voice?

For me, I turn to regular time in nature, moving at the ballet barre or on the yoga mat, and incorporating breathwork and self-compassion meditation throughout my day to help me stay aligned.

To set yourself up for a healthy New Year,  enter into the holiday season with greater mindful awareness of how you will choose to spend your limited time and energy so that you can mindfully manage holiday expectations and obligations. This is a powerful step towards minimizing undue  holiday stress and its impacts on your mind and body.

To give of yourself requires patience, compassion, and kindness. Fortunately, you can strengthen your ability to cultivate compassion towards yourself and others. Research shows that strengthening compassion through meditation has positive benefits for reducing stress, anger and chronic pain (Chapin et al., 2014).

As you look within and take time for self-observation, you can give yourself the gift of connection with your creativity, self-expression, and self-compassion. For a simple practice that can help you build mindful self-compassion, you can try this self-compassion meditation practice inspired by The Whole Cure when you feel overwhelmed, despondent, stressed out, or stuck in struggle. Allow it to raise your mindfulness in the situation and to evoke self-compassion when you need it the most.

A Self-Compassion Meditation for Listening Within

• Find a quiet space and time to dedicate this time to yourself without distractions.

• Close your eyes and place your hands over your heart. Take a few deep breaths and relax any tension you are holding in your body.

  • As you exhale, feel that stress leaving your body. Feel the gentle touch and warmth of your hands resting on your chest.

  • Feel a warm, comforting, kind light building in your hands and spreading to your heart. Give this healing to yourself.

  • Allow this gentle, healing energy to flow from you and to you, spreading to your whole body and bringing calm and healing where it is needed. 

• Ask yourself what you need to hear and feel right now to give kindness to yourself. Say to yourself, “May I be kind to myself.” Speak the phrases that feel most aligned with your particular situation, such as:

  • “May I forgive myself.”

  • “May I be strong.”

  • “May I be compassionate to myself.”

  • “May I learn from my experiences.”

  • “May I accept myself as I am in this moment.“

  • “May I be patient.”

  • “May I give myself the kindness and compassion that I need.”

Use For more guided meditations to build self-love and compassion, check out Breathe meditation CD and this video with my tips for Mindfully Managing Holiday Stress!

I have more exercises to guide you in doing this type of work in my mindfulness book The Whole Cure and and my Mindfulness Resources for Crisis and Self-Healing Package that provides you with professionally-designed worksheets, handouts and workbooks for creating habits and practicing tools that support optimal stress management, resilience and coping with difficulty.

Mindfulness Resources for Self-Healing:
      

• Download your free chapters and wellness prescriptions now and get started incorporating a more mindful approach into your life and building resiliency. You can also get your copy of The Whole Cure in paperback or Kindle edition from Amazon.
• My Mindfulness Resources for Crisis and Self-Healing Package provides you with professionally-designed worksheets, handouts and workbooks for creating habits and practicing tools that support optimal stress management, resilience and coping with difficulty.
• Try some guided meditations and relaxation exercises from my Breathe CD.

Mindfulness Resources for Health Care Practitioners:

   

• If you are a health coach or other health care professional,  I heard from many of you requesting done-for-you content and tools for easy-to-incorporate mindfulness practices that you could use during this time with your clients and patients. To address this need, I want to offer my Done-for-You Package of Mindfulness Resources for Crisis and Calm to provide professional mindfulness resources for coaching and sharing self-healing tools and practices to empower you to teach others how to disconnect from panic, fear and anxiety and build inner peace.
• My newest done-for-you workshop package Rest, Restore & Rejuvenate to Mindfully Manage Stress is the perfect way to offer support for stressful times and everyday optimal health. You can use this completely done-for-you workshop package with your clients or for a virtual teleworkshop or series of sessions. The package includes everything done for you, from a complete word-for-word script to handouts for your clients to a guided exercise to a complete instruction guide so you are ready to confidently share this guidance with people right away. 

You can also join me on Instagram for mini-mindfulness moments, exercises and discussions on how to add ease and purpose into life.

Join us on Instagram for more mindfulness moments!

Medical Disclaimer: Information provided in this post and related resources are for informational purposes only. Jennifer Weinberg is not providing medical advice, diagnosis or treatment information. The information is NOT intended as a substitute for the advice provided by your physician or other healthcare professional. Every body is unique so be sure to check with your healthcare professional before making any dietary or lifestyle changes, taking any medication or nutritional supplement or using any treatment for a health issue. Do not use this information provided for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease. If you suspect you have a medical problem please contact your healthcare provider promptly and do not disregard professional medical advice based on anything on this website. This website and related resources are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease and do not create a doctor-patient relationship between you and Jennifer Weinberg. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.