Manifesting Compassion

Hi there, it's Eve here with you. Welcome to this exercise on manifesting compassion. My intention with this practice is to provide you with a space to help cultivate loving and kind feelings towards yourself and others. We can often be really cruel to ourselves and it can be hard to treat ourselves kindly, especially if we're going through a difficult period in our lives. Self-compassion means that we can recognize that life is not always going to go as planned and that we are part of a shared human experience. And I think it's important to highlight that self-compassion is not self-pity. It's not self-indulgent. It's about providing a space for healing, instead of getting caught up in negative thought patterns or engaging with judgment and self-doubt. It also helps to expand our perspective. And this doesn't mean denying that you might be struggling, instead framing it in a supportive way. For example, "I'm finding this experience challenging "but I understand that it's normal and natural "for human beings to struggle at times. "I know I'm not alone." So in this practice, I will offer some kind and loving phrases that you can repeat, to help manifest and visualize compassion. So let's get started. So taking a moment to settle into the practice. Getting into a comfortable position, either sitting down or lying down and adjusting your posture as needed. Bring a little bit of length into the spine if you're sitting, and allowing the whole body to be fully supported. Dropping the shoulders. Softening the jaw. Unclenching the hands. And closing the eyes if that feels good, or softening the gaze in front of you. And taking a couple of deeper breaths here if that feels comfortable to do so. Or noticing the sensation of your body pressing down on the seat or the surface. And knowing that this time is for you. A time of self-care, for cultivating compassion for yourself. And continuing to breathe at your normal rate and rhythm. And as always, if you need to pause at any point, or let go of my guidance, you can do that and come back when you feel ready. And taking a moment here to notice sounds around you, both those in the room that you are in, but also those further away, allowing sounds to wash over you. So as we settle into this practice, inviting you to bring to mind someone who you care about deeply. This could be your partner, a family member, or a friend. Someone who makes you feel safe and listened to. And so picturing them in your mind's eye, almost as if they're sitting down beside you, we're going to offer the following phrases to them, and you can repeat them silently. May you and your body be well. May you and your body be healthy. May you and your body be safe. May you and your body feel nourished and supported. So you might find it supportive, placing a...