Kate Allen

Are you experiencing compassion?

Written by Kate • June 28, 2011 •
2 comments

In my post last week in working on the Root Chakra, I suggested that you set aside 10 minutes a day for some meditation designed to center and ground you. Beginning at the lowest chakra is the best place to start when you’re working with your chakras and most of them are imbalanced.

Loving-Kindness Meditations

I suggested a few minutes of loving-kindness meditations as follows:

After your 5 minutes of imperfect meditation, say the following loving-kindness affirmations to yourself -three times. This should take less than 1 minute. But put your heart into it and really bless yourself with these loving affirmations.

• May I be well.
• May I know peace.
• May I be free from suffering

Here is another way to practice loving-kindness meditations.

Implementing These Affirmations

I implemented my daily meditation practice several months ago and I regularly meditate at least 30 minutes each day. It was a slowish evolution to go from 5 minutes to 30 minutes of meditation in one sitting and I really resisted meditation in the beginning. Now it seems my day is scattered and incomplete if I don’t get my meditation in first thing.

Sunday, I dedicated my meditation practice to these loving-kindness meditations. I repeated the above affirmations over and over again. However, with some sort of internal inspiration, I added in “May I know compassion”.

Instant Suffusion of Love

After I said this affirmation, I felt an incredible suffusion of love and peace encompass my body. It was simple yet transformative. I felt, at the same time, lit up inside and at a deep peace. For a time, without my volition, the compassion was directed at myself and it was a beautiful moment. And then it moved on to those in my life and I felt such profound love for them that any residual judgments or criticism I may have been harboring seemed to just melt away. And that was an even more beautiful moment.

And from there, my compassion moved to the world – to the Middle East, the subcontinent of Asia, China, and beyond. It ended full circle to come back and rest with me. What grace!

It was so moving that I practiced the same affirmations again Monday during meditation.  I realized that I sometimes feel sorry for myself and I often feel compassion for others but I rarely feel compassion for myself. It created a sense of forgiveness, of love, of space so that I can accomplish more in this life without the harsh judgement of the internal critic.

It’s at the heart of Byron Katie‘s work and by practicing it, I see its power.

How Often Do You Feel Compassion for Yourself?

How often do you feel compassion for yourself? Or do you hear your internal critic so often that you’ve identified with all that you can’t do well or the mistakes you’ve made in the past?

Given yourself the compassion that you would give your friend. Accord yourself the same level of love and acceptance that you give to everyone else.

Try It Yourself

Take a few minutes to get into a calm place. This can be a few minutes of meditation or a series of breathing in for a count of 4, holding it for a count of 4, and breathing out for a count of 8. Do the breathing cycle three times. Then do the loving kindness meditation as follows and put your heart into it and really bless yourself with these loving affirmations.

• May I be well.
• May I know peace.
• May I know compassion.

You may well find that the more compassion you feel for yourself will magnify the compassion you feel towards others. It’s a virtuous cycle – the very opposite of a downward cycle.

Let me know how it goes. Did something shift in you? Can you feel the light and the love?