After Session 4:
Session Recording:
You can watch our session, with the following passcode: r?rFwP3# here.
Home Practice:
If you're in search for some structure for your formal practice explore the following:
Alternate between Affectionate Breathing Meditation and the Loving-Kindness for a Loved One meditation which can be found here
Revisit your Loving Kindness phrases and notice their effect and any changes you would like to make. Incorporate your phrases in your formal as well as informal practice.
Compassionate Letter: you may want to continue exploring your inner compassionate voice through letter writing. You may try motivating yourself with compassion (compassionate self speaks with struggling self). Or perhaps, writing from a compassionate other (i.e., trusted friend, spiritual teacher) to yourself. Another option is writing from the compassionate self to another person (ie., friend, loved one).
Reflect:
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice–
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do–
determined to save
the only life you could save.
— The Journey by Mary Oliver
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
— The Guest House by Rumi
I walked a mile with Pleasure;
She chatted all the way;
But left me none the wiser
For all she had to say.
I walked a mile with Sorrow.
And ne’er a word said she;
But, oh! The things I learned from her,
When Sorrow walked with me.
— Robert Browning Hamilton
If you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for in detail, and ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the things I want to live for.
— Thomas Merton
Rather than climbing up a ladder seeking perfect, we are unfolding into wholeness. We are not trying to transcend or vanquish the difficult energies that we consider ‘wrong’ - the fear, shame, jealousy, anger. This only creates a shadow that fuels our sense of deficiency. Rather, we are learning to turn around and embrace this life, in all its realness - broken, messy, vivid, alive.
— Carl Jung
Values & Self Compassion:
In order to answer self compassion’s “What do I need?” question we must first identify what we most value in life- our core values. Our wellbeing is linked to human needs and core values:
Human needs: associated with physical and emotional survival
Core values: associated with meaning (ie., friendship, connections, loyalty, courage)