Healing ROCD/Anxiety Through Compassion (Guided Meditation)
Also Available on Apple iTunes
Hi, everyone, welcome to the Awaken into Love podcast. This is your host, Kiyomi Lafleur, and we are on episode number 24. Now, today's podcast is not going to look like your typical Awaken into Love podcast episode, because today I'm going to be taking you through a very transformative journey through the power of guided meditation.
So if you are driving or you are walking, this podcast episode will not benefit you as much as the other ones. But if you are in a space and it's quiet and you can just rest your head and close your eyes for about 20 minutes, then this podcast is for you.
Now, if there's a part of you that's saying, I'll listen to this podcast later, I don't have time for that right now, I'm going to invite you to pause and see if you can challenge that.
Do you have time for 20 minutes to take care of yourself today? Do you have time for 20 minutes to feel good and feel grateful and feel a sense of love for yourself because you so deserve that.
So if you are in a space that is quiet and you're able to turn off your phone, I'm going to invite you to also get cozy and comfortable. I have some candles right next to me. I have my incense going and there's some crickets in the background. It's a beautiful fall night around 8:00 p.m. over here. And I'm ready to take you through this transformative practice.
Rewiring the brain through the power and healing of compassion now in the next couple of minutes, I'm going to talk about what compassion is, why it's important.
And how this meditation is going to affect you, but if you're just ready and you know that compassion is important and you are so familiar with our work, then you can just fast forward and just jump right into today's meditation practice.
So compassion was something that I was not so familiar with in terms of understanding how beneficial it was for me. And I've come to recognize over and over again as I work with clients and as Alexis works with clients and our members, that compassion, practice of kindness, empathy, love and acceptance to ourselves is one of the most powerful components when we're working with mental health. In regards not only to ROCD, but also to anxiety and depression as well. It is powerful, you guys, it is medicine, and I wouldn't be sitting here talking all about compassion if it didn't work.
Compassion to me for healing is really one of the biggest components to finding freedom and finding more peace and love in our life. Now, you've probably heard a lot about the importance of acceptance of kindness, bringing acceptance of thoughts, bringing acceptance to our feelings, but at Awaken into Love, we do like to take it a step further because we believe that this work is not only about ROCD, but more. With compassion, we take the individual into deeper states of healing. We do some loving work with ourselves and it's really the basis to Awaken into Love. I mean, we have a necklace that's called the Awaken into Love Compassion necklace, so you probably get it.
We believe that compassion is really important. But get this, when we do compassion, work with ourselves, when we do these practices and gain more compassion and love to ourselves than we actually create more intimacy and love in our partnership.
So it's a win-win situation. Whenever we're stepping in and taking care of ourselves and bringing ourselves more love, kindness and care and empathy, we start to strengthen that muscle of empathy, compassion and care for our partner and our relationship. So compassion is key. Compassion literally means to suffer together. It is this understanding, yes, that we are all in it together. But it's more than that. It's that we are here for ourselves. We understand that as humans, suffering is part of this life. And that's not something that's wrong. It's just part of being human.
But when we can understand that we too are human and that empathy and kindness is something that we all need, we can understand how much of a benefit this not only does to ourselves, but also to the world. Compassion is key, you guys. Compassion is literally that empathy and kindness that we give to others, but most importantly to ourselves.
Now, some of you are probably like, I don't even know, compassion. I don't even know what that feels like. I've never even thought about compassion or kindness to myself before, am I doomed? The answer is no, you're never doomed. You're actually in the exact place you need to be in. You're in the right place. And that means that you're here listening and you're trying to understand the power of compassion and you're going to be doing a whole practice on it today.
The other thing I want to say about compassion is that it's huge when working with ROCD in mental health. Basically a big part of suffering occurs. And a big part of why ROCD spirals over and over again is because of a lot of blame, shame and resistance to ourselves.
Shame, blame, guilt, resistance, all of those dense energies tend to keep us in a stark loop. It is only when we bring acceptance, understanding and compassion and ease to ourselves that the suffering tends to ease. The suffering tends to soften. Things don't feel so intense. The ROCD doesn't have a strong grip on ourselves.
So yes, love is the answer. Love is the answer when we give it to ourselves, when we give it to the world. I believe in that. And I've continually seen the power of compassion with the work that we do with thousands of people all around the world. So I'm excited to dive in today. And I hope that this gave you a little bit more of why compassion is so important. I could do a whole podcast on compassion, but I don't have time for that today. I have more time to help you feel a little bit more ease and love in your heart, which is something that you so deserve.
So I'm going to invite you now to just get into a comfortable position. If you feel like you want to grab a stuffed animal, if you want to turn on some candles for your own light and incense, if you want to prepare your space for your outer sanctuary, then you're so welcome to do that. But I invite you to just set your space up, maybe pause this video and podcast until you're ready and then join me back into rewiring the brain for compassion.
I want to just say right away that if meditation hasn't worked for you in the past, that's OK. Sometimes meditation doesn't feel comfortable for a lot of people. So you always have an option to pause this meditation and not do it.
You always have that opportunity, but know that it is also supernormal for thoughts to come in and for you to experience resistance in a monkey mind, you're most likely going to have intrusive thoughts come in. You're most likely going to have feelings of, oh, why am I doing this? And if that happens, I want you to celebrate it, congratulate yourself on it, because it means you're aware of it. And know, it's just normal.
So if you have any intrusive thoughts, come in or you find yourself going into compulsions throughout this meditation, I'm going to invite you just to label that and then return back into my voice. Don't feel the need to put in anything, but just try this out and play with it. If emotions come up or you feel yourself crying, it's most likely a release, so know, this is very normal and just allow yourself to feel whatever comes up. We're moving stuff through in this practice. So make sure that your cell phone is off, make this time for you, you deserve it. Start to come into that comfortable position, you're either welcome to lie down or you're welcome to sit up, but drop your back on the wall if you can so you feel that support.
I'm just going to invite you to just look around the room. And see the space that you're in. See the walls around you, if you're outside, see the nature and start to just notice the room that you're in. What colors do you see around you? What sounds do you hear? What sensations do you feel? Are you sitting on something soft or are you sitting on something hard? Just notice your environment. Just doing this can really be such a grounding practice when we feel a lot of anxiety, so scanning the environment can start you off in a very grounded way.
Notice where your feet are touching. Notice where your hands are. Notice just the space that you're in. And whenever you're ready, start to gently close your eyes. And feel your eyelids heavy on your eyes. And consciously just drop your shoulders away from your ears, rest your palms on your lap. Notice if there's any additional movements you want to do to get more comfortable. And after you're done doing so, start to bring your attention into your breath.
Just notice the inhalation and exhalation of your breath, there's no need to push or force anything. But notice how it feels just to breathe in this moment. Feel what it feels like to have the chest expanding and falling. Feel what it feels like to be here in this moment, in this body. We fail to recognize so much throughout the day that we have so many sensations, feelings and thoughts coming in and coming out.
We can be so attached to these sensations believing that they are us, when in reality it is just a dance moving through our body and moving out.
As your eyes are closed. Start to bring your attention away from your breath all the way to the top of your head. And as you bring this attention to the top of your head. I'm going to invite you to visualize and imagine a white light floating at the top of your head. It's this gorgeous white light just floating, illuminating. And this white light is a light of complete safety and protection. Imagine this white light getting bigger and bigger and starting to move in front of your face, down your head. Down your shoulders and down your arms, around your legs and your hips and to your feet, almost as though it is the most protective, loving shield of protection all around you. And imagine this white light just holding you and keeping you safe. Know that you are protected.
Start to bring your attention back into your breath. And when you're ready, take at least five conscious deep breaths in and out. Seeing if you can breathe in through the nose and exhale out the mouth. And see if you can elongate the exhalation making it a little bit longer than your inhalation. And with every exhalation allowing your body to soften.
And in the next moment or so, I would invite you to scan your body from the top of your head all the way down to your toes and notice if there's any sensations or emotions present here in this moment. Focus specifically on the three energy centers in your heart and your throat and your stomach. And notice if there's any sensations or emotions there. Maybe there's some tightness in the chest squeezing in the heart. A flutter in the stomach. A sensation in your throat. And see if you can just recognize them not as being bad, but just a sensation and emotion and energy and label them.
You can even say it out loud by labeling the sensations or emotions that you're feeling, so maybe you might be feeling some sensations in your heart, tightness and saying tightness and heart. Or discomfort in the belly. Or fluttering in my chest. Or sadness in my heart, my shoulders. And just label them out loud. Knowing that they are completely separate from you. You are experiencing these emotions and sensations, but they are not you. Now, if nothing arises for you or you feel a sense of numbness. That's OK. Label that too. You can even label it as ease or numbness or distance. But label it in any way, knowing that you, again, are separate from the sensation that you experience, you are the observer, the awareness of whatever is going on in your body.
Now, I'm going to invite you to start to bring your attention up into your throat area. And as you breathe in the throat, envision the breath just moving through your throat. Moving down to the heart. Feeling now, the breath moving through the heart. Almost as though the breath is dancing around the heart or softening any tightness or any discomfort around the heart and the throat. With every exhalation, imagine that breath. Softening any uncomfortable sensation in those areas.
Next, move down into the belly to the diaphragm and envision the breath moving through the belly and expanding it. Every time you exhale, imagine the breath softening any areas of tension in the belly. Now, as you do this, I want to just remind you that it is so normal if you have any thoughts or any dialog going on in the brain right now. It's so normal for this to happen, if you're noticing any fear coming up, telling you certain things, and if you notice yourself checking or having intrusive thoughts again, just label. Oh, fear is here, discomfort is here and then bring your attention back into your body or back to my voice. Remember, these emotions are not you, but it is normal and human for these thoughts and emotions to come in and out.
Now, in the next moment, I'm going to invite you to think of someone or something very loving in your life. I'm going to invite you to not think about your partner. But think of some other being figure or spiritual being, embodiment who feels very loving, compassionate and kind to you. See if you can pick the first person that pops up into your mind without labeling why this person came up. And choose this person as an embodiment of love and compassion, a sense of deep kindness. What is this being or person like when they are kind? How do they look in their most loving essence? How are they embodying that love and that care? And what does that feel like for you when you think of their kindness and their love? Imagine this being's energy, this energy of love. And visualize and imagine them being filled with this love and compassion. Almost as though it's that white light surrounding their whole body. Just imagine and feel their love and compassion. What does that kindness feel like when this being is being kind and loving and how do you know?
If the mind starts to chatter, see if you can bring it back into the body and really feel the essence of their compassion and love. Notice where you feel it in your body. Now continue to feel that love and compassion within this being and start to imagine this being coming to you and standing right in front of you with that love and care. And slowly start to feel that love from this person. Moving from them to you. Almost as though it was the blanket moving from them and being transferred over to you. Notice where you feel that love on your body. Does love and kindness feel warm? Is it big? Does it wrap around your body like a blanket? What color would it be if it had a color? Now, envision that love, that blanket moving through your whole body, starting from your throat. And just envisioning this love from this being moving from your throat, down into your heart, into your belly. Allowing yourself to soften into this feeling of kindness and love. Can you allow yourself to feel the love from this being? And if there's a part of you that resists that love and that compassion. Can you give love to that resistance too? But even for just one moment, can you allow that love to be felt and touched by you?
So many times we resist kindness and compassion when it's given to us. Or when we're practicing giving it to ourselves, because there's a part of us that feels as though we don't deserve it. But what if in this moment, it didn't matter if you deserved it or not. Put that with your permission. It was coming to you as a gift for today. Can you allow yourself even for a moment? To let this being's love, be felt by your heart.
It is the biggest lie to believe that we only deserve things if we are a certain way. It is the biggest truth of life to recognize that we deserve love, compassion and kindness for just being ourselves. There is nothing you need to do or be, to feel and accept love. And that you are loved.
If you have given permission today for that love to be felt in your heart. And start to imagine that love coming in from your heart, moving through your body, from the top of your head all the way down into your feet. Filling every space within your body, softening any feelings of resistance, any fears, any sadness, any feelings of guilt or shame. Envisioning this love and kindness to soften that.
Start to imagine this love moving from your body and starting to expand a little bit further outside of yourself, surrounding your body. Starting to just get bigger and bigger and bigger, almost as though it could expand to the whole room. The feeling of this love and the sensation of this love expanding so big surrounding you, holding you. And allowing yourself and imagining yourself to rest in that love and that care.
Continuing to breathe. Continuing to feel that sense of kindness and love all around you. Moving from your heart outward into the surrounding and protection of your body. You have forgotten a couple of important truths. Which is that you are so loved. There is nothing wrong with you. You are not broken. You are so enough. May you be filled with loving kindness. May you experience loving kindness. And may you feel my love, this being's love and your own love now. May you experience peace. May you experience joy. And may, you know that you are so loved.
Start to bring both hands of yours to your heart. Feel the sensation of your hands on your heart. And start to gently bring your hands around your shoulders, giving yourself a nice little hug. And gently tuck your chin into your chest. And slowly and gently whisper these words to yourself:
"May I be filled with loving kindness. May I be well. May I be peaceful and at ease. May I be happy. And may I start to trust in the love that is all around me and within me. And may I trust that I am always loved.".
Starting to release the hands around your shoulders, bringing your hands back into your heart, taking about two more nice deep breaths in. Bringing the intention to come back into this space, into the room that you're in, moving out of the meditation practice for today. And keeping your eyes closed, starting again to envision the room that you're in. The corners of the walls, the colors. The space that you're in and the spot that you're sitting or lying down on. Feeling any sensations that you would like around you as you start to wiggle your fingers and wiggle your toes, sending these signals back into the body to awaken. If you're lying down, you're welcome to roll over to the side, give yourself one final hug and if you're sitting, you're welcome to again, give yourself one final hug and rock side to side. And then when you're ready, slowly, slowly, starting to open your eyes.
Now, I want to say, as you open your eyes from this meditation, that sometimes it can take an adjustment time to come back from such a deep practice. So give yourself a lot of gentleness right now. And a lot of kindness to yourself or whatever it may have come up today. Whether you had tears streaming down your face or whether things kind of felt the same or things felt a little bit more different in some way. Whatever you experience today is so okay. May this compassion practice have created a new neural pathway for you and may you start to lean into this practice of compassion for yourself on a daily basis, whether it's just tapping into moments of that love and compassion and thinking of another being's love and how that would feel if you gave yourself that love today. There's so many parts of ourselves that feel as though we don't deserve that compassion, but in reality, when we step into the compassion, we find more peace within ourselves, which gives us more peace from ROCD and within our relationship. Know again that this is all a practice and you're welcome to do this guided meditation as much as you like, I recommend it at least once a week and you're welcome to come back to it whenever you wish.
Here's to being human, everyone, I thank you for stepping in this journey with me. It was such a blessing to be able to be here and support you in your journey. Thank you, everyone.