In | Out

6 Loving Myself

  𑽇   Transcript    𑽇 

How do I love myself?*

Objective: To begin to foster a loving relationship with myself through offered compassion.

Why this is Important

• Compassion is a very deep expression of love and without it, our ability to transform our suffering is greatly diminished.  

• We have all been given seeds to water that are not the healthiest practices.  This is a time to learn and practice healthier relationships by first offering ourselves a healthy relationship.

• Loving ourself with compassion builds momentum to continue our practice of mindful breathing.

• We build trust and value the importance of Gentle listening through mindfulness, concentration and insight.  Our skill sets for transforming our suffering deepens and grows stronger.

How Do We Get There?

• 1. Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing

Steps 1 and 2:   In - Out *1

• Greeting myself with a Kind Smile

• Gently listening to myself unconditionally.

• Giving myself the love I need to heal and transform my suffering into a flower.

Sangha Sharing

What joy, insights, wonderment, questions and moments would you like to share.

Dharma Talk

Quieting the Mind's Chatter

The chatter increases and becomes louder when the mind's attention is separated from the body.  Mindful Breathing returns the mind's awareness to the body, beginning with the breath then the body.  When the mind is Gently listening to the body, your awareness is firmly planted in the Here and Now.  Everything happening in the body is taking place in the present.  The body is not existing in the past or the future.  It is in the right now.  The body's gift to the mind is the present moment, allowing the breathe, the body and mind's awareness to return to their true home of interbeing.

The Mind's Chatter is quiet, should my mind be empty of thought?

Nope.  You don't exist in nothingness.  You exist in emptiness, i.e. you exist in everything-ness.  A quieted mind is able to gently listen to the everything-ness.  Thich Nhat Hanh tells us in the Calm-Ease meditation what we will experience with a quiet mind.   

I calm my body  -  I ease my body

Calm  -  Ease

Calm and ease can be summarized as peaceful.  You will experience peace.  Your mind will be full of peace.

I Smile to everything  -  I release tension

I establish myself in the Present Moment  -  Wonderful Moment

Smiling and releasing tension is contentment.  Then you sprinkle in Wonderfulness, well that is happiness.  Your mind will be full of happiness.

When you mind's chatter is quieted, your awareness will be filled with peace and happiness.  This experience is very evident.  You won't mistake the present moment for another experience.   Your mind will be filled with happiness and peace.  

Here are some quotes from the Buddha.  It is quite clear the quieted mind is full of experience.

“There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path.”

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”

“When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.”

Just Being is Gently Listening and Experiencing

The chattering mind excels at placing judgements and conditions upon everything and anything.  Listening for judgements and applied conditions is a great way to be aware of your personal experience.  If you hear one, then just for a moment, come back to your IN breathe and your OUT breathe.  Invite your mind to return home to the body and breathe just by saying, " Innnnn  -  Ouuuut".  When your mind becomes happy and peaceful, take notice.  The judgements and applied conditions are gone.  : ) 

To love yourself without judgement or condition, ground your awareness first in the moment, then just BE.  Be with your breathe, be with your body and be with your mind as one.  Then Kindly greet your breathe and Gently listen to it.  Experience all of it.  Doing so will naturally generate a happy smile.  It's wonderful.

A Thích Nhất Hạnh talk

How do I love myself? | Thich Nhat Hanh answers questions, a Thich Nhat Hanh talk

Collective observations and reflections

We all share and listen.

Let's Joyfully Explore with Curiosity and Wonderment

This is meant to be a free form, scaffolding experience where I model loving myself then release time for you to do the same.  Since this is your intra-personal relationship, you get to explore and find the words that are most meaningful to you.

Have the perspective of sitting with child and you are simply enjoying them as they speak to you.  All you can see is their inherent beauty. 

Mediation's Audio

Bell

Hello my in breathe.  It is good to be so aware of you.  

I so enjoy feeling the air coming into me.  So smooth and gentle.  I'm going to enjoy you for a few moments.

Hello my out breathe.  It's nice to be with you too.  

I enjoy how my relaxation grows as you release air from this body.  I'm going to enjoy you for a few moments.

It's so wonderful how my out breath follows my in breath.  Because I have an in breath, I have an out breath.  

I am also grateful that my out breath allows me to have an in breath.   What a beautiful relationship that I enjoy.

In - Out

Bell

Hello, my Shoulders.  Thank you for the work you have done for me today.  I am resting now so you can rest.

I am going to appreciate you as you rise with my in breath.

I am going to lovingly smile to you as you fall with my out breath.

Appreciate - Smile

Bell

Oh, my breath.  I want to come back to you in my focus.  I enjoy you so much.

I really enjoy when I breath in deeply.  I feel myself relaxing.  I like that.

Out Breath, you start to exhale more slowly.  I feel so peaceful when that happens.

I am enjoying Deep - Slow

Bell

Hello, my whole Body.  You have done so much for me today.  Thank you.

To show how much I care about you, as I breath in, I'm going to imagine wrapping you in love.

As I exhale, I invite you to relax and rest.

Bell

With all this love, I am going to search everywhere and be sure love is flowing into there too.  All the nooks and crannies.

As I exhale, I am simply going to enjoy the peace.

When you come out of the mediation, do you feel as sense of how healing loving yourself can be?

Collective observations and reflections

We all share and listen.

Exceptions and Deviations  

* None of this section is included in the Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing nor from Thích Nhất Hạnh's book, Breathe, You are Alive. 

* 1 Hạnh, N. (2008). Chapter 2: Exploring the Sutra. In Breathe, you are alive! the Sutra on the full awareness of breathing (pp. 21–22). essay, Parallax Press.