We’re often so caught up in doing, we forget to pause and consider how we feel and what we need. When ignoring self-care becomes a habit, we suffer. Meditation for self-care lets us take that much-needed pause to tend to our innermost needs. By doing so, we minimize stress, increase resiliency, and become ever-more capable of pausing our doing to simply be.
In this guided meditation for self-care, we not only offer one such moment to our own body and heart, but using visualization, we offer the same to a loved one. Balancing self-care and loving-kindness in this manner opens our heart to the joy of both giving and receiving.
This intermediate-level guided meditation is for anyone who needs a moment of self-care, and who may wish to secretly share such a moment with a loved one, regardless of their readiness.
- Practice Time: < 10 minutes
- Purpose: Cultivating Self-Compassion
- May Help With: Compassion for Self and Others, Self-Love, Body Awareness
- Practice Level: Intermediate
Here’s a Sample of the “A Meditation For Self-Care And Caring For Others” Guided Meditation Script:
In today’s practice, we will be cultivating self-care and self-compassion and then offering it out to others.To begin, find a comfortable place to sit, settling into your sitting bones and closing your eyes when you are ready.(Pause)Let your posture be relaxed though alert, and then ground your attention for a few moments in the flow of your breath.(Pause)Each breath is like an anchor that helps you to reconnect with this present moment.(Longer pause)If you notice any habitual contraction in the body, such as in the forehead, the shoulders, or the jaw, relax this holding pattern gently – and then return to the breath.(Longer pause)
Feel this breath now as if it is nurturing your heart. Without force, see if the heart can open itself to being nourished by the breath.(Longer pause)Now bring a hand to your heart, letting your palm rest with care upon it. Notice the way it rises and falls with each breath.(Pause)Let the touch of your palm to your chest be tender so that you can feel the care your hand offers.(Pause)
How to Use This Guided Self-Care Meditation Script
This guided meditation for self-care invites us to pause and bring mindfulness to our body and heart. We then send ourselves several well-wishes, before offering the same to a friend. When we balance giving and receiving, sensing into the body in the process, we begin to see the two seemingly opposite actions are, in fact, very much connected.
- Read this script word for word, or use it to create your own version
- Share this script with an individual, or in a group setting
- Use this script live, or use it to make audio or video meditations
This script is marked as intermediate for its combined use of mindfulness and visualization. As we guide others in sending well-wishes to an imagined friend, we invite continued mindfulness by remaining connected to felt sensation in the body.
Conclusion
Genuine self-care is more than just a day at the spa. In meditation, we practice authentic self-care by tending to the body and allowing ourselves to feel what we feel. When we share this gentleness and care with others, this too, is a form of self-care. For loving-kindness is multi-directional, and to give it away is to feel it in our body too.
