Happy Fertility Friday!
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Welcome to this year-long series in 2020 on inviting more compassion into your life.
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This is Week 6.
Find out why I’m doing this compassion series in Week One, and access the rest of the series at the bottom of this post.
Each week I’ll go over a new quote in the book A Year of Living with More Compassion and make a vlog for you, so you can practice along with me. I figured why not spread the compassion, right?
Keeping it real, this was a tough week for me. So this quote by Swami Kripalvananda couldn’t have come at a better time:
“My beloved Child, break your heart no longer. Each time you judge yourself you break your own heart.”
The video says a whole lot more about this quote along with my own vulnerability, so I encourage you to watch it. But just in case you’d like to skip it, here are the practices for this week:
Quieting the “Inner Critic.”
Part One: Power Hara Breath
- Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip width apart, bring hands to your shoulders with elbows pointed out (like chicken wings)
- Inhale, filling your lungs halfway as you twist to the left.
- Inhale fully as you twist to the right
- Extend your right arm forcefully to the left as you twist to the left, exhaling through your mouth with a vigorous “ha” sound.
- Extend your left arm forcefully to the right as you twist to the right, exhaling again through your mouth with a “ha” sound.
- Practice five to ten full rounds. Release and stand with your eyes closed and your palms open. Sense deeply into your face, feel the sensation in your face, your arms, the palms of your hands. Sens the tingling in your palms.
Part Two: “Be still beloved, and know that you are safely held.” [adapted]
- Lie down on the floor or other comfortable surface.
- Squeeze your toes for 10 seconds, then release, saying “Be still, beloved toes, and know that you are safely held.”
- Continue upward toward your head, systematically squeezing and releasing your various body parts and releasing, saying “Be still, beloved _________, and know that you are safely held.”
- You might find it helpful to place your hands on your various body parts. Notice which body parts bring up negative emotions and spend a little extra time there giving those parts love.
- End by placing your right hand on your heart, and your left hand on top, linking your thumbs in a hand gesture called eagle mudra. End with the phrase, “Be still beloved heart, and know that you are safely held.”
Hoping you feel more peaceful and more compassionate toward yourself and others after this week’s exercise. I’ll see you next week!
Be well,
-M
Access all previous weeks here.
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