Life is the opposite of easy, and sometimes it tramples your self-compassion and self-kindness.
The harm usually arrives on the back of that loud, nasty voice that occasionally plagues your brain.
The one that insists you’re a no-good, very bad dummy of a person.
The one that relentlessly forces you to “watch” your life’s regret reel — on a loop.
But that voice is a rotten, lying scoundrel.
So today, we’re looking at five self-compassion meditation exercises to shut it up.
What Is a Self-Compassion Meditation?
Self-compassion is the act of extending kind, forgiving, and empowering thoughts to one’s own mind and body.
When our self-compassion supplies are full, we’re more resilient, empathetic, compassionate, and capable.
We’re also better able to accept and handle life’s curveballs.
People practice self-compassion exercises in various ways, including:
- Private meditations
- Group meditations
- Self-compassion grounding routines
- Self-esteem journaling
- Active meditations
Benefits of Practicing a Meditation for Self-Compassion
Self-compassion can be a miracle worker and have a profoundly positive impact on your physical and mental wellbeing.
- Reduces Anxiety and Depression: When run-of-the-mill anxiety or depression sets in, a self-compassion meditation can clear it away. (People should seek professional help for more severe depression and anxiety.)
- Boosts Self-Esteem: Recognizing that nobody is perfect, including ourselves, allows us to accept who we are as we are, thereby boosting self-esteem.
- Improves Our Authenticity Quotient: Authenticity is a big part of feeling comfortable in your own skin, and self-compassion is the basis of authentic living.
- Improves Decision-Making Process: When you accept yourself fully — both the good and bad — you’re able to be more honest with yourself and thus make better decisions. With self-compassion, you grow lovingly aware of your strengths and weaknesses.
- Strengthens Relationships: When you acknowledge and accept the contours of your personality and behavior — the peaks and valleys — you’re better able to handle other people’s ups and downs. Self-compassion makes us less judgmental, which strengthens our relationships.
- Promotes Genuine Self-Care: Pampering yourself with a spa day is a type of self-care, but what seismically shifts your energy is transformative self-compassion. Rewiring how you see yourself and the world around you can change your life for the better. Accepting yourself leads to a calmer, less-stressful frame of mind.
What To Do To Prepare for Fostering Self-Compassion Through Meditation
Before embarking on a self-compassion meditation session, it’s wise to do some prep work to help focus your mind on the task at hand.
- Get as Comfortable as Possible: As a general rule, it’s good to be completely comfortable when meditating. But that’s not always possible. So, try to get as comfortable as you can, given the situation. Don’t let a less-than-ideal location get in the way of a healing meditation.
- Take Off Your Shoes and Remove Hats: It’s best to keep your vibrational channels unblocked when meditating. So, if possible, remove your shoes and anything on your head. That way, energy can flow freely through your body, from root to tip.
- Gather Your Meditation Crystals (If You Use Them): Do you use meditation crystals? They’re great for self-compassion work, especially amethyst, aquamarine, and black tourmaline.
- Light a Scent / Sage the Space: Engage all of your senses, including smell. Light a favorite scent or sage the room to clear it of bad energy.
- Ask for Faith in the Process: Sometimes, we do spiritual exercises with little intent; we just go through the motions and wonder why nothing happens. But the best experiences occur when we fully invest in the practice. Asking your higher self to have faith in the process before starting can help.
5 Self-Compassion Meditation Scripts to Practice
Self-compassion meditations are an excellent way to expel stress, anxiety, and self-doubt and replace them with confidence, peace of mind, and contentment.
1. Daily Self-Compassion Meditation Script
Practicing self-compassion is an ongoing process, and people who do daily meditations enjoy better results.
This self-compassion meditation script is a general mindfulness activity for the start or end of the day.
- Find a place in which you’re comfortable — outside or inside. Sit in either lotus pose, crossed-legged, or in a chair with your feet on the ground.
- Take a deep breath. Pay attention to the breaths traveling through your body. When you can no longer take in air, release it. When breathing in, focus on absorbing positive energy; when exhaling, focus on releasing negative energy.
- While continuing to breathe purposefully, imagine yourself surrounded by loving energy. Feel it hugging your body and cleansing your soul. If you are a visual person, imagine a green, purple, or indigo light shining down on your being.
- In a calm internal or external voice, repeat the following: “I am love, and I am loved.” Concentrate on the oneness of the Universe as you focus on this concept.
- Continue to breathe deeply, all the while taking in the good and exhaling the bad. Feel the negativity fly away as self-acceptance rushes in.
- Feel your higher self patting you on the back. It loves you and accepts you for everything you are — past, present, and future. It knows that you’re worthy, talented, and capable.
- Absorb the positive energy through every pore of your body. Thank it for helping you wash away the self-criticism lurking in your aura and soul.
2. Meditation Script for Self-Compassion and Self-Esteem
When your self-esteem is on the blitz, life can be unbearable. Every comment feels like a passive-aggressive dig, and all you want to do is curl up into a ball and hide away.
At these times, self-compassion meditation can get you back on the right track.
- Find a comfortable place inside. Light incense, a scented candle, or an oil. Sit in the lotus pose, crossed-legged, or in a chair with your feet on the ground.
- Take a deep breath. Focus on your breath. Notice how it travels through your body when inhaling like it’s running an obstacle course. Then blow out the air and focus on releasing negative energy.
- While continuing to breathe, imagine yourself surrounded by supportive, life-giving energy. Feel it swirl around you, and invite it to enter your space. Imagine a green, purple, or indigo light beaming down on your body if you are a visual person.
- Internally, repeat the following mantra: “I am talented; I am capable; I am worthy; I am loved.” Understand that you are enough, just the way you are.
- Continue to breathe deeply and keep repeating the mantra: “I am talented; I am capable; I am worthy; I am loved.” Feel the acceptance rush through you.
- Acknowledge your higher self and thank it for being so patient and loving. Remember that it loves and accepts you for everything you are — faults and all.
- Express Gratitude to the Universe. Thank it for helping wash away your self-doubts and quieting the negative voice in your head.
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3. Self-Compassion Mindfulness Script
Self-compassion encompasses more than self-love. It also expands your capacity for empathy and forgiveness.
When we accept ourselves, flaws and all, we’re also better able to understand others’ shortcomings. Use this self-compassion script to consider the concept of universal acceptance.
This exercise is slightly different from the others as it is an active, journaling meditation.
- Sit somewhere with a journal and pen. You’ll be writing, so make sure you’re comfortable.
- Take three deep cleansing breaths. Focus on the lifeforce traveling in and out of your body. Breathe slowly, and notice how it enters and fills you up. Then release the air and focus on letting go of negative energy. You can put your hand on your diaphragm to feel your breathing mechanics.
- For a minute, think about the concept of self-compassion. Ask yourself if you’re less forgiving of yourself than you are other people. (Be honest with yourself; some folks are actually the opposite, which requires a different type of meditation to address.) What words come to your mind? How do you picture a person with the right amount of self-compassion?
- Then, put your pen to paper and start writing what your “positive” voice says. Don’t overthink or pay attention to the nasty, negative voice, even if it’s yelling. Simply sit and focus until you can hear it. Then, write down whatever it says — even if it doesn’t make sense or is poorly worded. If you don’t hear a single word, give it time. Just focus on acknowledging it, and it will eventually happen.
- Do this listening and writing exercise for up to 30 minutes a day. After a while, it becomes easier. So don’t worry about not producing much the first few tries. Practice makes peace.
4. 5-Minute Self-Compassion Meditation Script
Of all the self-compassion exercises, having a five-minute meditation in your back pocket is valuable.
Three hundred seconds is you need to realign your mental space and redirect yourself onto a positive and productive path.
- You can stand, sit, or lay down — whichever is most convenient and comfortable for you at the moment.
- Breathe deeply for 30 seconds. Slowly take in air and feel it enter and expand throughout your body. Feel the welcoming embrace of your lungs, and then slowly exhale. Absorb the good and release the bad.
- Think about self-compassion and say to yourself: My life is unfolding exactly as it should. I’m grateful for all the lessons hardship has taught me. I am loved and accept myself exactly as is.
- Focus on forgiveness. Think about extending the same compassion to yourself as you would your best friend or beloved family member.
- Continue to breathe deeply while repeating the same phrases repeatedly in your head. Focus on each word to the exclusion of everything else. If another thought elbows its way in, acknowledge it and shift your focus back to the mantra: My life is unfolding exactly as it should. I’m grateful for all the lessons hardship has taught me. I am loved and accept myself exactly as is.
- At the end, take three deep, cleansing breaths. Thank your higher self and move forward in humble confidence.
5. Compassionate Body-Scan Meditation Script
As Bessel van der Kolk first said: the body keeps the score. Or, to put it another way, our emotional lives manifest in our physical selves.
Try a compassionate body-scan meditation to help balance the body’s emotional and physical energies.
- Find a spot to lie down, either outside or inside. You can incorporate grounding meditation techniques if you choose to do the latter.
- Begin with three slow, deep breaths. Inhale through your nose and exhale through the mouth. Form a small “O” with your lips or just open wide and let the air escape.
- Starting from the top of your head, do a full-body scan. Focus on every point of contact and any sensations. Think of the scan as a ray of healing light touching every part of your body.
- Does the rest of your body react to these sensations? What energies do you feel passing through your body? Try not to judge them, just observe how your body feels and reacts.
- Imagine that each inhalation is like injecting a healing serum into specific parts of your body. Keep imagining this as you go from your forehead, eyes, nose, ears, cheeks, chin, throat, etc. Be precise in your scan.
- When you’ve finished scanning your whole body, take three more slow, cleansing breaths. Thank the Universe and your higher self for supporting you, and ask them to endow you with a dose of self-compassion for the day.
Self-love and self-compassion are essential components of good mental health. Investing time into cultivating self-acceptance is wise and can have an exponentially positive impact on your life.
