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Hello and welcome to 12-minute

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meditation, a weekly podcast

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from Mindful and mindful.org that

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offers mindfulness meditations backed

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by neuroscience. If you've

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been practicing, you know that 12 minutes

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of meditation a day can yield benefits

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like increased attention, focus,

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creativity, calm,

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resilience, and compassion.

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The latest scientific research supports

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this knowledge. So on this

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podcast, we invite you to do

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your 12-minute practice with guided

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meditations from today's leading mindfulness

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experts. There's a new practice

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each week and a new way to experience

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some of those benefits day to day.

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I'm Chelsea Arsenault and

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I'm the director of advertising at Mindful

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and mindful.org and today

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Vinnie Ferraro leads us in

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a practice that helps us direct compassion

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to ourselves.

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We often strive for perfection

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and can become our harshest critics

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as we try to hide our flaws and mistakes.

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And this meditation guides us to embrace self-compassion,

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a shift that allows us to grow more comfortable

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with our imperfections and human

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difficulties.

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We set the intention to meet ourselves

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with warmth and affection,

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fostering a friendship with ourselves. Vinnie

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Ferraro is a nationally recognized

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leader in designing and implementing

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interventions for at-risk adolescents.

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He works with Mindful Schools, a

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social and emotional learning program called

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Challenge Day and the Mind

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Body Awareness Project.

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You can subscribe to 12-minute meditation

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while you're on mindful.org

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or wherever you find your favorite

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podcast and if you're moved

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to leave us a review we'd be grateful

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and so will other listeners.

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See your review helps them decide whether 12-minute

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meditation is for them.

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For now For you, here's

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Vinnie Ferrero.

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My name is Vinnie Ferrero. I'm a teacher here

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in the Bay Area, and we're going to be exploring

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mindfulness. So,

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first, when I say welcome, I want to welcome

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each and every part of each

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and every one of you. So there's

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the parts that we love, the parts that we've

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been trying to change for years. So it's

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all welcome here. We get to be whole. As

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we explore

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compassion, it's good

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to define it first. It's

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a kind, friendly presence

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in the face of what's difficult. That

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has this connecting quality, rather

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than to turn away from what's difficult.

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There's so much going on in the world right now.

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It's easy to close off. So

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in this practice, we're going

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to practice opening up.

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So we begin with empathy, this

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beautiful feeling of connection that we let other people

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matter. When

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we can acknowledge the commonality

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of the human condition, something

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beautiful happens. We diminish

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the subtle cruelty of indifference. So

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compassion takes empathy one step

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further because it actually has this desire

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for people to be free from suffering, and

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a desire to help. When

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we allow ourselves to actually touch

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with our hearts the

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pain of what's difficult,

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the fear, the anger, the hurt, would arise in our hearts.

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Jesus is a natural tenderness, so

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we practice allowing ourselves to

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get really close to it,

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to tend to it, and to show up

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and bear witness to our shared

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humanity. The

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rest we can know as the alchemy

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of presence.

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A lot of us know, a

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lot of us have been through painful

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experiences, but not

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a lot of us know how to actually

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tend to those experiences. So

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we want the compassionate

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response, but haven't learned how to be with

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the hurt. It

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was a time that I thought at every moment

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of suffering there was something wrong.

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The pain without resistance is the beginning

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of healing. So

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what does it really mean to come back to ourselves,

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come back to home

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base, this heart? A

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common idea that's persistent in the mind

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is that it shouldn't be like this.

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Something is wrong. But if we can't

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feel it, we can't heal it. So

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in this practice we're going to combine a repeated

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inner intention with the visualization

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of these different people. We're

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going to evoke the feeling in

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our heart of compassion, so

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through the power of connection. So

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let's begin actually

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the practice of it. Let's

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feel

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your breath breathing

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you,

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soften the body.

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Feel the life within you. And

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notice how you treasure your own

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life and

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how you guard against pain. All

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beings do this. Let

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go of any demands on

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this moment.

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We just set our intention to wrap

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ourselves up with warmth and affection.

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Many people find it helpful to hold their hand

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on their bellies, on

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their hearts, and really connect

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with that dimension of being.

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So turning your attention

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and bringing to mind someone who

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you care for deeply. Notice

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what happens as you picture their face, their

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eyes, and you hold

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them in your heart. And

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let yourself be aware of their measure

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of pain, their

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difficulties in life. Feel

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how the heart opens to wish

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them well, to

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extend comfort, to share

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their pain, and meet it with compassion.

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Repeating the phrases, I

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care about your difficulties.

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I care about your difficulties. May

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you be held in compassion.

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May your heart be at peace. May

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your heart be at peace.

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May

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your heart be at peace.

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Continue the phrases as you

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hold them in your heart. You

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can change the phrases any way you wish

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to reflect your

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heart's true intention. Allowing

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another person to come into

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your mind.

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Again acknowledging the circumstances

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that make life difficult for this

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person. Repeating

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whatever phrases resonate

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most deep

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with your intention. I

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care about your difficulties. May

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you be held in compassion. May

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your heart be at peace. And

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as we bring this session to an

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end, holding yourself with some gentleness,

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maybe you went really deep or maybe

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you were expecting something else to happen,

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and just planting the seeds

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here, and trust to practice.

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Thank you for listening to this episode

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of 12-minute meditation from mindful

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and mindful.org. I hope you

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enjoyed practicing with us. We'll

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be back in seven days with another meditation

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for you.