A Breath of Kindness

Hi there, and welcome to this gentle guided breathing exercise to help you create and generate kindness, compassion, and empathy for yourself and others, breath by breath and moment by moment. So let's begin. Take a moment to sit comfortably with the eyes open or closed. And if you'd like, you can place a hand on your heart or bring a slight smile to the face, creating a kind and gentle awareness of this moment. Now taking a few deep breaths here, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. And noticing the breath as it flows in and flows out of the body, and feeling that gentle rising and falling of the breath. And on the next exhale, returning the breath back to its natural pace and natural rhythm. And just resting the focus on the breath, noticing each inhale and each exhale, and then bringing to mind a person or people you love and care for. Could be friends, family, even a pet. Just seeing them in your mind's eye, still resting the hand on your heart and feeling the body filled with warmth, kindness, and care. And as you continue to breathe, on the inhale, imagine breathing in this sense of kindness and compassion for yourself. And as you breathe out, directing warmth and kindness to the person or people in your mind. So breathing in kindness for ourselves, breathing out, radiating it outwards. Breathing in peace for ourselves, breathing out, sending it to our loved ones. Breathing in compassion for ourselves, and breathing it out for another. Just allowing the breath to flow in and flow out like waves in the ocean. And bringing the mind back if it wanders or gets distracted, just continuing to breathe. Breathing in empathy for ourselves, and breathing it outwards. Breathing in gratitude and appreciation for ourselves, and breathing it out to family, friends, perhaps someone in your life that needs kindness. Spending a few more moments here, allowing the breath to flow naturally and effortlessly. Feeling the body being nourished and soothed by the breath. And just letting that focus on the breath go, taking a moment here just to notice how you feel, noticing how the body feels and if there's any sensations present. And then beginning to notice sounds around you and your space. Maybe wiggling your fingers and wiggling your toes. And when you're ready, slowly and gently opening your eyes if they were closed. So focusing on the breath not only helps to ease the mind, but it can help us to be present so we can focus on what matters. In this exercise, we focused on sending compassion and kindness to others, but you can also practice doing this exercise when you're out and about in the world, and try sending a deep breath to a stranger in line, in traffic, or wherever you may find yourself. The breath not only connects us to ourselves but can help us to connect to...