A “Just Like Me” Practice to Expand Your Circle of Compassion: 12 Minute Meditation

The invitation with this observe is to place apart concepts and ideas about variations, disgrace, concern, survival, and the remaining, and to easily see in the event you can start to develop a felt sense of common humanity. What you might be tapping into right here is the notice that each one of us want for happiness and freedom from struggling, that this too is part of our widespread humanity.

A “Simply Like Me” Apply to Broaden Your Circle of Compassion

This meditation is impressed by the writing and instructing of Thupten Jinpa in his e book A Fearless Coronary heart: How the braveness to be compassionate can rework our lives.

1. Take a while to settle into your physique for a couple of minutes, permitting your consideration to drop inside. Take note of whatever is present in the way in which of sensation inside your physique. It’s possible you’ll discover the contact of clothes, the strain of the supporting floor on sure components of your physique, or simply sensations of coolness or heat, rest or rigidity, ease or discomfort. Be aware of the place and the way you might be on this second. It’s possible you’ll discover the motion of breath into and out of the physique as properly, recognizing that the breath has continued to maneuver by itself because you final attended to it.
2. Think about somebody whom you maintain pricey, somebody who brings a smile to your face while you consider them, somebody with whom you may have a comparatively straightforward and uncomplicated relationship. This can be a member of the family like a toddler, a grandparent, or perhaps a pet. Attempt to transcend the thought of this being and see in the event you can truly really feel what it feels wish to be of their presence.
3. Discover any nice emotions that will come up as you maintain this beloved being in your consciousness and see how straightforward it’s to acknowledge that they, too, have the identical aspiration for real happiness that you’ve.
4. Now think of another person, somebody that you just acknowledge however don’t have a lot significant interplay with and don’t really feel any explicit closeness to. This can be an individual whom you see very often, on the road, behind the counter at your favourite espresso store, or driving the bus you’re taking usually. Discover what emotions come up for you as you image this individual and the way these emotions could also be completely different from what you felt in regard to the beloved one you imagined first.
5. See in the event you can think about what it may be wish to be this individual. Often, we don’t give a lot thought to the happiness of individuals in impartial roles in our lives like this. Think about their life, their hopes and fears, that are each bit as actual, advanced, and difficult as yours. It’s possible you’ll even acknowledge a sure similarity between your self and this different individual on the stage of your widespread humanity. “Identical to me, she needs to be joyful and to keep away from even the slightest struggling.”
6. Subsequent, take a while to see in the event you can think of somebody you don’t know in any respect, and who appears very a lot in contrast to you at first look. Maybe a picture involves thoughts from the information or in your creativeness or out of your earlier travels. Perhaps take into account somebody dealing with hardships far completely different from your individual proper now. Maybe you may think of somebody who doesn’t appear to be you . . . or somebody who has a completely completely different cultural background or life circumstances. It’s possible you’ll end up considering simply now of individuals struggling by means of warfare or resisting tyranny anyplace on the globe.
7. Take the time to see in the event you can look previous the variations to what you may have in widespread with this individual or these individuals. Think about trying into their eyes, sitting with them in meditation, feeling just a bit of the enjoyment and ache and sorrow and concern that they could expertise . . . just because they’re human, similar to you. 
8. See in the event you can put your self on this individual’s sneakers for a second, recognizing that they’re an object of deep concern to somebody, a mum or dad or a partner, a toddler or an expensive good friend of somebody. Start to acknowledge that even this one that appears so completely different has the identical elementary aspiration for happiness that you’ve. Enable your consideration to stick with this consciousness for some time period (say 20 to 30 seconds). Enable ideas and emotions to come back and go as they are going to, as you stay current to no matter arises, with no different agenda however to watch and be type to your self in that presence.
9. Lastly, see in the event you can carry collectively these three individuals in a single psychological image in entrance of you. Take a while to mirror on the truth that all of them share a fundamental craving to be joyful and free from struggling. At this dimension, there is no such thing as a distinction between these three individuals. On this elementary facet, they’re precisely the identical. Simply take the time to narrate to those three beings from that perspective, from the viewpoint that they share the aspiration for happiness and a type of excellent imperfection.
10.  Now embody your self on this circle of consciousness, reminding your self that:
    These individuals have emotions, ideas, and feelings, similar to me.
    These individuals, throughout their lives, have skilled bodily and emotional ache and struggling, similar to me. These individuals have been unhappy, upset, offended or apprehensive, similar to me.
    These individuals have felt unworthy or insufficient at occasions, similar to me. These individuals have longed for connection, goal, and belonging, similar to me.
    These individuals wish to be joyful and free from ache and struggling, similar to me. These individuals wish to be beloved, similar to me.
11. With this deep recognition that the needs to be joyful and to beat struggling are widespread to all, silently repeat this phrase: “Identical to me, all others aspire to happiness and wish to overcome struggling.”
12. Take a while to sit down with no matter needs or emotions come up from this observe, permitting them to come up and fall away. Your solely agenda is to note and be aware of their arising.

Tailored from Self-Compassion for Dummies by Steven Hickman.