How uncomfortable does that statement make you feel? Or are you at ease with the sentiment of loving yourself?

The last two emails have looked at creating new patterns through changing habits over 30 days and finding an accountability partner to help in this.  But as we engage in self development it is so important to notice the tendency to think I will be able to love myself when I am fixed.  We have an idea of how we should be and may not like who we are. If this is the case then there is a risk of always looking to a future version of our self that we can love but feeling that right now we are not lovable. And the people I trust tell me that freedom comes when we can rest into the deepest acceptance of who and how we are right now. To do this we need to turn to wards this moment and hold it fully with love and compassion. But if there is a pattern of not loving ourselves, or feeling we are broken and need fixing then our spiritual journey is sabotaged by the thought I have to make myself someone worthy of love, rather than I love me as I am. 

Over my 25 years of teaching the Loving Kindness practice I have felt the benefit of directing this kind attention to myself and others and have seen how people struggle with feeling love for themselves. This last week I was teaching week 6 in the 8 week mindfulness course where we focus on the Loving Kindness practice.  As part of my own development I was listening to other teachers to get new perspectives on how to engage with the practice and I came across a new way of teaching it which immediately resonated. 

Instead of moving on to the neutral and difficult person the practice focuses on oneself and a friend. Traditionally the Loving Kindness practice starts with thinking of a spiritual guide and directing Loving Kindness to them before moving to oneself. This gives a sense of being connected to another before dieting attention at oneself. But for most of us in the modern world we do not have a spiritual mentor so this stage is dropped. But this means we go straight into the wish for ourselves to be happy and well which many find hard to fully feel.

In this alternative version the practice starts with another being with whom we have an easy and uncomplicated relationship. This may be a child, a friend, a partner or a pet. Some people feel very lonely and may only feel a warm connection to a pet, and can feel this is not appropriate in the meditation. But the unconditional love a pet gives is exactly what we are looking to feel in this practice. Or we feel ourselves to be with a good friend, and see how pleased they are to see us. 

We then wish this being well. And after a short period of this make the wish for both of us with "may we be happy..." In this way we get a feeling of connection. It is only then that we shift the focus to ourselves with "may I be happy" etc. And then rest in this. 

I led this version in the class last Monday and people really liked it. On talking with my mindfulness supervisor she encouraged me to explore this approach. So many of us find it hard to really give ourselves love. In this practice we are given permission to fully explore this, without even extending it out to all beings. A Zen master, Thich Nhat Hanh, has said that it is only when we can fully rest in this self love that we can then extend it to the neutral and difficult person, and from there to all beings. In a strange piece of synchronicity one of the participants on the 8 week course brought Thich Nhat Hanh's version of the Loving Kindness practice in to share last week and it was there I read this advice. Then during the week I looked for a guided Loving Kindness practice and came across one that focused on friend and self without extending out to others and really enjoyed it. 

Then on Looking at my book shelf this week I saw a book I've had for a few years and never read, 'I love Me - the science of self-love', by David Hamilton PhD. In conjunction with listening to the new guided meditation I've started reading this book and it is a great exploration of what harms self-love, and how to heal. So over the coming weeks this will be the focus of the emails and the class. 

If you would like to buy the book it is available here or listen to him talk in the video below. 

Looking forward to seeing you on Monday.


Kind regards,

Nick
 

We have now met the required number so this is definitely going ahead. Book now for this one off screening of inspiring mindfulness documentary Choice at the Odeon Covent Garden. Highly recommended for anyone interested in mindfulness, meditation & compassion 

Date: Wednesday December 14th 
Time: 6.30pm
Location: Odeon Covent Garden, 135 Shaftesbury Avenue, London

Cost: £12.25

To buy your tickets, please go here

 

Living harmoniously requires a shift in consciousness. Two modern day monks from New Zealand set off on an international journey to film a diverse range of people making the choice for a better life through meditation.

Ballet dancers and writers, stressed business people, a cancer patient, foster children and maximum-security prisoners; their stories show peace is possible for individuals and communities - and suggests it may be possible for all of humanity.

Stunning cinematography combined with the power of people sharing from a place of profound peace delivers a palpable and moving experience.

You'll meet people who have left their self-doubts and inner demons behind so they could become better parents and partners. You'll meet people who channel their inner peace into creative projects that bring joy to others.

Peace is possible, all that is required is for each of us to move towards it. In this film we see how various people have been able to do this through their own meditation practice. Transforming themselves so that they may then transform their world.