“Compassion is the purest form of love. It is not dependent on the other; it is a state of your being. You are simply full of love, so whoever comes near you, you shower love on them.” — Osho

With Spring, come  so many reminders of the wonders of this existence. Blossoms abound, fresh green young plants are everywhere, the days stretch out a little longer inviting us to enjoy the outdoors a little more, the birds and insects dance in the air around us.  Do you feel the same? The miracle of life is so apparent at the height of Spring, isn’t it?  And it is really a miracle, isn’t it? I mean, I often reflect on this: what are the chances that in this whole universe, we are here on this great big star that we call the Earth, our shared home, floating through an endless cosmos, filled with so many lifeforms, dwelling together in an amazing dance of inter-connectedness.

Well, these are the kind of thoughts that go round my head as I walk my old dog through the beauty of our Springtime countryside.

Until a stranger passes with a complaint, or a driver speeds by, scowling because my canine companion and I are moving a little too slowly as we cross the road. I’m sure you know the feeling: how quickly we can be thrown out of such a reverie as peace and wonder unravel into agitation and deflation. We’re human, after all. Not perfect. And I know I am not alone in these fluctuations of heart and mind.

When I am triggered into some reaction like this, I’ll often express a little chuckle at my indignation (especially given all I write and speak about!), telling myself a “Love and light, Sara, love and light”. Ha ha.

And we need to be light with ourselves, right? To take life lightly and to extend understanding towards ourselves, as well as to others. Because as the saying goes, we are all “doing the best we can with the resources we have”. Even the guy who blasts on his horn at you, or the lady who wants to point a finger unnecessarily: they are doing their best. Who knows what anyone else is going through or has suffered in life.

And this is what I really wanted to explore with you this evening: compassion, a compassion that is borne of understanding and that begins with ourselves, right here in any moment, so that we might also more naturally, effortlessly extend it to others too. 

We are by nature loving, caring, compassionate beings. We have explored this over these weeks, haven’t we? Both Ayurveda and Yoga are clear about this. However, when we are locked in some mistaken self-perception – that we are other than this and that we therefore need something more to become complete and happy, we become locked in some personal agenda, and consequently knowingly or unknowingly become disconnected from our vastly compassionate heart.

And it can be as simple as this, can’t it? At times in life we are loving, and caring and considerate, giving and doing for others with ease and generosity of spirit. At other times, we are pulled in so many different directions by so much closing in on us: the demands of our life that leave us sleep-deprived as we can’t get to bed on time, or that wake us up in the early hours with worries racing through our minds. Then there are those times that losses visit us, such as with the breakdown of a relationship or the bereavement of a loved one, and the times when illness and pain take over our days and we just have nothing left to give.

At these times, despite the natural goodness in our hearts and our sincere aspiration to be caring and loving in this life, our fuse can be short, can’t it? We can find ourselves empty with nothing left to give. Worn out and worn down, negativity and intolerance can fill our minds. There is so much that can pull us away from our natural loving self.

Maybe you’ve noticed—as I have—that when life presses in, our reactivity often grows. And after the event, a familiar whisper of regret follows: “Was that really me?” we might ask ourselves, “Who was that person who just did or said that?”

As Rumi wrote,

“This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

This brings us to this week’s topic, the tender and profound matter of compassion. And we start with self-compassion because from here, all else can follow: a natural and sincere capacity for compassion for others, for all sentient beings.

 Most of us long to live from that place of kindness, patience, and understanding. And yet, in those moments of stress or overwhelm, all of this can feel so out of reach.

Yet, let’s not be discouraged at these times. These moments can also be precious opportunities to step into more expansive being, to unravel the chains that might have locked themselves around our hearts for one reason or another. They bring us the chance to practice thinking and speaking from a forgiving and understanding heart. This is the pathway back to compassion. A compassion that begins not through our being the perfectly loving, evolved human being, but with gentle self-understanding.

The truth is: we are wired for love. We feel best when we’re kind, when we connect, when we offer care, don’t we? And when we stray from that place, we often feel a sense of discomfort—not because we’ve failed, but because we’ve momentarily lost touch with who know ourselves to be in truth.

Therefore, let’s begin right here this week. Let’s meet our aspirations to be more consistently aligned with our loving nature through awareness, through the practice of simple noticing and acknowledging.

We don’t have to become more loving or compassionate—in essence these qualities are our nature. They live within us. Yes, sometimes life’s wounds and the weight of our experiences cover them, but let’s remember that they never leave us, they are always an essential part of the very fabric of who we are.

And so the invitation this week is to keep giving yourself to a return to your compassionate loving heart. And the invitation is rather than pushing away so-called “negative” emotions—anger, jealousy, resentment, to simply meet them with awareness, without feeling the need to change them or fix them. We only need to notice the feelings, to hold them with kindness. And when we do that, something remarkable begins to shift.

This is the alchemy of presence.

Swami Sivananda taught the value of setting clear intentions—little seeds of awareness planted after meditation. Something as simple as: Today, I will speak with gentleness. I will refrain from complaint. I will not feed negative thoughts. These intentions are not rules to follow perfectly—they’re reminders to return to what matters and there is a power in setting intention at the end of meditation when the mind is clear and still. Immediately on waking is another good intention setting time.

And then, at the end of the day, take a moment with a warm drink in hand, for a quiet pause in the evening. Reflect on what the day brought. Where did awareness shine through for you? Where did old habits return? Gently observe it all—without judgement. This practice alone begins to dissolve what is heavy,and nourish what is light.

What makes us unhappy—anger, bitterness, harshness—begins to fall away in the light of our awareness. And what brings us joy—love, kindness, connection—naturally strengthens.

And meditation and awareness are, as usual, vital keys in the awakening of our compassion. If the practice of compassion is to begin with understanding, then the capacity to draw on mindful awareness in our day to day lives is going to be required. Simple, non-judgemental noticing is going to be needed. We do not need to be taught how to be loving nor told how and when to be compassionate. This is our very nature. I really, really hope you believe this. Yoga and Ayurveda show us the truth of this.

Rather, with the aid of the practice of awareness and noticing that are strengthened through a committed meditation practice, all that we would habitually fight against or push away until they surge with too much force – hate, anger, and jealousy, we instead are quite able to simply acknowledge and accept as a very real part of this human experience. Acknowledging and noticing rather than fighting against the negativity when it takes a hold of us, makes room for the negative to be transformed.

Hating, we are aware that we hate. There is no need to fix it. The key is to fully be with it, bringing our full presence to the experience of hating. In meditation we are doing exactly this: bringing our full presence to all that passes through our minds and hearts, and in our bodies in any moment. And so, it is in this way that meditation can support our awareness in action in our day-to—day life.

When we suppress or deny feelings such as anger and hate, one day they will surface like an explosion. Or they will fester and make us ill.  In simply bringing awareness to that which covers our love, covers our compassion and allowing that to be fully felt, without turning it in on ourselves and without throwing it out on someone else, sooner or later in the light of our awareness it will fall away, leaving more room for love, for kindness, for compassion.

This is of course a strong alchemical practice. It takes commitment, clear intention and the capacity to detach.  And it is meditation which gives us that capacity to detach, to hold that which arises within us in any moment in our field of awareness rather than being pulled by it and even lost into it.

In meditation we are intentionally practicing detachment and simple witnessing. This is hard enough to sustain in formal meditation practice, and so without the backing of a regular meditation practice, it becomes very hard to sustain in every day life.

It takes practice, it takes patience, and always it needs our connection to an understanding heart. Meditation will put us in touch again with that heart.

And so, not through forcing one tendency away and efforting towards another, but through awareness one tendency is left behind and it’s opposite starts to fill our being and becomes like a fragrance surrounding us. Then all will find calm and nuturance just by coming close to us, by being in our presence.

As our awareness deepens, our love and compassion naturally grows and people long for this kind of balm in their lives. As our awareness lessens, harming grows – whether in thought, word or deed, whether towards ourselves or others; chaos and conflict grow in our lives and veil who we really are.

I have written every Sunday for the past twelve weeks and the key take away is always meditation, isn’t it? Meditation brings us to our most natural, blissful, loving state.

 However, I am aware that some of you may not yet have a meditation practice. I would LOVE to support you to bring the blessings of meditation into your daily life, so that you too can experience all joys and transformations I have written about in the past weeks.

If you’re ready to explore the practice of meditation, I warmly invite you to explore my online Introduction To Meditation Course. This is an on—demand course and you wil receive eight heart-centred classes designed to help you build a meditation practice that feels natural, grounding, and true to your life.

Meditation is a gift we all deserve as it nurtures a life of happiness, health, and wholeness.
It is your birthright. It is your pathway home to yourself.

With love and steady encouragement,
Always,
Sara

THIS EVENING

This evening, if you have a few quiet moments, sit somewhere where you won’t be disturbed. Take a notebook and pen and gently reflect on all the ways in which you are not compassionate or understanding with yourself.

Then putting notebook and pen aside, close your eyes and steadily bring into your mind’s eye an image of this you that fails you sometimes, and see and acknowledge with your inner eye, all that he or she struggles with and suffers through.

Sense a gold thread running from your heart centre to the heart centre of this you that you judge or condemn or withdraw understanding from.

Can you feel that on your inhales you draw all the pain from this suffering you into your heart via the golden thread, where it is released on the exhale and is dissolved in the vastness of your heart which is like an infinite and untainted ocean of compassion.

After a few moments, sense this image of the suffering you becoming very small, so that he/she can step into your compassionate heart and be held there with love and a new understanding, and be healed.

Perhaps take a moment before opening your eyes, to place your hands on your heart centre and resolve to extend greater understanding and compassion towards yourself from this day onwards.

THIS WEEK:

Each morning, on waking, before you do anything , remain lying or sit quietly. Place one hand over your heart centre and take three deep, slow breaths.
Inhaling, silently say to yourself: “May I meet myself with kindness today.” As you exhale ] silently say. “May I meet the world with compassion.”

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

As you move through your day, whenever you notice any emotional reaction — irritation, impatience, sadness, self-criticism — pause for a breath and gently remind yourself

“This, too, is worthy of my compassion.”

“With each breath, I soften.
With each breath, I open.
Compassion lives in me, always.”

Click the button below to find out about my online course,  INTRODUCTION TO MEDITATION: THE THEORY AND PRACTICE