Self-Compassion News Break

An image of a girl hugging herself. She’s wearing a pink sweater and looks content.

This exercise is an adapted form of Dr. Kristen Neff’s Self-Compassion Break, featured on https://self-compassion.org/exercise-2-self-compassion-break/ 

If you feel distress after listening to, reading, or watching the news, you are not alone. It’s okay to feel this way, and it’s also okay to look for healthy ways to cope. 

First, take a big, deep breath in through your nose, counting to four. Hold your breath for a second or two, and then breathe out slowly through your mouth, counting to four. 

Next, think about how the news has made you feel. Acknowledge this suffering by writing down how you feel. For example: This hurts, I feel angry, or I am so sad that this has happened.

Next, take a moment to remember that you are not alone. Remember that you do not have to carry the burdens of the world alone, and there are many people helping to make things better. There are many people struggling with the same difficult emotions, and you are not alone in feeling this way. Repeat to yourself: I am not alone. Write down some good wishes you have for other people who are struggling. This is compassion. 

Finally, extend this compassion to yourself. Ask yourself, What good things do I want for myself? Write down these good wishes, for example: May I have hope. May I find rest. May I find energy and opportunities to do good things that bring me joy. May I find the beauty in all things. 

Take four more deep breaths. If possible, take a break from the media after doing this meditation. Take a stretch break, eat a snack, read a book--Do something kind for yourself.

---

---

This prompt was written by Grace Ferber, a Words Alive volunteer

Body Scan

Post by Mindfully Empowered in partnership with Words Alive!

One way to help give that worrying or ruminating mind a break is to cultivate body awareness through a Body Scan practice. In this practice, we allow ourselves to experience how different parts of our body feel, without trying to do or change anything. It’s about noticing and accepting what is already there. The main intention of a body scan is to explore our sensory experience — to experience how it is to “be a body.”  This practice also helps us learn to identify what we are feeling and where we are feeling it, so that we can begin to release the stress and tension that often runs rampant in our bodies and minds.

View fullsize

---

Make it Lit with Words Alive!

Writing Extension: You’ve spent some time noticing how each part of your body feels. Now, turn that experience into a fun creative writing exercise. Write a short story from the perspective of one body part. For example, write as if you were “neck” and discuss the reasons why you might be feeling so much tension: “Stooped down, looking at a phone for hours, it’s no wonder I’m crooked and sore all the time. But this morning, I noticed a new tension. Are you stressed about something?” Have fun with it and be sure to explore where the feeling in your body stems from.