Highland Mindfulness Group

This page contains compassion meditations designed to help a practitioner move from basic levels of compassionate acceptance to higher levels of sending out compassion and realising the suffering of others. The first 3 recordings were made in group member’s house during a study day on the subject of compassion held on the 21st December 2017 – “Compassion for Christmas”. Don’t be surprised by the purring of the cat during the first recording – the cat seemed to be enjoying the practice as much if not more than anyone else who was present.

We also have a new section on our website for the Compassion Course in 2023 with notes and recordings.

Practice 1 – We are all human (compassionate acceptance of ourselves) though some of us are cats! A 30minute meditation practice. Recorded on the 21st December 2017.

Practice 2 – The compassionate being (entity). A 31minute meditation practice. Recorded on the 21st December 2017.

Practice 3 – Sending out and sharing compassion (a form of metta). A 32minute meditation practice. Recorded on the 21st December 2017.

Practice 4 – Befriending oneself. A short 15minute meditation practice on the subject of self-compassion – being friends with yourself. This meditation was recorded in the Chapel off the RNI on Thursday the 18th January 2018.

Practice 5 – Heart Space meditation – settling, grounding and resting with the mind coming to rest in the heart-space. A 25minute self-compassion meditation practice recorded in the Chapel of the RNI on Thursday the 1st February 2018. 

Practice 6 – Being friends with oneself. A 15minute basic self-compassion practice recorded in the Chapel of the RNI on Thursday the 8th March 2018.

Practice 7 – Loving kindness “Feeling and sharing” sitting meditation recorded at the Day of Silent Practice held in the CMHR on Saturday the 10th March 2018. 40minute meditation.

Practice 8 – “All we need is already within us” self-compassion practice recorded at the Day of Silent Practice held in the CMHR on Saturday the 10th March 2018. 40minute meditation.

Practice 9 – “Loving-kindness” – a 30minute meditation practice recorded at the “Judgement Day” study day on the 16th March 2018.

Practice 10 – “Forgiveness” – a 25minute practice recorded at the RNI Chapel on Thursday the 24th May 2018. This meditation includes the practice of forgiving others for what they have done to us and forgiving ourselves for what we may have done to them. It is basically a self-compassion practice.

Practice 11 – Experiencing our own suffering – a 25minute sitting practice in which we generate a feeling of love (heart-space) and allow ourselves to experience our suffering through that love (in the heart-space). Recorded at the RNI Chapel on the 14th June 2018.

Practice 12 – Loving-kindness meditation – a 30minute practice in which we allow ourselves to settle and become grounded in the experience of our 5 senses before generating a sense of caring, kindness and love. We then allow ourselves to come to rest as best we can in that sense of loving kindness. Recorded at a meeting of the Drumnadrochit Mindfulness group on Monday the 6th August 2018.

Practice 13 – Gratitude – a 25minute sitting meditation in which we generate a feeling of gratitude by recalling a pleasant event involving being thankful for something and then allow ourselves to explore the feelings that arise. Recorded in the Chapel of the RNI on Thursday the 9th August 2018.

Practice 14 – Softening the mind with kindness and caring – a 20minute sitting practice designed to help participants relax and open the mind. Recorded in the Chapel of the RNI on Thursday the 23rd August 2018.

Practice 15 – Opening – the heart, the mind, the body – opening up to experience, opening up to life. A 25minute compassion meditation practice recorded in the Chapel of the RNI on Thursday the 4th October 2018

Practice 16 – Dealing with difficulties by being with the body and the breath. A 25minute caring for/being kind to ourselves practice. Recorded in the Chapel of the RNI on Thursday the 4th October 2018.

Practice 17 – Resting with kindness and caring – a 30minute meditation practice recorded on Tuesday the 24th March 2020.

Practice 18 – “The flower of love” – a 25minute visualisation practice designed to help us access our capacity to love and to feel the possibility of sharing it with others. Recorded on Tuesday the 24th March 2020. Please note that there is some slight noise interference on this recording.

Practice 19 – “The flower of love” – an alternative version of practice 18. A 25minute visualisation practice designed to help us access our capacity to love and to feel the possibility of sharing it with others. Recorded on Wednesday the 29th April 2020.

Practice 20 – Universal compassion – a 25minute practice in which we begin by generating a sense of kindness and caring, progress to develop a feeling of love and lastly feel compassion for all beings and life on this planet, radiating the feelings out from us unconditionally. Recorded on Monday the 6th April 2020.

TAKING AND SENDING (TONGLEN) PRACTICES.

Practice 1 – A Self-compassion practice using taking and sending (Tonglen) techniques. Nearly 30minutes in length this practice guides us gently into the taking and sending, opening and releasing process of tonglen and leads us into the the realms of self-compassion. Recorded on Wednesday the 8th April 2020.

Practice 2 – Developing taking and sending practice (tonglen) to take our negative feelings right into our heart space and to receive it there with loving kindness and compassion before sending it out with the out breath. Beginning to feel the flow of feelings through the heart and not trying to change anything. Recognising that dealing with the negative and allowing it to change takes time. 28minute practice recorded on Friday the 10th April 2020.

Practice 3 – “The Golden Light of Universal Compassion”. A 28minute meditation practice recorded on Saturday the 11th April in which we are invited to regard our thoughts, feelings and emotions, irrespective of whether we judge them to be positive or negative, as energy that can be used to help us and others. The practice involves sending out the energy of our emotions as a golden light representing compassion.

Practice 4 – Taking and sending with visualisation of the negative – a 28minute practice in which we begin to visualise our negativity as a dark cloud. As we breathe and take in this darkness we feel it being transformed in the heart to something that we send out that is lighter and purer. Negative energy can be transformed into love and compassion. Recorded on the 12th April 2020.

Practice 5 – Taking and sending for self and others – a 31minute meditation  practices in which we first practise tonglen for ourselves and then extend it  to others using the dark cloud visualisation as described above. Recorded on Wednesday the 15th April 2020.

Practice 6 – Compassion in practice – opening out to the suffering of others as we breath in and connecting with our own suffering before releasing. An 18minute meditation practice related to and derived from the practice of Tonglen. Recorded in the RNI Chapel on Thursday the 14th June 2018.

Practice 7 – Taking and sending (taking in the suffering of others and sending out healing – a form of tonglen). A 30minute meditation.

Practice 8 – Breathing in negativity and breathing out positivity using loving kindness and compassion – a 35minute meditation recorded at the “Being positive” study day on Friday the 16th February 2018.

OUR INNATE NATURE PRACTICES (includes the concept of Bodhichitta).

1. Beginning to make contact with our innate nature – our innate sense of loving kindness and compassion. A 25minute meditation in which we are reminded of the need to settle and ground ourselves before exploring how we can connect with what is innate within us all. Recorded on Sunday the 19th April 2020.

2. Connecting with our desire to be kind and caring, feeling our motivation and sensing where this is held in the body. A 30minute meditation practice recorded on Monday the 20th April 2020.

3. Connecting with our innate nature in self-compassion – a 25minute self-compassion practice bringing 1 and 2 (above) together. Recorded on Tuesday the 21st April 2020.

4. Putting it all together for ourselves and others – radiating out compassion as best we can. A 32minute practice bringing 1,2 and 3 as above together. Recorded on Wednesday the 22nd April 2020.

5. Embracing our experience – a 25minute practice in which we rest in the moment and embrace the totality of our experience . Recorded on Friday the 24th April 2020.

6. Realising our innate wisdom – the self-compassion of resting with our experience and being open moment by moment. A 23minute practice recorded on Friday the 24th April 2020.

7. Being human – a self-compassion practice in which we are asked to recognise the full extent of our “humanness”, acknowledging and accepting ourselves for what we are. A 30minute practice recorded on Tuesday the 14th July 2020.

VISUALISATION PRACTICES.

Practice 1 – Safe space caring meditation – a 30minute meditation practice in which we visualise a place in which we feel completely safe and in which we can take care of ourselves without fear. Recorded on Sunday the 3rd May 2020.

Practice 2 – “The flower of love” – an alternative version of practice 18 (above). A 25minute visualisation practice designed to help us access our capacity to love and to feel the possibility of sharing it with others. Recorded on Wednesday the 29th April 2020.

Practice 3 – “The Compassionate Being” – this is a 25minute version of the classical compassionate being meditation in which we are asked to visualise a person/being that represents compassion for us.  As we feel the compassion arising from this being  we then begin to feel the same sense of caring and compassion arising within us. Recorded on Monday the 4th May 2020.

Practice 4 – “The Flow of Life” compassion practice – a 28minute visualisation practice in which we generate an image that helps us to connect with the flow of life  and with our own desire to relieve suffering both for ourselves and for all other living things. Recorded on Tuesday the 5th May 2020.

Practice 5 – “Meeting yourself in the flower garden” – a 32minute self-compassion practice in which we visualise a beautiful garden and feel the sense of love that is present all around us. We then see someone in the garden and contemplate their difficulties and their suffering before presenting them with a flower that represents our loving  kindness and compassion. At that moment we realise that they are us. Recorded on Wednesday the 6th May.