Meditation Series Activity 3
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About the Series
This meditation series is inspired by prompts written by Oriah in her book, The Dance: Moving to the Deep Rhythms of Your Life. This book combines storytelling and meditation prompts to guide the reader on an investigation of personal and spiritual development.
About the Activity
I invite you to approach this prompt with movement, but if you prefer, you may of course practice in stillness. Please be mindful of your surroundings and only practice what is safe and reasonable for your body at this time.
Here I have included a quote from Oriah's poem, "The Dance" as it pertains specifically to this activity:
Don’t tell me you want to hold the whole world in your heart.
Show me how you turn away from making another wrong without
abandoning yourself when you are hurt and afraid of being unloved.
The full poem can be found at this link.
Activity 3
Throughout this activity I will denote direct quotes from Oriah's "Meditation to Cultivate Compassion," from chapter 3 of The Dance: Moving to the Deep Rhythms of Your Life with quotation marks. All quotes are directly from this text published by HarperSanFrancisco, A Division of HarperCollinsPublishers.
Let's begin by bringing awareness to the breath. Empty the lungs completely. Give your body a chance to let go of anything you are holding onto that does not serve you. Breathe in through the nose with a three part breath; fill the belly, then the ribs then the chest. Pause for a moment at the top of the breath before releasing everything, emptying the lungs on your exhale. Completely empty the lungs and suspend your exhale as long as possible before taking another inhale. Fill the belly, then ribs, then the chest. Pause at the top. Release everything. Empty the air completely and release any stress in the body. Continue this pattern for 4-5 more cycles of breath on your own.
Oriah begins by asking us to, " begin with something small...relatively minor...think back over the last few days of your life...find a time when someone annoyed or irritated you, an incident in which your internal response was to dismiss the other as a jerk. It may have been a total stranger...it may be someone you know. Life is full of opportunities to be annoyed with one another."
Did someone say the wrong thing? Did someone fail to say the right thing? Did someone in public stand within six feet of you? Did your quarantine buddy get too close for comfort? Whatever the case may be, Oriah suggests, "focus on this incident and the flash of anger or annoyance you felt. Be aware of what it feels like to put another out of your heart. Let yourself replay the incident and expand the internal railing against the other's inconsiderateness."
Explore this idea with movement or in stillness. Notice how your breath changes. Notice how your movement changes. Be mindful of any images or sensations that arise as you take time to sit with this idea.
Oriah says, "now decide: Do you want to find a way to have compassion for this other person? Are you willing to see another you in their behavior?"
Flip the scenario. Put yourself in this person's shoes. Oriah reminds us, "you may have no information about why they behaved as they did...was it careless, reckless, inconsiderate?...you sometimes-possibly under very different circumstances-behave recklessly, carelessly, or in a manner that does not consider others."
Can you imagine yourself in this person's position and provide a reason for such behavior? Have you been in a similar situation or can you, as Oriah beautifully suggests, "see another you in the behavior?"
Explore compassion that you give to yourself by offering it to this other person.
To close this meditation, I will offer a final word from Oriah:
"Remember you do not need to condone the behavior, but simply hold in your heart this other and yourself when either of you is struggling with this particular challenge of being human."
Follow Up
I want to thank Oriah for permitting me to quote parts of her "Meditation to Cultivate Compassion" for this activity. If you would like, please comment on this blog post with any feedback for me or use this space to safely share and discuss anything that came up for you during this meditation. You can continue participating in this series every Friday when I go live on my Instagram, here. Thank you for participating!!
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