Giving Back
A mindfulness activity for cultivating compassion and empathy
Getting Ready
| Duration | 15 minutes |
| Materials |
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| Treatment Modality | Individual and Group |
| Frequency | We recommend practicing this activity at least 3 times a week. |
| Other helpful topics to use this activity for |
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The What
There are so many ways you can give back to your community. You can give back by volunteering your time at an organization that you may feel makes an essential difference in your community. Giving back is where you make a positive difference and give something without expecting anything in return. The biggest reward in giving back is the realization that you have the ability to make a difference in someone’s life no matter what your circumstances may
Limitless studies are showing multiple benefits to giving back. The right match can help you reduce stress, find friends, connect with the community, learn new skills, and even advance your career. Giving to others can also help protect your mental and physical health.
The How
The following Quantum Mindfulness activity is designed to develop the skills to be more compassionate as well as empathetic. The activity is constructed in such a way, that it also helps raise self-confidence, self-compassion, self-worth, focus, and clarity.
When you first begin this meditation process, you may feel your mind wandering, certain parts of your body experiencing discomfort, thoughts distracting you, twitching, etc. These are all completely normal and natural reactions in the beginning. When you find yourself feeling uncomfortable or distracted in any way, return your attention to your breathingmouth. With enough practice, you’ll become an expert at this! Until then, just do what you can and keep returning your attention to your breath. Also, when breathing, remember that with each inhalation, fill your lungs to capacity, expanding your belly and diaphragm to take in as much air as possible. Then slowly exhale, gently contracting the muscles in your abdomen to remove every last bit of mair
Location: Choose a space with a minimum of distractions. If possible, make the area dim. If using this meditation process at home, choose a private place in the house where you could return to practicing this meditation all the time. There’s no problem with background noises or music in your location, just as long as you hear it more so as background noise rather than active noise that you find distracting. As you continue to develop your practice, your ability to tune out background sounds will likely improve. One day noises that you find distracting may become completely unnoticed.
Position: Sit upright/straight on your chair with your feet touching the ground or limbs crossed (Indian style) on the floor. You can grab your headphones if you have them. If not, play this meditation on your electronic device so that you can get the best sound system.
Let's Begin
Gentle reminder: This is a guided mindfulness activity using audio and video. You do not need to print or read the following instructions. The steps to this activity are provided to you in written form, only should you wish to read through them voluntarily. In other words, reading the following activity instructions and steps are optional. They are written in ‘casual’ and ‘conversation’ language in which it was recorded.
- Thank you for choosing this guided Quantum Mindfulness on giving back to others in the world while letting go of all the toxicity and negativity in your life.
- Sit comfortably in a chair with your arms and legs uncrossed.
- Tap the top of your head three times with your right hand: you are acknowledging and activating your mind/brain energy.
- Tap the center of your chest with your left hand: you are acknowledging/activating your heart energy.
- Squeeze the center of both of your hands and your fingertips: you are acknowledging/activating the energy of your ‘giving- and receiving’ hands.
- Place your hands on your lap with palms facing up.
- Close your eyes.
- Put your tongue on the roof of your mouth/ your pallet behind your front teeth. Keep your tongue on the roof your mouth.
- Take a few deep and slow relaxing breaths. Inhale slowly through your nose with belly extending, taking the breath all the way up to the top of your head and exhale slowly out of your mouth with pursed lips, relaxing the stomach. Breathe deeply this way for two more cycles rhythmically.
- Now, in your mind, imagine a waterfall of brilliant bright white-golden light covering the room. The bright white, light is moving down and covering the entire ceiling, walls, windows.
- This brilliant bright white light with sparkles of gold is reaching the top of your head. Its temperature is warm and soothing. The little gold sparkles are tingling top of your head, ears, back of your head.
- Allow this bright white light to cover your entire body. Your entire front and back body is illuminating bright white sparkling light. This light is allowing you to relax your mind and body.
- Bring your attention to your arms and hands. This bright white light is beaming its light out of your hands and fingertips like a beam of a flashlight.
- The key to making this activity powerful is to repeat them silently to yourself while imagining every word is true for you right now. It is essential that you follow my words with sincerity, with love, with trust, and confidence.
- I feel powerful, safe, and protected. I feel loved and worthy. I am safe and calm.
- I am grateful for this opportunity to be able to give back to myself, community, city, state, country, and the world. I am grateful that I am able to make a difference in the world with my love, light, and illumination.
- Take deep breaths, inhale through your nose with belly extending and exhale through your mouth with belly relaxing. Inhale unconditional love; exhale anger and resentments.
Inhale unlimited possibilities, and exhale limiting
Inhale optimism and resilience; and exhale worry, sadness, and depression.
- When you’re ready, bring your attention and willingness to inner self-reflection.
Think of the virtue of kindness. Examine yourself if you have hurt somebody physically and intentionally. Also, think if you have given pain to somebody through your speech and emotional reactions. Are you constantly creating and keeping negative or harmful thoughts towards other people? If you are, then silently and gently ask for forgiveness from all those whom you have hurt or are still hurting. Resolve that this day you are going to practice kindness towards all people in your thoughts, speech, and action.
As a part of this resolution. • Visualize yourself forgiving those who may have also hurt you. Send them love, awakening, understanding, and empathy. Visualize yourself also being forgiven by those whom you may have hurt. Experience the feelings of being forgiven.
- Now examine if you have taken things, which are not yours, whether tangible or intangible.
Have you taken somebody’s reputation, credits, glory or ideas for your selfish ends? Have you taken an affection, which is due to another person? • If you have, then silently and gently ask for forgiveness and resolve that you will not take the things, which are not yours. Also, resolve that you shall be generous and shall offer your help when necessary.
- Ask yourself if you have been misleading or deceiving people in your speech and actions.
Are you deliberately telling lies? Or pretending to be other than what you really are? Are you withholding the truth from other people for your own selfish ends? • Resolve that this day you shall be true to yourself and to other people in your speech and actions. As part of this practice of inner self-realization, now examine the secrets in your life, which have been giving you a feeling of guilt. • Free yourself by silently and gently asking for forgiveness. Experience the peace that comes from being true to yourself and to other people.
You are now ready for your positive energy to earth and the root of humanity with your unlimited resources of love, abundance, and kindness. To activate your heart energy center, press the center of your chest and bring your attention to your heart energy center for a few seconds.
Now recall the most pleasant feeling that you have ever experienced in your entire life. For example, a sense of love, kindness, peace, and joy. You may have felt this when you have given yourself in service to others or shared yourself with your friends, or when you fell in love. You are now going to share this feeling of kindness with the entire planet earth.
Visualize in front of your chest level, small planet earth, in the size of a baseball in front of you. Gently place your hands facing outward towards the planet earth. Remember to imagine that bright white light is beaming from your head all the way out through your hands and fingertips.
And now, imagine that same bright white light from center of your chest, your heart energy center and from your hands, going to the planet earth in front of you and enveloping it with love and kindness. Smile at this planet earth and mentally in your mind with sincerity say this:
Where there is hatred, I send my gentle energy to transform hate into love.
Where there is injury, I send my gentle energy on earth to allow for forgiveness and letting go.
Where there is doubt – I send my gentle energy to allow for courage and faith.
Where there is despair – I send my gentle energy to allow for hope and strength.
Where there is darkness – I send my gentle energy to allow for light and illumination.
Where there is fear, let I send my gentle energy to allow for courage and acceptance.
I have enveloped and embraced with my infinite energy, all the needy people on earth with a new hope for a better world with my love, with my nurturing, and powerful energy. With my gentle energy, I inspire all to unite, to want peace, to be more understanding, and to want to live a life of purpose.
Where there is sadness, I fully embrace the earth with great joy. I can already see the people I meet every day smiling and being filled with great joy, empowerment, inspired to take action towards unity and acceptance of what is.
I envelop my limitless energy around planet earth and expand the minds of all people, even the most stubborn minds. This is because, I understand that by expanding our minds, we become understanding, loving, kind, forgiving, and empathetic. I understand that by expanding our minds, we also expand all other possibilities to overcome any hardship.
When you’re ready, bring your attention to the top of your head. Tap the top of your head three times. Now visualize that brilliant white golden light from the top of your head going to the planet earth and covering it with your love and kindness. Allow the entire planet earth to be covered with understanding, harmony, peace, goodwill, and the willingness to do good. Smile with a feeling of kindness towards the earth for about 20 seconds as you give it your full attention and covering it with golden bright white light. (I will let you know when these 20 seconds are up.)
When you’re ready, keeping the eyes closed, place your hands on your chest.
In your mind, silently repeat these words to yourself:
I am thankful that my mind and body is capable of achieving the impossible.
I am thankful that my mind and body’s powerful and loving energy is capable of reaching the stars, the moon, and the entire earth.
I am thankful that my mind is learning, expanding, and growing every single day.
I am so grateful that I have all the resources and tools I need inside my mind and body to make a difference for others and myself.
I am so grateful that I can make and be a difference, a light, an instrument of love in someone else’s life.
I am full of compassion and love. I am powerful and resourceful.
I am filled with infinite energy to cause peace, unity, justice, and love on earth, in my community, in my home, in my city, in myself. I am powerful.
I am grateful for those who support me and love me for who I am. I send them my gentle energy filled with love and abundance.
I embrace myself with gentle light filled with self-love, acceptance, and forgiving. I am after all, a human being and capable of making mistakes. Mistakes, rejections, and failures do not define me, but rather they help me learn and grow. I fill and illuminate myself with love, forgiveness, abundance.
I am grateful that my life is now filled with purpose, clarity, inner peace, and clear direction.
I am okay not knowing what the future will bring and who I really am, but I am excited for the journey. I am excited for exploring, for the adventure, and yet, always willing to move forward regardless of the results.
My mind has been expanded. I understand, love, respect, and accept myself as I am now.
I choose peace, love, unity, and kindness towards myself as I have decided to be a loving, accepting, forgiving, and compassionate person towards others on planet earth.
When you’re ready, bring your attention to your feet, hands, and body. Wiggle your toes and fingertips. Gently move and stretch your body.
Thank you for giving yourself this opportunity to grow and give back!
You have an amazing day!