... ... ... How do you love yourself? First of all, you breathe in... (laughter) mindfully... and you become aware that you have a body. Breathing in,
I know I have a body. The body is a very important
part of yourself. You spend two hours
with your computer, you are stressful, and you don't know
how to stop and you forget completely
that you have a body during these two hours. You are looking for something in the future in your work while your body suffers. So the first act of love is to breathe in and to go
home to your body Breathing in... I know I have a body. Hello, body! I'm home! I'll take care of you. So to be aware of body, is to... the beginning of love. And when mind is home
to body, mind and body are established
in the here and the now. And you might notice two things... With the practice of
mindful breathing, the first thing you notice is that your body is a wonder. You have to rediscover that your body is a wonder. Biologists and others have been
trying to understand the body that is a masterpiece of
the cosmos. The body is a wonder. The body is the seat of
consciousness the consciousness of the cosmos. And you don't know
the value of your body. Your body contains all information
of the history of the cosmos. In every cell of your body you can recognize the presence
of your ancestors. Not only human ancestors. but animal, vegetal and
mineral ancestors. And all your ancestors are
still alive in your body, with their weakness and
with their strength. You might have taken your
body for granted, but it is a wonder. Your brain... the neo-cortex... is a very... very... sophisticated kind of organization. The cosmos have come together in order to produce
this wonder which is your body. And if you can get in
touch with your body you can get in touch with the
whole cosmos, with all your ancestors, and also with all the future generations that are already inside
of your body to manifest later. Do you have the capacity to appreciate
that wonder that is your body? Mother Earth is in you. Not underneath, or all around you but in you, also. And Father Sun is also in you. You are made of sunshine. You are made of fresh air, of fresh water, And to be aware of that wonder, and to value that wonder, can already bring you
a lot of happiness. Breathing in, I know
I have a body. And you can enjoy having
that body. And you can get in touch
with the history of life, you can get in touch with
your ancestors. Your body contains all information
concerning the cosmos. And that kind of awareness
can be... healing, can be nourishing. The second thing that happens
when you go back to your body, is that there maybe tension and
pain in your body. Because you have allowed tension and
pain to get accumulated in your body for a long time. You have not loved your body
for a long time. You have made your
body suffer. So, mindful breathing allows you
to be aware of that. And suddenly you want your
body to suffer less. And that is why you breathe
out in such a way that you can release
the tension in your body. That is an act of love directed to your body. And these exercises of mindful breathing.
Mindful breathing is available in the sutra Ānāpānasati. So, breathing in, I'm aware
of my body. Breathing out, I release the
tensions from my body. That is an act of love directed to your body. It's really concrete because the question is
'How do I love myself?' To love yourself is to recognize your body
and to release the tension in your body. And then when you breathe in and out... you bring your mind
home to your body and you recognize the many refreshing and
healing elements available. So you can generate the
feeling of joy, a feeling of happiness to
nourish yourself. That is an act of love. For a person practicing
mindfulness, it is not difficult to generate
a feeling of joy, or a feeling of happiness. Basing on the fact
that you are surrounded by many refreshing
and healing elements. You have so many conditions of happiness
available in the present moment, so there's no problem generating
a feeling of joy and a feeling of happiness by the way of mindful breathing. And that is exactly how to
love yourself. To allow yourself to be nourished
by feelings of joy, feelings of happiness. And then, when you practice
mindful breathing, you might be aware that
there's a painful feeling, a painful emotion arising, and you know that there are exercises of mindful breathing that can help you to embrace - recognize and
embrace - your pain and your sorrow and help you to suffer less. One, two or three minutes
of mindful breathing embracing your pain and sorrow can help you to suffer less. That is an act of love. To love ourselves is possible with
the practice of mindful breathing or mindful walking. When you recognize the
suffering in yourself, you can calm it down and you can go further. By embracing your suffering, listening to it, looking deeply into its nature, you might discover the roots of that suffering, the kind of perceptions that have given
birth to that kind of suffering. And you begin to understand
your suffering. And you find out that your suffering
carries within itself the suffering of your father or your mother or your ancestors. Unstanding your suffering, you understand
the suffering of your father, mother, ancestors. And understanding suffering
always bring... always brings compassion that has the power to heal and you suffer less. That is also an act of love. And when you suffer less, you can help the
other person your son, your daughter your father, your mother,
your partner to suffer less, also. If you understand his or
her suffering, you can you don't suffer more anymore And you are motivated by the energy of compassion
in you to do something to help the
other person to suffer less. And when the other person
suffers less, you suffer less and you have more joy. That is the way to
love yourself. And... you will not be able to
love someone else if you don't know how to
love yourself. And that is the teaching
of the Buddha and to love yourself is very concrete. With our in-breath and releasing
the tension in your body, you take care of your body, you take care of your
feelings and emotions. Subtitles by the Amara.org community
