Counting on Your Compassionate Voice

We are coming to the end of the Omer -- the period of counting days from Pesach until Shavuot.  Just as our ancestors in the Torah wilderness prepared themselves physically for receiving the Torah, the Rabbis imagined this period as an opportunity for self-reflection and personal growth necessary before rehearsing the receipt of Torah on Shavuot.  They saw the Torah as a huge gift and felt it was a gift that we needed to earn.  

One traditional way to prepare is to study Pirke Avot (that portion of the Talmud devoted to ethical wisdom) throughout the period of counting the Omer.  In recent years some beautiful complementary materials have been created.  Thank you to Yael Raff Peskin for curating several of these resources at her blog, Omer Harvest.  One of the seminal modern resources is the flipbook (old-school on paper) crafted by Simon Jacobson.  He offers daily meditations, questions, and exercises that encourage self-reflection based on the so-called "lower" seven sefirot.

There have been years when the 49-days of self-reflection have been intense.  When my tendency to self-critique swallows-up my sense of self-realization.  At those times I recognize a need for self-compassion at the end of the Omer.  

To guide my self-compassion, I crafted the following exercise based on the book, "Self-Compassion: Stop Beating Yourself Up and Leave Insecurity Behind" by Dr. Kristin Neff.  I find this exercise to be an encouraging, liberating, and authentic way to prepare myself in the final days before Shavuot.  


Finding Your Compassionate Voice

• Draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper. 
• On the left, write down negative things you say or think about yourself.
• Give yourself enough time to allow that negative voice to speak. 
• Then, close your eyes and imagine a supportive, compassionate hand coming to rest on your hand. This hand is an extension of the part of you that accepts you as you are. Feel the warmth of this hand as it radiates loving kindness into your own hand. 
• Allow the feeling of kindness to envelope your entire body. 
• Take your time, breathe, and feel the warmth of acceptance come into every cell of your body. Next, allow the supportive, compassionate hand to guide your own hand to the right side of the paper. 
• What might this supportive, compassionate hand help you to say in response to the critical thoughts written on the other side? 
• Allow the supportive, compassionate hand to guide you as you talk back to the painful, negative messages written on the left side of the page.