Practicing compassion for animals is a way we can apply ahimsa in our daily lives. In yoga philosophy, it is believed that all living beings are worthy of love, respect, and honor. See our meditation script below.
Meditation Script for Practicing Compassion for Animals
Begin in a comfortable seated position. You can move around a bit—wiggling your fingers and toes, shaking your wrists and your ankles, and rolling your shoulders back and forward. Release any tension your body may be holding.
When you’re ready to begin your meditation, come into stillness. Close your eyes. Scan your body from the top of your forehead to the tips of your toes. Tune in with your breath, and feel your breath natural yet expansive in your belly and chest.
Once you feel more settled, clear away your thoughts and begin to visualize any natural habitat. You can imagine a vibrant coral reef, a sunny savannah, or even a tropical jungle. Imagine it as though you were there.
Imagine the sounds, colors, and textures of that habitat. If you are visualizing a coral reef, for example, feel the cool water enveloping your body. Notice the rainbow hues of the coral, the fish swimming to and from their branches.
How does this experience make you feel? Acknowledge how nature carries its own intelligence and creativity, and that being with nature can help you feel more at peace. Moreover, recognize how animals and nature are in need of our compassion.
Begin to send loving energy to the life that surrounds that habitat. If you are picturing a savannah, direct warm and affectionate compassion to the lions, zebras, birds, and all those animals that you can see.
Allow these positive feelings to well up from inside of you and beyond you, as if these animals could actually feel it.
When you feel that you are done, come back to the weight of your body and the sensation of your breath. Let go of the image. Then, open your eyes.
