Welcome,
My name's Paul and I'll be guiding you through the Heart Expansion meditation sequence today.
Gently closing down your eyes,
Taking a moment to thank yourself for making this time in your day for self-care.
I invite you to observe your breath as it is,
Not seeking to control or change it in any way.
Noticing whether your breath is fast or slow,
Shallow or deep.
Noticing where your inhale begins and where it ends.
Noticing where your exhale starts and where it finishes.
In the practice of effortless meditation,
Whenever you happen to notice your mind is on your thoughts or emotions or just wandered away.
Gently and effortlessly resting your awareness back on your anchor,
Such as your breath right now.
It doesn't matter how many times your mind rifts away,
There's no place to get to,
There's no state to achieve.
Now reflecting back to a time when you felt loving-kindness.
That feeling of love,
Care,
Kindness and compassion.
That loving-kindness might have been towards yourself or someone special in your life.
Maybe a family member,
A close friend or a pet.
Maybe it was loving-kindness,
Someone you don't know that well.
Or for a group of people.
Remembering the full experience of that feeling.
What it felt like in your body and what you could sense.
The sounds,
The smell,
What you could see and feel.
Allowing yourself to be with it right now.
To experience it in this moment.
Turning inward and giving this loving-kindness to yourself.
Saying to yourself or just listening to my voice.
May I be happy.
May I be as healthy as can be.
May I be safe.
May I have ease of being.
Happy,
Healthy,
Safe,
Ease of being.
Now imagining someone you find easy to love.
Picturing them in front of you in the happiest time and wishing them loving-kindness.
Saying to them or listening to me say it.
May you be happy.
May you be as healthy as can be.
May you be safe.
May you have ease of being.
Happy,
Healthy,
Safe,
Ease of being.
Now expanding this feeling of loving-kindness to freely flow into your world.
To one person or a few or too many.
It could be one at a time or to a group.
Maybe to people from recent times or to people you haven't been in touch with in a while.
Maybe to people you don't know or don't know so well.
Sending loving-kindness in your own way to as many people as you wish.
Happy,
Healthy,
Safe,
Ease of being.
I invite you now to gently and effortlessly rest your awareness on that feeling of loving-kindness and use it as your anchor for the rest of the meditation.
Whenever you happen to realize that your mind has drifted away from that feeling and is caught up in thoughts or emotions without any judgment.
Lazily and effortlessly resting your awareness on that feeling,
That loving-kindness.
Gradually starting to deepen your breath Becoming aware of your surroundings and body once more.
Inviting gentle movement into your fingers and toes.
Gradually expanding this movement into the rest of your body.
Stretching or twisting in whatever way feels good.
Noticing how you are feeling.
Maybe setting an intention to carry these feelings throughout the rest of your day.
You can gently open your eyes whenever you're ready or keep them closed a little longer.
Please take as long as you like.
