Welcome to this Kindly Awareness meditation practice.
In this practice,
We're going to be exploring Kindly Awareness,
So we can open up to this quality that we all have within us.
We're not trying to create something external.
Simply help break through the barriers we create in our heart.
Kindness towards ourselves and kindness towards others.
We often find it hard to be kind to ourselves.
This is really important,
Not just for ourselves,
But for how we interact with others.
If we're not truly kind to ourselves,
It's hard to be truly kind to others.
So our intention in this practice is to open to kindness towards ourselves and others from an understanding of common humanity.
We do this by connecting with our own experience of kindness with an attitude of curiosity,
Non-judging,
And kindness.
Non-judging in the way that kindness isn't something that we can force.
So if you feel that kindness is not accessible to you fully during this practice,
Just accepting that as how you are in this moment.
And just working at whatever level feels appropriate and possible for you.
So before we start,
Just checking in with your posture,
Feeling where you're connected to the ground,
Maybe sitting on a chair or a cushion.
You could be lying down,
Whatever feels right for you in this moment.
And if you're seated,
Then just checking.
Your spine is erect,
Shoulders relaxed,
And you've got this sense of alertness,
Allowing your eyes to gently close or rest,
Your gaze,
Whatever feels appropriate for you.
And just bringing your awareness to your breath,
Just noticing your breath as it rolls in,
As it rolls out of your body.
You'll be noticing a sense of gentleness,
Of softness in your breath.
And remembering that throughout the practice,
If anything becomes too difficult,
You can always just come back to watching,
Observing your breath.
Connecting with this sense of softness,
Of gentleness.
So we're going to start the practice with ourselves.
However,
Sometimes it's not easy just to jump straight into feeling kindness for ourselves.
So we're gonna ease our way in there,
Just tapping into our kindness within.
So starting just seeing if you can feel warmth or kindliness in your breath.
Maybe imagining the breath soothing your body.
And then maybe bringing to mind someone or some being it is easy to feel kindness towards.
It could be a child,
It could be a pet,
It could be an animal that's hurt.
Something where there's a really easy relationship.
So feeling into this sense of kindness towards this person,
This being.
And we're trying to focus into that as vividly as you can.
And just seeing,
Exploring where you find,
Where you can sense this feeling of kindness in your body.
And then letting the image of this person or this pet,
This being fade.
And seeing how it feels to be the one receiving kindness.
So seeing if it's possible to be sending this kindness to yourself.
And to be receiving that.
And if you're not feeling kindness,
It's okay.
You can just practice having the intention of kindness,
Of sending and receiving kindness.
Just letting go of any judgments,
Just knowing that kindness has its seasons and this might not be possible for you today.
If you can connect with this sense of kindness,
Maybe just be breathing kindness to yourself in the out-breath and receiving it on the in-breath.
Or if it feels appropriate,
You might want to repeat some phrases silently in your head in a very soft and kind voice.
May I be truly happy.
May I love myself just as I am.
May I find peace in this uncertain world.
May I love and be loved.
May I be truly happy.
May I love myself just as I am.
May I find peace in this uncertain world.
May I love and be loved.
So either repeating these phrases or just breathing kindness,
Softness,
Out to yourself and breathing it in.
It helps,
You can put a hand on your heart or anywhere else on your body that feels soothing.
And then you can choose to stay with this,
Focus on yourself.
Or you might want to bring to mind a friend,
Maybe a friend that's suffering at the moment.
And just taking a moment to reflect that this friend,
Just like us,
Feels pleasure and pain.
They also want to be happy.
And just like us,
They might cause more suffering in their lives by grasping for pleasure and avoiding pain.
The stories might be different,
But the human experience is the same.
If it feels right,
You might want to be simply breathing out kindness to them on the out breath.
Or you might want to repeat the phrases.
May they be truly happy.
May they be truly happy.
May they love themselves just as they are.
May they find peace in this uncertain world.
May they love and be loved.
May they be truly happy.
May they love themselves just as they are.
May they find peace in this uncertain world.
May they love and be loved.
So repeating these phrases,
Simply breathing kindness to them on the out breath.
And you might want to stay here,
Either with yourself still or with your friend.
You might choose to bring to mind more people,
Some who you know less well.
The people who are in your community,
In your town,
People in your country,
But everyone in the world.
You might choose to bring to mind people who are having an experience of pain or suffering in this moment.
So no matter who they are or where they live,
They're all breathing.
They're all sensing.
They're all experiencing pleasure and pain.
All experiencing the challenges and the suffering of life,
Of being human.
You can choose either to simply use the breath,
Breathing out kindness to them,
Your exhalation.
Or if it feels more appropriate,
You might want to repeat the phrases silently in your mind.
May they be truly happy.
May they love themselves just as they are.
May they find peace in this uncertain world.
May they love and be loved.
May they be truly happy.
May they love themselves just as they are.
May they find peace in this uncertain world.
May they love and be loved.
Sending kindness with the breath,
With these phrases or any other wording that feels appropriate for you.
And then starting to come back a little into your body,
Noticing your body breathing and noticing how your body is being supported by the ground.
Keeping that contact with this feeling,
This emotion,
This sense of kindness.
Really trying to keep this feeling of the kindness in your body as you move back into your life.
So until you hear the bell ring,
Really trying to sit with this sense of being present in your life,
In your body,
In your being,
And also being fully open,
This sense of kindness.
