Hello,
This is Kayla of Kayla Estens in Wellness and welcome to our third installation of loving kindness.
This will be loving kindness for a stranger or acquaintance.
We've previously gone through loving kindness for the self as well as loving kindness for a loved one if you want to check those out.
And this one loving kindness for a stranger is often looked at as one of the easier components of it.
And I think especially in this time,
It is such an important one.
Looking at how we can bring compassion,
Acceptance,
And that loving kindness to anyone we might be interacting with.
People we see at the store,
On the street as we're walking by,
Out in our community.
People who might have similar experiences to us as well as people who have entirely different lived experiences.
So before we get started with the affirmations,
I invite you to find a comfortable position.
Maybe you choose to lay down on the ground,
On your bed,
Or to find a comfortable seat.
Take some time to really set yourself up here.
Using any of those adjustments that will help you become just a little bit more comfortable.
Option for the eyes to close.
Or if it feels more comfortable,
That gaze can just gently drift.
Bring awareness to the experience of your natural breath.
And if it feels comfortable,
If it feels at ease,
You might allow the breath to become a little deeper,
A little bit fuller as you're settling in here.
Before this loving kindness meditation,
I will go through a few different rounds of affirmations.
And I will give out a few examples for affirmations.
And if you'd like to switch any of them up to something that feels more fitting,
Something that feels more connected to the loving kindness that you would like to send out to a stranger in your community,
Feel free to change it up.
I'll go through each affirmation and you can gently repeat the affirmation that fits best for you internally.
Imagining that you're sending that out to this stranger or this acquaintance.
I'll start by bringing to mind an image of a stranger or acquaintance.
This might be someone you've seen before.
Maybe the cashier last time you were at the grocery store.
Someone you see from time to time as you're walking in your neighborhood.
Maybe you're just imagining some image of a stranger,
A person that you don't know.
Knowing that this can be applied to anyone you see as you do see them.
Now we'll begin with the first round of affirmations.
May you be safe.
May you be grounded.
May you be connected.
And with this first round,
Checking in with how that feels as you're sending these affirmations out to this stranger.
Do these affirmations resonate for you?
Do you want to change any of them out?
Some other options might be,
May you be supported.
May you be protected.
May you be loved.
Going into our second round,
Know that you can change any up if they would feel more connecting to you in this practice.
May you be safe.
May you be grounded.
May you be connected.
For this third and final round,
Really bring that solid image to mind of this other person in your community.
You want to give this loving kindness,
This compassion,
This acceptance,
This recognition that we are all human.
We are all deserving of the same loving and acceptance.
May you be safe.
May you be grounded.
May you be connected.
Taking a moment to really feel these affirmations.
Feel connected to sending them out to all people in your community,
All people that you would interact with,
Even in a very,
Very brief sense.
You might take a few deeper breaths to connect with that notion.
As you are ready,
You can slowly bring your awareness back into the room that you're in.
Maybe adding a little movement to the body as you slowly return.
You can reopen your eyes if you close them.
I thank you for practicing with me again today and I wish you loving kindness and I hope for you to be able to spread that out to others in your world.
Thank you.
