So,
Welcome to this metta practice.
We'll spend this next 20 odd minutes finding a comfortable seat,
Finding a comfortable space for the mind and then practicing phrases of loving kindness.
So,
As you settle into your comfortable seat,
Perhaps notice your sit bones in contact with the floor,
The spine is upright,
The shoulders are back and down and there's a gentle lift in the chest.
The back of the head is perhaps moving into space,
Creating length in the back of the neck and the chin is slightly tucked.
The eyes could be closed or the gaze could be soft.
Hands could be resting in the lap or on the thighs,
Palms up or palms down.
The mouth could be ever so slightly opened,
So you could breathe easily through your nose or through your mouth.
The tip of the tongue could be touching the root of the top teeth or the roof of the mouth.
And just know that it's fine to sneeze,
Cough,
Move or adjust.
This is not a competition to see who can sit for the longest for the quietest.
This is a practice to find the present moment and to find some loving kindness in this present moment.
You can't do this wrong.
So,
Breathe nice and easy,
Taking some time to find an easy space for the mind and we can start by thinking about that vast sky,
That great openness.
Just let your mind connect with that sky and now imagine the curve of a smile across that great big sky,
Big and easy.
Let your mind connect with that.
Become aware of the eyes and imagine the eyes smiling,
The corner of the eyes moving gently upwards.
Awareness to the mouth.
Just feel the inside of the mouth smiling,
Easy and spacious.
Awareness to the shoulders,
The ball and socket joint.
Just picture this joint from the inside.
Breathe in and as you breathe out,
Consider lightly blowing away the dust and the cobwebs that have become caught up in your shoulders.
Perhaps a few breaths here.
Breathing out,
Gently blowing away the unnecessary stuff that's accumulated in the shoulders.
The awareness shifts to the heart,
The chest.
Just sense an easy smile across the heart and the chest.
This is not to cover over emotions but rather to create an easy open space to let them all just be in,
Allowing room for all of it.
Could we let this smile ease across the stomach,
Letting the stomach relax and could this ease and relaxed openness begin to flow into the hips,
The thighs,
Lower legs and feet.
You may become aware of an aliveness in your legs and feet,
A slight tingling.
Just be curious about what you're feeling or what you're not feeling.
You can't do this wrong.
We're just tuning into this moment now.
How this moment of now feels.
Aware of the clothes touching the skin,
The air on our skin,
Perhaps the gurgling in the stomach,
The tingling energy dancing around and over the body.
Noticing this whole field of awareness and curious to all of it and breathing.
So let's start by bringing loving kindness to ourselves.
Sometimes this can feel less than easy.
So let's start by bringing to mind someone who loves you.
A parent,
Partner,
Friend or pet.
Just someone who loves you just as you are.
Bring their face to mind and see the love and kindness in their eyes.
How if they could talk to you right now,
How they would tell you how well you are doing in the face of all the trials and tribulations that life brings.
How well you're doing,
How you are loved.
And perhaps you begin to notice a sensation,
A feeling in your body.
Let's call this feeling,
This energy,
Love.
And you may equally notice no feeling,
No problem.
There is no right or wrong.
We just remain open and curious about all of it.
And now say to yourself,
Three or four phrases such as,
May I be happy,
May I be safe,
May my heart and mind be free.
And just go on repeating the phrases,
Nice and easy.
Allowing space between each phrase in a rhythm that is pleasing to you.
And if you find your mind has wandered,
That's okay.
Just keep repeating the phrases.
Perhaps getting behind each phrase,
May I be happy.
What does it actually physically feel like to be happy?
May I be safe?
What does safe feel like in the body?
May my heart and mind be free?
How would it feel for your heart and mind to be free?
Just go on repeating the phrases.
With this being who loves you,
Still in front of you,
Begin to share these phrases of loving kindness with them.
What you want for yourself,
You also want for them.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May your heart and mind be free.
And as you repeat the phrases,
You may notice that sensation,
Which we are calling love,
Is bigger than you.
It's moving beyond your physical body.
You may find that this energy is encompassing both you and the being in front of you.
You are both held in a field of love,
Loving awareness.
And again,
We may feel nothing,
Which is fine.
We keep repeating the phrases and note if there's any change or shift in how we feel.
Just trust in the phrases and the practice.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May your heart and mind be free.
And now bring to mind someone who you don't know,
But who you see.
It could be a shop assistant,
A commuter or a dog walker.
You kind of know their face,
But you don't know anything about them.
Yet still,
You know,
That just like you,
They also want to be happy,
Safe and free.
Bring that person into your field of loving awareness and begin to offer the phrases to them.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May your heart and mind be free.
And if the mind is unsettled,
Just check in with that connection again.
That smile in the mind,
The eyes,
The smile inside of the mouth,
The heart,
Easy,
Relaxed,
Open.
Remember,
We can't do this wrong.
Just repeat the phrases.
And now bring to mind someone who you struggle with.
Someone who you don't find easy to get along with.
Perhaps you could visualize them or mentally say their name.
Just call their presence here.
Because again,
We know what we wish for ourself.
They wish this for themselves too.
So we can share our wish for ourselves with them.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May your heart and mind be free.
This is beginning to feel less than easy.
Or as if it feels stuck,
Then just return to saying these phrases to yourself.
Because now it's you that's maybe struggling.
And you need these phrases of loving kindness.
This field of energy,
Sensation of love.
We feel that this is bigger than our physical body.
Or we just know that our love extends beyond love for ourselves.
We can't see where the boundary of our field of love ends.
We just know it exists and that it's moving outwards.
Knowing that our energy is moving beyond us.
We could wish all beings what we wish for ourselves.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all hearts and minds be free.
Just repeating the phrases in a comfortable rhythm that is pleasing for you.
Trusting in the phrases and the practice.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all hearts and minds be free.
Just getting behind each phrase.
Repeating the phrases in a rhythm that is pleasing to you.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all hearts and minds be free.
Well done.
So just let these phrases become a habit.
Kind words that you can fall back onto when perhaps feeling rattled by someone or by yourself.
Or perhaps think of Metta as pain relief for the soul and well-being.
Just a little something to take the edge off.
Good.
