Some days the world can just feel a little grey.
Nothing necessarily has to be wrong.
Maybe you've been feeling a little hard done by lately.
A little more irritated by the people around you.
Perhaps more cynical about everything.
Or even just not quite as open to the world as you usually are.
And sometimes it can be good to gently soften some of those edges.
So take some time now to make yourself comfortable.
Lying down if you can.
Or finding whatever position feels right for you today.
Maybe there's a pillow you'd like to move.
A blanket to pull over you You might even want to close the curtains or pop on an eye mask.
The goal here is to get yourself as comfortable as possible.
Cozy and as physically effortless as you can.
This practice combines yoga nidra with a little metta.
Metta is a traditional Buddhist loving-kindness practice.
And if those words,
Loving kindness meditation,
Make you cringe a little,
I get it.
When I first came across the idea of sitting there wishing myself and other people happiness and freedom from suffering.
My immediate reaction was,
Oh Jesus,
Here we go.
It all felt a little saccharine.
A little overly forced,
And very much not me.
But I gave it a go.
And it very quickly became one of the practices I come back to most.
So there's nothing you need to believe in here.
Nothing you need to force yourself to feel.
We'll simply give it a go.
And whenever you're ready.
Allow the eyes to close.
Take a long easy breath in through the nose.
And let it go with a sigh through the mouth Again,
A comfortable breath in.
And a long easy sigh out.
And one more time breathing in and letting it all go.
Allowing the breath now to return to its own natural rhythm.
I'm bringing your attention now to both eyes Sensing all those tiny muscles.
Around the eyes beginning to soften letting your gaze become still and sensing now if there might be another layer of softening underneath the closed eyelids.
Almost as if they could close a second time Letting the tiny efforts of looking watching.
Focusing.
Begin to release and perhaps noticing what happens to the rest of the face when the eyes become quiet the jaw.
Tongue.
Letting them settle too.
And allowing that sense of stillness to begin to spread down through the shoulders arms and hands through the belly and legs.
All the way down to the feet the whole body settling down.
Whole body melting a little deeper into the support beneath you There's nothing you need to hold up.
Allowing gravity to do its job and from here bringing your awareness towards both feet all awareness gathering at both feet and taking a moment here to notice any sensations that might be present Maybe the fabric of socks or a blanket touching against both feet.
Or the temperature of the air against bare skin.
Maybe even sensing a slight tingling or nothing at all.
Sensing both heels.
The soles of both feet.
The tops of the feet.
All 10 toes.
Sensing all 10 toes together moving up through both ankles both calves and shins.
Maze.
Thighs.
Oops.
The whole belly.
The ribs.
Center of the chest.
To both shoulders.
Elbows.
Rest.
The palms of both hands.
The backs of both hands.
All ten fingers.
Sensing all 10 fingers together allowing awareness to drift back towards both shoulders.
To the center of the throat the jaw.
Do that.
Nostrils.
.
.
Both cheeks.
Both eyes.
The space between the eyebrows center of the forehead Sensing the whole scalp nerve.
The whole scalp.
The center of the crown and allowing your awareness to gently expand downwards.
Gradually including more and more of the body until you are sensing the whole body together awareness throughout the whole body all at once and from here could you invite awareness to gather once again at the center of the chest giving some time now for it to gently land at the centre of the chest You might begin to notice here the natural rhythm of the breath.
No need to deepen or manipulate the breath in any way here and if it does change because you've brought your attention to the breath that's OK too.
Just noticing your own natural cadence whatever way the breath is arriving at this very moment Just noticing that.
And you might sense how the chest rises a little with the inhale Falls again with the exhale.
And staying here at the chest with the natural movement of the breath for a few moments and on your next inhale.
Could you imagine the breath travelling from the centre of the chest?
Upwards towards the crown of the head.
And as you breathe out following that same pathway back from the crown of the head down towards the center of the chest Breathing in center of the chest to the ground breathing out,
Crown of the head back to the centre of the chest and continuing like this following that same pathway with each breath at your own pace.
And letting that pathway go now awareness settling once again at the center of the chest and from this quieter place allowing someone to come to mind for whom love or affection comes easily it could be a small child the past.
A close friend or a family member someone that's easy to feel good about.
And they might come to you as a clear picture.
Or a memory.
Maybe a general sense of them or you might simply just know who you were thinking of.
And silently offering these words to them may you be happy may you be healthy may you be safe.
May you be free from suffering and noticing what,
If anything,
Is here as you offer them these words maybe a sense of warmth affection.
Connection.
Or maybe not as much at all.
And there's no feeling you need to create knowing that whatever you experience here is the right experience for you today and offering the words once more May you be happy.
May you be healthy may you be safe may you be free from suffering and now allowing that person to gently fade from your attention and bringing yourself to mind here maybe yourself,
Exactly as you're lying here today or you might find it easier as I sometimes do to bring yourself at a younger age to mind.
Maybe even as a small child.
And again,
You don't need to be able to see yourself here.
Just knowing it's you is enough.
And offering those same wishes now to yourself may I be happy May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I be free from suffering.
And noticing how these same words feel when you're the one receiving them for some of us wishing these things for ourselves can be more difficult.
More difficult than wishing them for somebody we love.
And that's okay.
There's nothing you need to worry about creates here.
Just offering yourself the same wishes and again May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I be free from suffering.
And letting that sense of you fade away.
Bringing to mind now someone who causes a mild irritation in your life.
Nothing intense here.
Maybe someone you occasionally disagree with or someone who gets on your nerves from time to time.
Or just a person who you find a little more difficult to warm to.
And offering those same wishes to them May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
And you'll be safe.
May you be free from suffering knowing that you don't need to like this person or agree with everything they do but I was remembering that a slight view.
This person wants to be happy wants to be healthy.
To feel safe and wants to move through life without suffering.
And remembering as well that.
A person who is genuinely happy.
Healthy,
Safe and free from suffering is generally more able to move through the world with kindness.
And with that in mind,
Offering them the words once more.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be free from suffering.
And now allowing that person to fade from your attention and gently expanding your awareness.
Beyond yourself and your loved ones towards all beings people you know.
And people you don't those experiencing joy and those struggling physically.
And glee.
Emotionally to animals.
Beloved pets and animals all over the world.
Of living beings everywhere.
And you might have a sense of the earth as a whole I like to imagine I'm looking at the Earth from space.
Countless individual lives.
Each with their own hopes.
Their own joy.
Their own struggles and offering the words,
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be healthy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings be free from suffering and for one last time offering these wishes outwards to every life you know.
And every life you don't.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be healthy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings be free from suffering.
And then letting the words go Nothing else you need to do now Just resting here.
Nothing to follow or focus on Just rest.
Beginning now to become aware once again of the room around you noticing the temperature in the room.
The surface supporting your body the sounds around you.
Taking a slightly fuller breath in and a long breath out beginning to bring a little movement back into the fingers and toes.
Maybe gently moving the head from side to side Taking a big old stretch now through the whole body if that feels good.
Whenever you're ready,
Gently allowing the eyes to open.
Thanks so much for practicing with me today.
