Welcome friend to your Metta meditation for today.
Thank you for joining me.
My name is Erin Joy.
Today we will be doing a practice called Metta Meditation.
This helps to offer loving-kindness to yourself and those around you and extend it to all beings.
So a practice that will help to cultivate warmth,
Compassion,
And ease into your heart and the world.
When you're ready,
We'll begin by finding a comfortable seat either upright or lying down and allow your body to settle.
Take a deep breath in and a long slow breath out.
Feel yourself arrive here,
Safe,
Supported,
And present.
Let your awareness rest lightly on your breath for a few cycles,
Softening any tension in the body,
Especially the jaw,
The shoulders,
And the belly,
And the hands.
Today we practice Metta,
Loving-kindness,
A simple offer of goodwill towards ourselves,
Others,
And towards all beings.
No need to force anything.
My hope is that you can just plant small seeds of kindness within your attention.
Start to bring to mind your own image.
So imagine you looking at the way you're sitting or laying here.
Feel yourself as you are,
Deserving of love and kindness,
Simply because you exist.
Gently repeat in your mind,
Slowly and with tenderness,
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
And may I live with ease.
Taking a breath in and letting it go.
May I be safe.
Taking a breath in and exhaling to soften.
And if your mind starts to wander,
Simply come back to the phrase,
Imagine these wishes wrapping you up like a warm,
Comforting blanket.
And now I'll have you bring to mind someone that you can love easily.
A good friend,
A family member,
A pet,
A partner.
Someone who's easy to love.
And see them in your mind's eye,
Smiling or at peace.
Offer them the same phrases.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
Feeling your heart extending gently towards them.
Again,
No need to force a feeling.
Just an intention is enough.
Now thinking of someone neutral.
Could be a neighbor,
A cashier from a coffee shop you go to frequently,
Or a coworker you don't know that well.
Someone who comes to mind that you feel neither positive or negative feelings about.
Hold this neutral person,
This image lightly in your heart,
And repeat,
May you be happy.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
Taking in a breath,
And exhale to let it go.
Expanding our awareness once again,
Outward,
And imagine it reaching your whole community,
The country,
The whole planet,
And the cosmos and beyond.
Offering these phrases to all beings everywhere.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be healthy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings live with ease.
Imagine sending out ripples of kindness like waves moving outward from your heart.
Taking in a deep and full breath,
And exhale a nourishing sigh out through the mouth.
Feeling a sense of gratitude for your practice,
For your capacity to wish well,
And for yourself and others.
Gratitude.
Know that even small moments of kindness make a difference.
When you're ready,
Gently open your eyes carrying the spirit of metta,
Of loving kindness with you into the rest of your day and week.
Thank you so much for sharing this practice with me.
My name is Erin Joy,
And until we meet again,
Namaste.
