Loving Kindness For Self, Others, & Inner Child

A gentle guided practice to cultivate compassion, tenderness, and connection. You’ll be guided to send wishes of kindness to yourself, to others, and to your inner child.

The creation of the recording was co-funded by the European Union.

Transcript

Hi,

I'm Robert and welcome to Loving Kindness Meditation.

For this practice,

It's important that you're comfortable.

So find a comfortable position and you can close your eyes or keep them open.

And bring your attention to your breath,

Where is the place in your body where it's easy for you to notice the breath moving through your body.

Breath is like a wave moving through your body,

So you can follow this wave with your attention going up and down.

And whenever a thought appears,

You can just smile at it,

Maybe say hi,

And then gently bring your attention back to your breath.

Breath in,

Breath out,

And now you can gently move your attention to your toes and notice the sensations in your right foot and right leg.

Say hello to your left foot and left leg,

Become aware of your pelvis,

Your buttocks,

Your belly,

Your chest,

And your right shoulder,

And right arm,

And right hand,

Your left hand,

Left arm,

And left shoulder,

And also your neck,

And your head.

And let's go down from the top of our head,

Expanding our attention through the whole of the body,

Being aware of the sensations in the body and the breath in.

And we'll be slowly moving now to the core of the loving-kindness practice itself.

And this practice might evoke some emotions.

If at any point you would feel like it's too much for you,

You can always step out of the practice,

Ground yourself through touching yourself or through moving a little bit,

Opening your eyes,

Whatever feels right for you.

So coming back to your body and breath once again,

And we can start by wishing something nice for ourself.

I will propose traditional phrases for this practice,

And you can repeat them,

Or you can find your own wordings and wishes.

If you'd like to,

You can place your hand on your heart,

Feeling the warmth of your palm,

And we can smile,

Even physically,

And just wish ourselves,

May I be happy.

May I be healthy.

May I be safe.

May I live my life with ease.

And if there is something else that you would like to wish yourself,

It's the time now to do so.

And now let's take a deep breath in and out,

Reconnect with the sensations in your body.

Notice if any feelings,

Emotions are coming or not,

Both pleasant,

Unpleasant,

And also neutral feelings and emotions are welcome.

And with the next breath,

You can bring someone that you like to your imagination.

You can imagine them sitting opposite to you,

Or you can imagine where they are right now,

Probably,

What they might be doing right now.

And as they are sitting opposite to you,

Or as you see them living their lives right now,

Let's wish something nice for them too.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live your life with ease.

And if there is something else that you would like to wish to that person,

Or maybe your pet,

Or any being that you would like to wish to,

It's the time to do so.

You can also hug them,

Caress them,

Or just smile at them,

Whatever feels right to you.

How does it feel to hold that person or animal in your arms,

If you hug them,

Or whatever you're doing right now in your imagination,

How does it feel?

And you can slowly say goodbye to them,

And notice how are you feeling right now.

Maybe there are some feelings coming,

Maybe not.

And both options are fine.

We are feeling whatever is right for us to feel at this moment.

So let's just accept however we feel right now,

And welcome it with open arms and open heart.

Take a deep breath in,

And out.

Check in with your body again.

How is it in your body right now?

And if you'd like to,

You can now bring somebody who might be more difficult to you,

To your imagination.

Maybe somebody who hurt you before,

Or who is not so easy to get on with.

And you can imagine what they might be doing right now,

Or if you want to,

You can imagine them sitting opposite to you.

And keep breathing,

And if you are okay with the idea that people hurt,

If they are hurt themselves,

And that the bad things might be just misunderstandings,

Or that people do bad things because that's what they learned,

And they could not do any better.

They did the best they could.

If this idea is acceptable for you,

You might wish also to this person.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

If there's anything else you would like to say to this person,

You can do that.

Maybe thank them for what you have learned thanks to them.

And when you're ready,

You can maybe also hug that person or shake their hands,

Whatever feels right for you,

Or just wave at them.

And then slowly let go,

Taking a deep breath in,

And letting it out,

Relieving any tension that might be released with your out-breath.

Noticing your body sensations,

What is present right now.

And again,

However we feel,

Let's just allow these feelings to share our inner space.

Give them space in your body.

And then,

If you'd like to,

You can make a little trip over the roof of your house,

Over the city or village,

Over the trees,

Forests,

Lakes and rivers,

Mountains and cities,

Seas and oceans,

Deserts,

Tropical jungles.

And seeing all the humans and animals living their lives and wanting the same thing as we want,

To be loved and happy and accepted and safe.

And as you see this beautiful world,

You can just imagine,

If it feels right for you,

That there's a little,

Little light in your heart.

And the light is shining on and spreading all over the world,

Touching the people and the animals,

Spreading the message.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

And then you can slowly start coming back to where you are,

Sitting on the floor or chair or maybe lying down,

Noticing the contact with whatever you,

Your body is resting up on,

Maybe touching yourself,

Taking a deep breath in and out.

And if it feels right for you,

You can make one more trip,

This time not only to different spaces but also to different time,

To visit your younger version.

You can imagine a happy memory,

Either recall a memory or make one,

Doesn't matter if it's real or imagined.

Maybe somebody is reading a fairy tale to your inner child or maybe the child is playing their favorite game or having fun in their favorite place.

Where is your child?

What are the surroundings?

What are the sounds?

What do they look like?

How do they feel?

And you can wish your younger version,

May you be happy.

And you can even add the name,

May you be happy,

May you be healthy,

May you be safe,

May you live with ease.

Is there anything else that you would like to wish to your inner child?

And is there anything that you would like to do?

Maybe hug them,

Maybe caress them,

Maybe dance with them or play a game with them or go for a trip.

You can do that right now in your imagination.

Maybe sing your favorite song.

And if nothing is coming up,

You can always ask them,

What would you like to do together?

Let them guide you,

Let them show their world to you and just be there for them.

Be the adult that they always wanted and needed.

And when it's finished,

When you're ready,

You can also say something supportive to them.

I accept you fully the way you are.

Say it to them with their name.

Look them in the eye and tell them whatever you feel right.

Maybe I love you the way you are.

I respect you.

You are enough to me.

You are safe with me.

I am here for you.

And you can give them a hug,

Just hold them in your arms,

Show them that they are safe with you.

You can wiggle from side to side.

And when you're ready,

You can start saying goodbye to them,

But not fully because they are always with us,

Our inner kids.

It's more like putting them to sleep in us.

So you can imagine putting your inner child inside your body to sleep,

Rest in a safe space.

You're protecting it.

And then you can slowly start coming back to your adult version right now and become aware of your feet,

Your legs,

Your butt,

Held by the ground,

Taking a couple deep breaths in and out,

And maybe holding yourself,

Hugging yourself,

Or caressing yourself.

And if you want to,

You can also say something nice to yourself.

I am proud of you for taking care of your inner child.

Or whatever feels right for you to say to yourself,

To appreciate yourself,

To support yourself right now.

Just do that.

If it's opening your eyes and looking in the mirror and just smiling at yourself,

If it's touching yourself gently on any place of your body that needs your support,

That needs love,

Then you can gently stretch,

Roll your shoulders back,

Maybe stretch your arms and toes,

And your face,

Make a little different expressions with your face.

And we're coming to the end of the practice,

And if some emotions came up,

You might just spend some time with them,

Maybe have a walk just to process them,

Or journal a little bit about your experience,

Or share with someone you really trust.

And if emotions are not flowing,

There's always a reason for that,

And we don't need to push it,

We just might observe what's there.

How do I feel or what do I think about?

And also you might have a walk or a journal,

And in any case,

Just remember that taking care of our inner child is a long-term process,

And either way I invite you to come back to your inner child from time to time to support it when you feel that the child is having some worries or needs you.

And I wish you a beautiful day,

And looking forward to practice together again.