You are about to listen to Adore Yoga Metta Meditation,
A meditation for cultivating deep compassion.
Take a comfortable seated position.
Sit up tall,
Relax your shoulders back and down.
Soften the face and jaw and close your eyes.
Bring your attention to your breathing.
Follow the pace and rhythm of the breath as it flows into and out of the body.
With each exhale,
Settle down a little more comfortably into your seat,
Relaxing the mind,
The body,
And the breath.
In your mind's eye,
Create a picture of yourself.
See your face,
See the expression on your face.
Allow yourself a little smile as you gaze into your own eyes.
And as you gaze upon yourself,
Say to yourself,
May I be happy,
May I know peace,
And love,
May I be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
And then tuck that image of yourself into your heart.
Hold yourself there.
Feel the well of self-love and compassion in the heart center.
And then bring to mind a picture of the people who you love the most.
Your friends or family,
Your loved ones,
Who you care about and mean the most to you.
And picture their faces.
See them very clearly.
Create in your mind's eye a very detailed,
Lifelike picture of the people you love the most.
And as you look at their faces,
Say to yourself,
May you be happy,
May you know peace and love,
May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
And then collect up the images of those people you love and then fold them into your heart and feel them there held inside your heart as you generate feelings of deep compassion and love for them.
Now in your mind's eye,
Create a picture of somebody with whom you have a passing acquaintance,
With whom you have a neutral relationship.
It could be a neighbor,
A colleague,
Somebody who serves you in a local shop or cafe.
Picture somebody who you have a casual,
Amicable relationship with.
And again,
Create a vivid picture of that person in your mind's eye,
Seeing their face,
Their hair.
And as you look at them,
Saying to yourself,
May you be happy,
May you know peace and love,
May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
And then enfold that person into your heart,
Hold them there safe,
Experiencing warm waves of compassion towards them.
Now bring to mind images of people in the world who are suffering,
People who may not have enough to eat,
Who may be living in nursing homes or in hospitals,
People who are grieving for loved ones,
People who are sick,
The homeless,
People living in war-torn countries,
People who are struggling and suffering.
And as you picture these people,
Say to yourself,
May you be happy,
May you know peace and love,
May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
And enfold all of the people in the world who are struggling into your heart and hold them there as you feel great waves of compassion towards the whole of humanity.
Now bring to mind somebody with whom you have a difficult relationship,
Somebody who you find it hard to love and picture that person clearly in your mind's eye.
See vividly the details of their face and expression.
And as you look at them,
Recognize that they are the same as you,
That they too want to experience peace and joy and happiness.
And as you picture that person in your mind,
Repeat silently to yourself,
May you be happy,
May you know peace and love,
May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
And then enfold that person into your heart and hold them there,
Knowing that they too want to be happy and experience peace.
Picture yourself once again in your mind,
Picture your face and expression and hair and acknowledge how good it feels to cultivate compassion for yourself and for all of humanity.
Thank yourself for practicing Metta meditation.
Thank yourself for cultivating love and compassion for all beings and enjoy the warmth and the positive feelings that flow from this practice.
Allow your breathing to become a little fuller and deeper.
Breathe all the way down into the belly.
Become aware of the sounds that you can hear outside and around you.
And when you are ready,
You can slowly open your eyes and come back into the room.
Namaste.
