Loving-Kindness Toward The Aging Self

There are many versions of this meditation. This one has been adapted to reflect the aging process. Loving-kindness meditation is a technique for recognizing the suffering and misfortunes of others - our aging self in this context. Based on feedback from a previously recorded version of this, you will hear greater emphasis on joys, triumphs and strengths - with an aim of feeling unconditional, inclusive, and wise love for your aging self.

Transcript

There are many versions of this meditation.

This one has been adapted to reflect the aging process.

Loving kindness meditation is a technique for recognizing the suffering and misfortunes of others.

This other being the aging self.

Based on feedback from a previously recorded version of this meditation,

You will now hear greater emphasis on joys,

Triumphs,

And strengths.

All with the aim of feeling unconditional,

Inclusive,

And wise love for the aging self.

If it feels comfortable,

Close your eyes.

Close your eyes.

Take a few slow deep breaths.

For the next bit of time,

All of your attention,

All of your focus,

All of your awareness is here.

Simply be and feel.

Feel the breath.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Exhale.

There is nowhere you need to go.

You are safe.

You are right where you are supposed to be at this moment.

Here.

All you need is here with you now.

Let go of any thoughts and feelings that exist outside of this moment.

Bring all of your attention,

All of your awareness,

All of your focus to right now.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Exhale.

There is absolutely nothing to accomplish in this moment.

Rather than doing in this moment,

Be.

This is a time to simply be with yourself.

The breath.

The feelings as they wash in like a rising tide stay for a moment on the shore.

Whatever the length of time they stay.

And then they roll back out to sea.

You're not attaching yourself to any feelings.

You do not need to label them as positive or negative.

Stay grounded.

Be here.

Be here.

Grasp not for the past or future.

Feel now.

As you breathe in,

Imagine yourself sitting in a room.

Let the image come to you however it comes and allow the image to fully emerge.

Invite all of the sensations to be present.

Welcome your feelings in.

Embody your sensations.

All of the room is open.

All of the room's attributes are precisely here for your viewing.

Notice yourself in a chair or on a cushion or lying down,

Observing and acknowledging the breath.

Perceive the whole of you.

Observe.

Observe.

Observe.

Observe.

Observe.

Observe.

Observe.

Observe.

Settle the body.

As you settle into your imagery,

Perceptions,

And observations of your present self,

You hear someone open the door to the room,

Walk in,

And sit in front of you.

You open your eyes and you see it is your 50-year-old self sitting here in front of you.

In an instant,

The entire story of this version of you is known to you.

You know all the ways they blossomed and prospered,

Have sprouted and grown,

Adding abundance to your present self.

You know all the moments of joy and spectacular elation.

You know all the places of beauty and strength,

Thriving and flourishing.

And then you say to yourself,

This self knows love.

In this moment,

Feeling your 50-year-old self,

The whole of this self's worth in your heart and radiating loving-kindness to your 50-year-old self that is sitting in front of you.

Distracting thoughts may naturally arise.

I invite you to bring your attention and awareness to your heart's breath and extend your unconditional,

Inclusive and wise love to your 50-year-old self.

Let this flow happen for several minutes,

If you may.

Here's a little tip.

If you're experiencing difficulty imagining versions of yourself sitting in front of you,

Sit in front of a mirror or have on hand previous photos of you and continue with the practice period,

You are here extending unconditional,

Inclusive and wise love to your 50-year-old self.

When you feel ready,

Offer your 50-year-old self the three blessings.

May you be happy.

May you radiate kindness.

May you be at peace.

And now,

Let the image fade.

Allow your 50-year-old self to walk out the door.

As you shift your mind and body from your 50-year-old self to the present moment,

Allow your imagery to be filled with your sensations,

Perceptions and observations of the present self seated in this room.

Acknowledge the breath.

Receive the whole of you.

As you settle into your imagery,

Your perceptions and your observations of your present self,

You hear someone open the door to the room,

Walk in and sit in front of you.

You open your eyes and you see it is your 60-year-old self sitting here in front of you.

In an instant,

The entire story of this version of you is known to you.

You know all the ways they blossomed and prospered,

Having sprouted and grown,

Adding abundance to your present self.

You know all the moments of joy and spectacular elation.

You know all the places of beauty and strength,

Thriving and flourishing.

And then you say to yourself,

This self knows love.

In this very moment,

Feeling your 60-year-old self's worth in your heart and radiate loving kindness to your 60-year-old self that is sitting in front of you.

Distracting thoughts may naturally arise.

I invite you to bring your attention and awareness to your heart's breath and extend your unconditional,

Inclusive and wise love to your 60-year-old self.

Allow this flow to happen for several moments,

If you may.

When you feel ready,

Offer your 60-year-old self the three blessings.

May you be happy.

May you radiate kindness.

May you be at peace.

And now,

Let this image fade.

Allow your 60-year-old self to walk out the door.

As you shift your mind and body from your 60-year-old self to the present moment,

Allow your imagery to be filled with sensations,

Perceptions and observations of the present self seated in this room.

Image the breath.

Believe the whole of you.

Let your spirit mold back into a Trans attractiveness throughout the world.

As you're feeling more and more settled into the imagery,

Perceptions,

And observations of your present self,

You hear someone open the door to the room in which you're seated,

Walk in,

And sit in front of you.

You open your eyes and you see it is your 70-year-old self sitting here in front of you.

In an instant,

The entire story of this version of you is known to you.

You know all the ways they blossomed and prospered,

Have sprouted and grown,

Adding abundance to your present self.

You know all the moments of joy and spectacular elation of this 70-year-old self.

You know all the places of beauty and strength,

Thriving and flourishing.

And then you say to yourself,

This self knows love.

In this very moment,

Feeling your 70-year-old self's worth in your heart and radiate loving kindness to your 70-year-old self that is sitting in front of you.

Distracting thoughts may naturally arise.

I invite you to bring your attention and awareness to your heart's breath and extend unconditional inclusive and wise love to the 70-year-old self.

Let this flow happen for several moments,

If you may.

When you feel ready,

Offer the 70-year-old self the three blessings.

May you be happy.

May you radiate kindness.

May you be at peace.

And now,

Let this image fade.

Allow the 70-year-old self to walk out the door.

As you shift the mind and body from your 70-year-old self to the present moment,

Allow imagery to be filled with sensations,

Perceptions,

And observations of the present self seated in this room.

Acknowledge the breath.

Perceive the whole of you.

As you settle into your imagery,

Perceptions,

And observations of your present self,

You hear someone open the door to the room,

Walk in,

And sit in front of you.

You open your eyes and you see it is your 80-year-old self sitting here in front of you.

In an instant,

The entire story of this version of you is known to you.

You know all the ways they blossomed and prospered,

Have sprouted and grown,

Adding abundance to your present self.

You know all the moments of joy and spectacular elation.

You know all the places of beauty and strength,

Thriving and flourishing.

And then,

You say to yourself,

This self knows love.

In this moment,

Feeling your 80-year-old self's worth in your heart and radiate loving kindness to your 80-year-old self that is sitting in front of you.

Distracting thoughts may naturally arise.

I invite you to bring your attention and awareness to your heart's breath and extend unconditional,

Inclusive and wise love to the 80-year-old self seated before you.

Allow this flow to happen for several moments,

If you may.

When you are ready,

Offer the 80-year-old self the three blessings.

May you be happy.

May you radiate kindness.

May you be at peace.

And now,

Let this image fade.

Allow the 80-year-old self to walk out the door.

As you shift your mind and body from your 80-year-old self to the present moment,

Allow imagery to be filled with sensations,

Perceptions and observations of your present self seated in this room right now.

Acknowledge the breath.

Believe the whole of you.

As you are feeling more and more settled into your imagery at present,

Allow your perceptions,

Observations of the present self to be here.

Listen.

Okay Erik.

Yeah!

You hear someone open the door to the room in which you are in.

Walk in and sit in front of you.

You open your eyes and you see it is your 90 year old self sitting here in front of you.

In an instant the entire story of this version of you is known to you.

You know all the ways they blossomed and prospered.

Have sprouted and grown,

Adding abundance to your present self.

You know all the moments of joy and spectacular elation.

You know all the places of beauty and strength,

Thriving and flourishing.

And then you say to yourself,

This self knows love.

In this very moment,

Feeling your 90 year old self's worth in your heart and radiate loving kindness to your 90 year old self that is sitting in front of you.

Distracting thoughts may naturally arise.

I invite you to bring your attention and awareness to your heart's breath and extend unconditional,

Inclusive and wise love for the 90 year old self.

Allow this flow to happen naturally for several moments if you may.

When you feel ready,

Offer the 90 year old self the three blessings.

May you be happy.

May you radiate kindness.

May you be at peace.

And now let this image fade.

Allow your 90 year old self to walk out the door.

As you shift your mind and body from your 90 year old self to the present moment,

Allow imagery to be filled with sensations,

Perceptions and observations of the present self seated in this room.

Image the breath.

Perceive the whole of you.

As you become more and more settled into your imagery,

Perceptions and observations of the present self,

You hear someone open the door to the room,

Walk in and sit in front of you.

You open your eyes and you see it is your 100 year old self sitting here in front of you.

In an instant,

The entire story of this version of you is known to you.

You know all the ways they blossomed and prospered,

Have sprouted and grown,

Adding abundance to your present self.

You know all the moments of joy and spectacular elation.

You know all the places of beauty and strength,

Thriving and flourishing.

And then you say to this self,

This self knows love.

In this very moment,

Feeling your 100 year old self's worth in your heart and radiate loving kindness to your 100 year old self that is sitting in front of you.

Distracting thoughts may naturally arise.

I invite you to bring attention and awareness to the heart's breath and extend unconditional inclusive and wise love to the 100 year old self that is seated before you.

Allow this flow to happen naturally for several moments,

If you may.

And when you feel ready,

Offer the 100 year old self a moment of silence.

100 year old self,

The three blessings.

May you be happy.

May you radiate kindness.

May you be at peace.

And now let this image fade.

Allow the 100 year old self to walk out the door.

As you shift your mind and body from your 100 year old self to fully on the present moment,

Allow the imagery to be filled with sensations,

Perceptions,

And observations of the present self seated in this room right now.

Acknowledge the breath.

Leave the whole of you.

Either physically or with your mind's eye,

I invite you to bring one or two hands over your heart center.

Feel extend the three blessings to your present self.

May I be happy.

May I radiate kindness.

May I be at peace.

Stay with this moment for as long as you desire.

And when you are ready,

Gently and humbly open your eyes and take your happy,

Kind,

Radiating,

Peaceful heart and self out into the world.

Allow the self to shine.

Reviews

Thank you so much. I’ve never seen myself older. To see feel and see her thought these next decades made me cry and made me feel how important it is for me to love myself now. To take care of myself now. Profound. Thank you.

Wow! That was enlightening! Unexpected emotional response, thanks

Celebrating the gift of years and accepting my aging with loving kindness and gratitude. Thank you.