Loving Kindness Meditation - Relationships (30 Mins) 5.8.23
by Abbey Harmon
Thank you so much for joining me here today. We take the next 30 minutes to complete a traditional Loving Kindness or Metta meditation as I know it. We repeat phrases silently to ourselves, sending them to different groups of people or relationships. I use the phrases: May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be safe, may you live with ease. We send these phrase to 5 groups of people spending roughly 5 minutes sending our phrases to each group; first ourselves, then a loving relationship, followed by someone in the public or a neutral relationship, then a difficult relationship, and lastly all beings everywhere. This is not your average 'relaxing' meditation. I complete Loving Kindness mediations to change myself intentionally; to look at myself in the mirror and question the places I have been stuck or unaware. I believe together with this practice, we make the world a better place for all. With Love, Namaste - Abbey
Transcript
Hello and welcome.
Thank you so much for joining me here today.
My name is Abbey and I'm a yogi,
Salesforce engineer,
And creator of Consider,
Volunteering,
My personal brand of community empowerment.
And I greatly appreciate you participating in my Monday meditation over the next 30 minutes.
Together we will complete a loving kindness or meta meditation from start to finish.
I've chosen to share this specific kind of meditation with the world because I believe,
As well as what I've learned about the science,
Is that this practice works each and every time.
So no matter how well we do this practice,
We are always hopefully positively improving our lives.
And that's what I'm here,
Hopefully,
To stimulate in the world.
And so that's why I've chosen to share loving kindness or meta meditation.
And our meditation today will take 30 minutes.
So over the next 30 minutes,
Our first step is to find our way to a comfortable seat.
So I sit here in my yoga office room,
But please do feel free to select whatever position is most comfortable for you.
Something that you can sustain for roughly the next 30 minutes or so.
Even when I say that,
My legs still fall asleep here in Criss Cross Applesauce.
Legs still fall asleep.
From what I understand,
That's very normal and we're not hurting ourselves doing that.
But you know,
Do feel your own comfort level.
I know sometimes I do wake my legs up in the middle and come back to it.
So whatever you feel is best for you today.
Man,
I've just recently got this chair with a back to it.
It's very luxurious.
Still playing around with it,
Though.
Not perfect,
But better or interesting.
And so after we found our way to our comfortable seat,
Our loving kindness meditation consists of two main parts.
First is a set of phrases in which we repeat silently to ourselves.
So the example phrases that I will use today are,
May you be happy,
May you be healthy,
May you be safe,
May you live with ease.
These are just the example phrases that I will be using.
Please feel free to select your own.
I promise the rhythm comes in time.
These phrases we use to set our intention.
They're kind of these positive affirmations,
This positive visualization.
These phrases kind of focus our energy,
Hopefully,
Towards the more positive side of things.
I'd like to think more positive,
More light.
Peace would be ideal.
That's what I'm working towards,
Some peace in my life.
And so we will use these set of phrases that we send to five different groups of people.
So the second part of our practice is the sending of the phrases to different groups of people.
We will send our phrases today to five different groups of people,
Spending five minutes on each group.
First,
We start with the self.
We fill up our cup,
So to speak,
Or we support the self,
Taking a short second to be grateful for the time that we took today in this meditation for the self,
We working on ourselves,
Making the world a better place.
Second,
We send our phrases to a loving relationship.
So relationship in our life that we find to be loving,
So that we can really feel fully what that feels like.
Hopefully send that person some good vibes,
So to speak.
But also so we can recall what this feeling is like when maybe times aren't so light and airy.
As in third,
We send our phrases to a neutral relationship.
Often described this as a member of the public,
Our community around us,
Being grateful for that relationship we have there.
Fourth,
We send our phrases to a difficult relationship,
A difficult relationship.
So we find some balance as we go through a journey,
A sea,
Over these 30 minutes in our loving kindness practice.
As fourth,
We send our phrases to a difficult relationship.
As in fifth,
We open up to all beings everywhere.
We cherish this relationship we have to the all,
The whole,
Reminding us there are many,
Always more possibilities in this life.
And so with that,
That's all the instruction I have for you today.
I hope you found your way to your comfortable seat as it is time to start into our first group,
The self.
I very much like the image of my smaller self sitting on my current self's lap.
So I'm holding little Abby,
Little childhood Abby.
And then in theory,
A larger version of myself,
My older,
More wise,
More peaceful self holds me from the future.
So I have this nesting doll of Abby's where we're here to support myself fully throughout my lifetime.
I must die alone.
And so this is my short five minutes in which I cultivate a loving relationship with the self.
As I know far too often,
My words are too negative about this poor self of mine.
So may I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I live with ease.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I live with ease.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I live with ease.
And continue on your own.
It is the Monday of my birthday week.
By the end of this week,
I will be a year older.
And so today I'm reflecting on the journey I've come through.
How far I've come in healing.
Finding this ability to turn my life of judgment into a life of self-love.
I've come so far and I still have so far to go.
So I'm grateful to have this moment to connect with you and myself.
Cherishing.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I live with ease.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I live with ease.
And with that,
My dear friends,
We take this next breath to notice how our body has shifted.
What state of mind we might be in after those five minutes of our phrases to the self.
As we shift in to our loving relationship for this week.
What loving relationship would we like to be able to call on when maybe times aren't so loving?
I know my dogs are always there for me.
But I have some dear mentors and teachers and friends that have played this role for me as well.
Maybe they feel a little lighthearted when thinking of me since I send them these phrases.
If you ever see some gold,
It might just be me.
I love you.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
I know some of the connections I make on here seem a bit far-fetched.
And by all means,
They definitely are.
You'd really have to be into the science of it to prove me right or wrong.
But that's not what I'm in it for.
I'm in it for the good story.
What's not life if it isn't a good story?
And so I look to find the joy in these many connections that I believe exist out there.
And even if you don't believe that they're truly connected,
May you please look to the joy that comes up on those things that you find to truly be connected.
And maybe it just happens to be a little gold for me.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
And with that,
Dear friends,
We take one last notice of how our mood has shifted from our loving relationship to the self.
Strike that.
Reverse it.
And we transition into our neutral relationship this week.
I'm feeling optimistic.
Even I am finding some joy in the more uncomfortable places.
As I interact with the community as there's festivities over the summer,
I look forward to sharing a smile and a laugh,
A simple connection in this life with my community.
And this beautiful place that I call home,
The Rocky Mountains.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
A small way in which I enjoy my community is the lilac bush on the corner of my street.
We pass it every day on the dog walk.
Very particular about meeting our schedules for those doggies.
But I know that it was exactly three days ago the first blossom opened up because I found that much joy in those perfectly symmetrical lilac flowers.
And so what kind of joy can you find in your community in this budding season of spring?
The colors bring me color.
I look forward to finding those small joys more regularly,
Having my eyes open.
And may this practice give me one second of presence to be able to notice the beauty around me.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
And with that,
Dear friend,
Maybe we take one last pause to notice how our mood has shifted after our neutral relationship this week as we transition into our difficult relationship.
My least favorite part of things,
But we must find balance.
And luckily today I was seeing some love for my most difficult relationship in my life.
She has taught me who I don't want to be,
But I could understand where the power of this world may corrupt you into not taking these relationships with others for granted.
But that's no reason that I have to hold my own heart back.
And so even I can send my phrases to my most difficult relationship.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
What is your false refuge?
Or what possibly could be the false refuge of my most difficult relationship?
How could her being stuck in this false refuge allow her to be mean or rude or mean to me,
Mean to others?
And so I know looking in the mirror can be a little bit of a challenge.
And so I know looking in the mirror can be the hardest part,
Realizing that my false refuge is truly false.
But coming to this true connection with the self and the love that is inherently in the universe,
I think can set us free.
At least we try with our phrases here.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
And with that,
My dear friend,
We take one final notice of how our mood has shifted within our neutral,
Our difficult relationship this week.
How we get lost so easily in the thoughts.
But we can breathe easy as it is our last five minutes of all beings everywhere.
We can let go of any uncomfortable feelings or energy that may be feeling stuck.
I know I feel it in my shoulders,
My chest very regularly.
We will breathe into those areas,
Expanding them as wide as this ever expanding universe.
We send our phrases to all beings everywhere,
Relishing this connection and forever ending possibility.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
I have developed my practice in such a way where I can now recognize the times in which my heart rate is increasing,
It is harder to breathe,
My temperature is hot.
These times in which the panic is rising and I'm not quite,
You know,
Going with the flow.
Granted,
I don't know what to do once I notice that.
But I think that is my first step in noticing.
So maybe just maybe you have your first opportunity to notice when you need a reset.
Even when we don't have all the answers,
The first step is to notice.
We've come so far already.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
And with that,
Dear friends,
It is time to take one last notice of how you have shifted.
The final times opening up to all beings everywhere.
As our practice is at an end.
I'm so grateful you've taken this time to connect with me as well as yourself.
I'm so glad to have you a part of my journey.
I'm very grateful too.
Be a part of yours.
And so until next time,
Be gentle with yourself.
With love,
Namaste.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
