Loving Kindness Meditation - Relationships (30 Mins) 6.12.23
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 phrases 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 here me here today.
My name is Abby,
And I'm a yogi Salesforce engineer and creator of consider volunteering,
My personal brand of community empowerment.
I greatly appreciate you joining me here today for another session of loving kindness meditation.
So for the next 30 minutes we will complete a meta meditation from start to finish,
No prior experience necessary I will walk you through all of the steps.
So I've chosen to share this particular meditation with the world because I believe each and every session,
We become more compassionate people.
We don't have to do this practice right for it to work.
It works every time.
And to me,
In my toxic brain,
I need every ounce to be every ounce of my time to be productive.
And I know that's silly,
But here we are at least trying to pull out each of our kind of foundational instincts,
And maybe being that entry point to the first time you might try meditating.
And so the first step of our meditation today will be to find your way to a comfortable seat.
So I do sit on the meditation cushion here in my yoga office room,
But please do feel free to take whatever position might feel best in your body today,
As we will need to sustain that position for 30 minutes.
Definitely like lying down,
That's how I take my morning meditation.
And so once you find your way to a comfortable seat,
Our meditation consists of two main parts.
So the first part of our practice is a set of phrases that we repeat silently to ourselves.
So we will use that mind voice,
That mind voice,
And we will repeat this set of phrases to ourselves,
As I do very much like to take this practice off the mat,
As you know,
We find ourselves standing in lines,
Maybe at the airport.
And so I send some loving kindness to all of those around me.
And so we repeat these phrases silently to ourselves.
The phrases I will use today are,
May you be happy,
May you be healthy,
May you be safe,
May you live with ease.
Do feel free to select your own phrases,
I promise the rhythm comes in time.
These are just the ones I will be using today.
So our phrases we repeat to ourselves.
As the second part of our practice is that we send these phrases to five different groups of people.
So by sending,
I mean,
We're going to bring these different groups of people to mind,
And then we'll repeat our phrases in association with them.
Theory right tagging are more positive phrases to these different relationships.
As the first relationship we start with is the self.
And so wouldn't be,
Wouldn't it be great to have a more compassionate outlook on the self,
As I know my self deprecating thoughts are there all too often.
And so we send our phrases first to the self.
Second is a loving relationship in your life.
So we send our phrases to a loving relationship,
Whether that be pet,
Mentor,
Friend,
Family,
Public figure,
Taylor Swift can definitely fall on this list.
But whoever loving relationship you'd like to be able to call on and maybe times are tough,
And you can't recall that love.
This will be our flagship that we can use and come back to a natural love we can rely on.
Third,
We send our phrases to a neutral relationship,
Often described this as a member of the public,
Somebody we see regularly but don't know well,
As I know I want to be a positive outlook in my community.
So my phrases support that.
Fourth is a difficult relationship.
Definitely my least favorite part of the practice.
I find this very uncomfortable.
But can we find some compassion within a difficult relationship in our life.
And fifth,
And finally,
We open up to all beings everywhere.
We cherish this sacred connection that we have to all.
And so fifth,
And finally,
We open up to all beings everywhere.
Hopefully reprogramming those thoughts so that we know we have so many possibilities out there.
Could you even imagine being in space.
And so with that,
I hope you found your way to your comfortable seat,
As it is time to come into our first set of phrases towards the self.
So we bring by slowly noticing how we're starting out our practice today.
How has this Monday,
The start of your week,
Set you in motion.
This is our time to combat any negative thoughts that maybe have come up towards the self on this Monday.
As we set a more positive outlook for our week.
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.
May I be happy.
I feel as though I have a vast backlog of self hate that I must work through in this short five minutes of the self of our loving kindness meditation.
So maybe just maybe if you feel this way too.
We've been so hateful towards the self for too many years.
And so we've got to work very hard now to switch that perspective.
I know I've seen those shifts in my mind,
Looking in the mirror and finally taking a true smile that together I hope you find your first realization also.
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.
And with that dear friends,
We take this last breath to notice how our energy has shifted during our first set of phrases to the self.
I am full of love.
And we transition into our loving relationship for this week.
Whatever loving relationship you'd like to cherish for this short five minutes.
We bring them to our hearts and our minds.
Maybe you can feel them sitting next to you besides you,
Maybe you're in your in their lap,
As I was as a child.
And I cherish this relationship always,
And I will remember it no matter how far in the past or future it may be.
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.
May you be happy.
I know these phrases or manifestations work because I've had so many,
Wow,
It can't really be this small of a world,
Can it kind of moments where I've run into people that I shouldn't have run into again in my life,
Or found the connection of somebody,
Most randomly,
That I knew and loved in the past.
Now this new person has known or spoken to recently.
And it's so crazy how those,
How my childhood best friend walked into our office doing Salesforce too.
Who would have thought somebody I was in diapers with would end up in my same town,
Doing the same thing.
What a small world,
It couldn't be.
So with these phrases I invite more of this compassionate connection to spring forth.
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.
Thank you.
And with that,
Dear friends,
It is time to take this last breath to notice how your energy has shifted during our last set of phrases.
And with that we transition into our neutral relationship for this week,
Our member of the community or the public.
When those small acts of kindness,
Make a big difference.
I feel like I've seen all sorts of articles recently about small acts of kindness and this world that is on fire around us.
And so as I see the flowers on our walk,
May you see the gradient in the sky.
Maybe 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.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
May you be happy.
More recently,
I've tried to be more specific or intentional about my interactions with the public or my community.
I'd like to think my small acts of kindness,
My kind word,
My pushing back of my cart at the store,
My picking up of something that has clearly fallen over,
Makes these small impacts.
I'm living my best life and I'd like to think it bleeds out onto others.
These strings of influence that we don't even know are happening.
Can you think of these small ways in which you couldn't make your community a better place?
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 live with ease.
And with that,
Dear friends,
We take one final notice of how our energy has shifted within the last set of phrases towards the public or our community.
As we transition into my least favorite part of the practice,
Our difficult relationship does not have to be the most difficult relationship you have.
But if that's the only one that comes to mind today,
We may not overcome it in one session.
But hey,
I've done enough things cold turkey in my life,
Or maybe today is that day for you.
And by all goodness,
Embrace it,
My dear friends,
That you no longer feel captivated by this difficult relationship as we are so much more.
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.
May you live with ease.
These difficult relationships do not define me.
I'm no perfect person.
I have been mean to people in the past,
As well as people have been mean to me.
But I am so much more complex than any of those scenarios could possibly describe about me.
And so let's not hold grudges or judgment against the self or others.
And may this be a new day where we are reborn into these compassionate,
Infinite beings that we truly are.
Let the spirit shine through.
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 live with ease.
And with that,
My dear friends,
We take this last breath to notice how our energy has shifted during our difficult relationship.
As we can now let it go and open up to all beings everywhere in our fifth and final section for all beings everywhere.
May all beings find peace and joy in this life,
Including us,
Including our worst enemy,
Including our best friend.
We all wish to live a peaceful,
Prosperous life.
And unfortunately,
Our history has chosen some over others.
And so what can we do to reclaim and find and live our own truth?
May all beings.
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.
There's no need to think badly about everything around us.
I know it can be easy to think that all is bad,
Especially in today's world climate.
But we must hold hope.
And so don't let our unconscious bias that everything has gone badly and there is no hope in this world.
Don't let us that squash all the faith that we have in this life as we are still creatures born here for a purpose.
And I have a limited purpose.
And so let's make it the most beneficial for all beings everywhere while we have it.
Together we make a difference.
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 friends,
We have come to the end of our practice.
My mind is a swirling with all those small steps into the future that I could take.
But I do not feel any shame for not taking more of them more quickly.
The beauty is in how all of this unfolds.
And so until next time,
Thank you so much for connecting with me.
Today we've made the world a better place.
Tomorrow we will as well.
With love,
Namaste.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
