Loving Kindness Meditation - Relationships (30 Mins) 6.5.23
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 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 today I'm back with Meditation Monday where over the next 30 minutes we will complete a loving kindness meditation From start to finish no prior experience necessary.
I will walk you through the steps Starting now and so the first part of our meta Meditation for today is to find our way into a comfortable position So as mentioned we will need to sustain this position for the next 30 minutes So do feel free to select whatever position is most comfortable for you today I do sit on my meditation cushion here in my yoga office room But please feel free to select any position that feels best in your body you are your own best teacher so I've chosen to share the meta meditation with the world because I believe each and every practice is meaningful no matter how Distracted we show up How busy our minds are how much we feel like we're not good at meditating None of that matters This practice we will show up and end as different human beings Hopefully we will move into more positive Compassionate human beings,
But that's really up to you.
But that is my goal for all of us today And so I hope you see the value in these short 30 minutes as we send our loving kindness phrases to our five different groups of people So those are the two main sections of our meditation practice after finding our comfortable seat The first is the set of phrases that we send to these different groups of people The set of phrases that 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,
But these are the ones I will be using I learn these from my meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg.
I do very much encourage you to go directly to the source As I promised the rhythm of these phrases come with time I've done these practices so many times now that I can do them without thinking and so our phrases set our intention Combat those negative thoughts that I know are too rampant within my mind And so that is the first section of our practice is these phrases That move our energy towards five different groups of people.
The second part of our practice The five different groups of people starting with the self So we center on the self showing up here for ourselves And so we fill up our cup before moving on our meditation journey or practice today Second we send our phrases to a loving relationship And so we will select a loving relationship in our lives and send our phrases to that particular loving person a dog,
A mentor,
A friend Whoever you might want to recall that loving relationship when maybe things aren't so loving Third we send our phrases to a neutral relationship Somebody we don't know very well,
But maybe see you regularly.
I Describe this as a member of the public our community around us at the grocery store our neighbor on the train next to us in our commute And so third we send our phrases to a neutral or community member As in fourth we send our phrases to a difficult relationship This is the meat and potatoes of our practice in which we try to find more compassionate more president present Outcomes even in our difficult relationships Last but not least we send our phrases to all beings everywhere So we open up to the many possibilities that are in our life So we open up to the many possibilities that are in our life We will not limit ourselves And so we connect to all has our fifth and final sending of our phrases and That's that those are our instructions for today I hope you found your way to your comfortable seat and it is time to drop into the rhythm of our practice today Letting what comes show up No judgment necessary here As we set our hearts on the self being so grateful for taking the short five minutes to make ourselves more kind towards the self as Self-hate is deeply rooted in our capitalist culture And so I will forever be working to combat that with these short loving kindness phrases to the self 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?
Continue on your own You You I laugh in the face of those who want to critique me to cause pain.
I Know I am NOT a perfect person I've embraced the inner weirdo of myself But I know that I have the grace to take up this particular amount of space in my human being But nobody will ever be more cutting than this inner Abby.
I Have said the worst things about myself And so that is why I do not no longer fear the external or seek satisfaction in the external Because I am my own worst critic,
But I also am my deepest Friend and partner in this life So I look her in the face and I say let's do this thing 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?
You You You And with that dear friends,
It is time to take this last breath to notice how our energy has shifted During our phrases to the self as we transition into our loving relationship for this week My beautiful old man dog the Dalai Lama My teacher Sharon Salzberg all deserve these phrases of this section because I need their support Whether they know me or not.
I have learned a great deal from many people in my life These loving relationships in which I call on as times are often tough And I hope that maybe just maybe one day I can be this loving relationship for you if you need it 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?
And It's so sad when I post these videos and I get critiqued for being too happy Well,
I disagree.
I Think we need to truly love these things while we live Life is too short to let these deep human connections What I believe make life worth living Pass us by and so love while it's real while it's in front of us Let those around you know that you care Make the world a better place.
I have the deepest faith 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 this last breath to notice how our energy has shifted during our loving relationship phrases as we transition into our neutral relationship for this week our member of the community our person in which we exist on this planet together with That maybe we interact on an occasional basis how these small acts of kindness really do make the world a better place as In corporate America so much is directed from the top down right government very similar But in life,
I believe life is led bottom up With this passion and connection amongst us all May you be happy and 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?
It's so fun when this member of the public turns into a friend right when I turn into a regular at a restaurant when I'm Recognized in the community.
I found some of my strongest bonds just by happenstance By being at the coffee shop going to the yoga studio on a regular basis You'd be surprised by whose face you recognize and just how small of a connection can lead to something larger And so let's leave ourselves that space to let in these larger more expansive opportunities 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?
You And without my dear friends We take one last breath To notice how our energy has shifted during our neutral relationship As we prepare for our difficult relationship this week Promise you we're almost through.
This is our hard part together.
We will endure and So we bring up a difficult relationship this week in which we'd like to maybe attempt To find a new perspective It may not become clear today,
But I hope in time you see the cumulative Results as these phrases do slowly,
But surely Shift,
Even if it's in a matter of percentages Right these millions of possibilities are found in the subtleties of life And so let's open to those more positive possibilities in our 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?
I saw one of my most difficult relationships in the airport last year And I didn't confront them But I do wonder Do they ever?
Repent Truly repent for the pain that they caused me,
But also the others that I cared for close to me But I am the bigger person as I have repented for them for myself But most greatly I have let myself go I have grown I have moved forward And I do not need their approval or admiration any longer.
I Am worthy of my love 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 without my dear friends We take one final breath to notice how our energy has shifted in this difficult relationship As that is our final breath with that kind of stress as we let go into all beings everywhere this amazing Planet we live on in space How our wildest imaginations couldn't possibly live up to pot the possibilities that are out there I personally like the science of probabilities.
I find that quite humorous as physics turns to probabilities It's not amazing And so with all these options And my infinite connection to all beings everywhere 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?
So many possibilities in this world That I might find myself to be a swifty yet as I keep my side of the street clean But it's fine to See the surprises that evolve within the self as we simply open up to the joys and life As I have chosen joy,
I Let joy in and I let it flow through me As life is too short to repent on What I love I have loved long enough no more second arrows I have the possibilities of all beings everywhere 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?
You And without my dear friends we take this final breath to notice How our energy has shifted in our all beings everywhere section As we are finished with our practice for today I'm so honored that you have let me be your humble guide for this week And I hope that these practices may linger on And until next time with love namaste May you be happy?
May you be healthy?
May you be safe?
May you live with ease?
