Loving Kindness Meditation - Relationships (30 Mins) 7.3.23

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'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 needed.

I will walk you through the entire process.

So the first step in our practice today is finding our way to a comfortable seat.

So I sit on a meditation cushion here in my yoga office room,

But please do feel free to select whatever position feels good in your body at this moment.

I know I've been running around all weekend and so maybe just maybe taking a position on the couch might feel best today,

Or I take my morning meditations lying down.

As we will need to maintain this position for the next 30 minutes,

Pick one that is extra comfy.

Maybe you need a blanket,

Whatever makes you feel most ready for these 30 minutes of practice today.

And so we will be completing a loving kindness or Metta meditation.

I've chosen to share this particular meditation with the world because I believe each and every practice makes us a better person.

You make the world a better place by practicing this meditation no matter what state we show up in.

I could have had the worst Monday,

I could have had the best Monday,

As we never know what Mondays may bring into our life,

What week we may be starting.

For me in this current time,

It is a full moon and right before a holiday.

So I know I've been burning a lot of energy as that is the phase of life I'm in.

But maybe just maybe you find yourself in a different state.

Life is ever evolving and shifting and I'm just trying to make it a more compassionate place to be.

And so I appreciate your efforts and practicing with me here today.

Our loving kindness or Metta meditation consists of two main parts.

So we've got two main parts to our meditation after finding our comfortable seat.

The first is our set of phrases that we repeat silently to ourselves.

So the set of phrases I will use as examples today are,

May you be happy,

May you be healthy,

May you be safe,

May you live with ease.

Please feel free to select your own phrases.

I promise the rhythm comes in time.

These are just the set of phrases that I will be using as my focus point,

My vehicle to shift the energy throughout my body as we send these phrases to five different groups of people.

So five different groups of people will receive or be our focal point as we repeat our phrases.

First will be the self.

So we focus on the self first as taking this step to show up for ourselves is the first step.

Second,

We send the phrases to a loving relationship in our life.

So a loving relationship,

A dog,

A mentor,

Family,

Friend,

Somebody whose love he would like to cherish for these short five minutes.

Then is a neutral relationship.

As I describe this as a member of the public or the our community,

As we do all live and work within communities,

Whether that's online or physical.

And so third,

We send our phrases to our communities or a neutral relationship.

Fourth is a difficult relationship.

Maybe doesn't have to be the most difficult relationship in your life.

But I know I can definitely think of many people I don't naturally get along with.

And so fourth,

I work on finding more compassion by sending my loving kindness phrases to a difficult relationship.

As we finish out our practice with all beings everywhere,

Maybe remind ourselves of the unlimited possibilities and connections that guide and drive us throughout our lives,

As we are all interconnected.

And so we finish out our phrases to all beings everywhere.

So we repeat these phrases silently to ourselves so that we can take our practice off the mats.

So I know I'm always looking for something else to do instead of scrolling on my phone.

And so first,

We start in to the self,

Bringing the self to our hearts.

As we are time to dive in to our first section here today.

I'm so grateful I've taken this time to fill up my cup.

So I know I've been burning off so much energy with this full moon and the summer phase growing and hopefully blossoming into this new,

More compassionate person that I'm working towards being.

And 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.

Continue on your own.

It is never easy to realize the first hurdle we must get over is ourselves.

Looking in the mirror to find that I'm the one holding myself back.

My unconscious bias towards myself is what's preventing me from achieving what I want to achieve.

I'm the one holding myself back.

Unconscious bias towards myself is what's preventing me from achieving my ultimate goals.

And so to me,

Right,

This was the hardest step is that realization that I must change.

I need to change more in these ways I never would have imagined.

But what a beautiful practice to blossom into this butterfly that I can't even believe what colors could be possible,

What possibilities could be there in my life.

And so let us open up to all these possibilities.

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 healthy.

May I be safe.

May I live with ease.

May I be healthy.

May I be safe.

May I live with ease.

May I be healthy.

May I be safe.

May I live with ease.

May I be healthy.

May I be safe.

May I live with ease.

May I be healthy.

May I be safe.

May I live with ease.

And with that,

My dear friends,

We take this final breath to notice how our energy has shifted as we think on the self.

Filling up our cup before we can move on,

Cherish and love others.

As we shift into our loving relationship this week.

What loving relationship would we like to spend these short five minutes to cherish in our life?

I know there are so many loving relationships that I don't have that final chance to say,

I love you.

You are meaningful to me.

Maybe this is our opportunity to let those that we love in on the secret of how they have touched our lives.

Wouldn't that be so beautiful to let those people who I love know how they've touched 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.

Loving relationships are always moving and shifting as we and the world around us moves and shifts.

And so I encourage you to take this moment as a check in with your loving relationships,

Even though I might be a bit strange to ask,

How could I love you better?

But we are shifting and changing beings and so are our loved ones.

And so it's nice to be able to check in and see how could I love you better?

How could I,

In our shifting states,

Find more harmony,

More synergy in the love that we share?

Couldn't it be an easier sharing of this love in life?

It doesn't need to be so overly complex.

So simple ways in which we can love each other deeper.

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 take this final breath to notice how our energy has shifted when thinking of our loving relationship as we transition into our neutral relationship this week.

Somebody we don't know well,

But we see regularly.

Possibly a member of the public or our community.

At the grocery store,

In the car in front of us,

On the next train car.

How might these small acts of kindness ripple in our communities?

How can I feel the community around me?

I'd like to think this neighborhood might be a bit more of a compassionate place now that my energy is in its wake.

And so may our neutral relationship this week,

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'd like to think when I'm out in public that others can tell I'm different.

Now when I mean different,

I mean that I'm more present and compassionate and I have this mindfulness practice.

That's what I wish others to see about me.

But being different can mean a lot of things from the trope of the girl next door to being a bad person.

But how do you want to be perceived when interacting with the public?

Or maybe could I push you one step further?

Have you been acting differently in the public because of how you're perceived?

Does your perception from others drive you to your happiness?

Well,

I think our definition should be from an internal perspective.

So what makes you happy instead?

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 take this final breath to notice how our energy has transitioned while thinking about our communities.

As we take on our least favorite part of the practice,

Our difficult relationship.

I know one difficult relationship really stands out in my life at this time.

I just I can't deal with those who are just faint ignorance.

I think some mindfulness should be within all of our practices,

Practices,

Our lives nowadays.

And so maybe your difficult relationship,

You feel something similar.

Where they just can't see their own contribution to the problem.

But we can still find compassion and a new perspective.

As we love them anyway,

Until they are ready to shift.

We cannot force anybody to do anything.

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.

My difficult relationship has me screaming into the void.

As I was never felt as though I was not listened to,

Like I didn't have a voice.

And so in my dreams or my nightmares,

I scream at the top of my lungs at absolutely nothing.

And so now I lethargically scream on the top of mountains for all to hear.

It is the most scariest transition of my entire life.

But it is the work of my life to change this internal screaming at nothing into a more balanced voice.

And so what balance may you need to achieve when thinking about this difficult relationship?

Maybe today is finally the day where the first step comes to you.

As there is a first step,

Even if it is the smallest of steps.

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 take this final breath to notice how our energy has shifted when thinking of our difficult relationship.

As we can let all that go and shift into all beings everywhere,

How we reconnected to all these many things,

Even the deepest of oceans that we don't understand.

I am just the I amongst the waves,

Right?

And I am the ocean as the waves are around us.

And so I'm connected to all beings everywhere.

And I hope that all beings everywhere can find this happiness that they define,

Right?

That we can all find our own version of happiness.

That's how we find this true abundance on this planet.

And so today we ponder what makes us happy.

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.

Can you believe that the history that we've built all of our foundational beliefs and systems on top of could be wrong?

As all of our histories are just interpretations of things we've found in languages that don't exist anymore.

And so there is this risk to our life that one of our fundamental beliefs or interpretations could be wrong.

From what was true back in the day,

As how we live life today is vastly different than how they would have seen life.

Could there be some foundational beliefs that maybe you haven't thought to reevaluate in a while?

Maybe your foundational beliefs have shifted.

We always have the opportunity for a refresh.

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 take this last breath to notice how our energy has shifted while thinking about all beings everywhere.

What happiness did you find?

As we are at the end of our practice today,

And I'm so grateful you've taken this time for yourself and your humble guide,

I'm so honored to connect with you in this small virtual space.

That's right,

All beings everywhere,

We are all connected,

And I'm grateful for this connection with you.

I hope together we can find some accountability and becoming more compassionate beings.

And so until next time,

With love,

Namaste.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.