Hello and welcome.
Thank you so much for joining 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.
And this session is going to be a loving kindness meditation.
So I've been coming each Monday to share loving kindness meditation with you,
The world,
Myself,
All the above,
In order to share what I believe will really help make the world a better place.
And to me,
That is loving kindness meditation,
Where we combat those negative thoughts that I know plague my mind far too often,
And perhaps maybe plague yours as well.
So we practice in our loving kindness meditation in order to combat these negative thoughts,
Gladden the mind,
As they say.
And the best part is,
Is no matter how good you think you are doing on this path,
Something is always at work.
So we're planting seeds as they say,
And no matter what,
No matter how good you are feeling today,
We will make a difference rewiring our brains to gladden the mind and combat those negative thoughts.
So no practice necessary.
I appreciate you joining me here today,
Whether that's your first time or millions time doing a loving kindness meditation.
The first step is to find a comfortable position.
So I myself am sitting on my meditation cushion today,
Here in my home office yoga room,
While I do often really enjoy lying down as well.
Within the next 30 minutes,
I'm going to walk you through the entire practice from start to finish.
No worries,
I will give all of the instructions for you here today.
And the biggest elements of our loving kindness meditation comes in two parts.
And the first part is a set of phrases,
Which we will repeat silently to ourselves.
So in my head,
I will repeat a set of phrases.
And for our example,
Say today,
The phrases I will be using 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.
But these are the ones I will be using today.
And I promise you the rhythm of your phrases comes in time.
So our repeating of our phrases to ourselves is the first part of our practice,
While the second part of our practice is that we direct or send or,
You know,
Hold that hold that intention of five different groups of people.
So we kind of send our loving kindness phrases to these different groups of people,
Which will take the next 30 minutes.
We will spend five minutes on each group.
And the first group is yourself.
So we will work on the adage of filling up our own cup before we move on to other groups.
Because the second group of people that we will send our phrases to is a loving relationship.
So my dogs often get these phrases from me,
Or maybe a family member,
A close friend,
A teacher,
Mentor,
Somebody that you have a loving,
Easy,
You know,
Something you want to put some gratitude into today.
It's our second group of individuals leads us into the third,
Which is a neutral relationship.
I often describe this relationship as a member of the public,
Somebody in the grocery store,
Next to you on the train,
In front of you in the car,
Somebody that you don't really have a,
You don't feel a type of way about them,
A neutral relationship,
Or as I described a member of the public,
Our fourth group of individuals will then be our difficult relationship.
So relationship,
Maybe not the crux of all of our traumas.
But if that is the only thing that comes to mind today,
In time,
We iteratively attack or gladden the mind of these difficult relationships in order to find a new perspective.
Last but not least,
We will send to our fifth group of all beings everywhere.
So we'll kind of really wash out and feel that loving kindness pulse through us by sending our phrases to all beings everywhere.
So the two parts of our practice today,
Our phrases and our groups that we send these phrases to.
And hopefully by now you found your comfortable seat as we are ready to dive into things today here on this Monday,
As I myself find that the seasons are changing.
So as we recall,
Our first group of individuals is all beings everywhere.
Strike that yourself.
We start with yourself in our loving kindness practice.
So the visual I often use is I'm sitting on my future self lap,
She is supporting me,
I'm connected with her and I trust that she will guide me securely into the future and beyond.
And so I cherish that relationship with myself today by sending my loving kindness phrases first to myself.
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 to yourself.
I'm so grateful I get this opportunity to send my loving kindness phrases to myself because I'm definitely my own worst critic.
The negative thoughts about myself were forever rampant until I was 25 and decided to quit my job and start a new life.
I'm so grateful for this opportunity to send my loving kindness phrases to myself.
I'm definitely my own worst critic.
The negative thoughts about myself were forever rampant until I was 25 and decided to cold turkey cut it off,
Which not everybody can do.
But even so I find these loving kindness phrases to be a great way to relax into the trust that I can get through anything.
So we continue to send our 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.
With each phrase,
I hope to feel wider.
As I myself am grateful that you're taking this time to send your loving kindness phrases to the self because it really does make the world a better place.
And with that we switch to our next group of individuals that we will send our loving kindness phrases to our loving relationship.
I'm so dear and so grateful for all the loving relationships in my life.
I often talk about how far in the past they may have been,
But how truly impactful I will always feel they are.
My had a long ago that loving connection was in your life.
We send our loving kindness phrases in order to recall the loving feeling even in the hard times.
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 safe.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
Never discount the depth of these loving relationships as there's no reason to discount a loving relationship by how deep or brief it may have seemed to you because the difficult things are always over pebbles as well.
So there's no reason to discount even the briefest of relationships that they truly impacted and made a quality connection in this life.
So we take this moment just a little while longer just a little while longer to send our loving kindness phrases.
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 live with ease.
You can understand the gratitude I have for you coming and participating in my loving kindness meditation as you feel that connection to your loving relationship.
I aspire to have such feeling for you also.
And with that we switch to our third group of individuals that neutral relationship.
We will now send our loving kindness phrases to them.
Whoever that may be whether that's a specific face or maybe just a general feeling sense of a place maybe in your community.
Or you will send these loving kindness phrases because we are all connected and so we cherish that connection here in this moment by sending our loving kindness phrases to a neutral 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.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
I find that I very much enjoy the cartoon Avatar the Last Airbender because today I was watching Aang and they it's the episode where Guru Pathik comes into play and Appa has been lost and he says that he can trace Aang by tracing the energy as they have an unconditional bond.
And he comments about how these unseen connections are what connect us together.
And so maybe that plants a seed for you.
What are those unseen connections that we have with these neutral relationships?
Can we make them better?
Can we find true connection in something simple?
So we send our loving kindness phrases.
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 look forward to hearing more about what it might mean for you to cherish these connections with these neutral relationships in your life.
I look forward to that.
And as of now we shift into our difficult relationship.
Our fourth group of individuals.
We must find balance in the world and gladdening the mind is nice when things are nice.
But how do we gladden the mind when things are difficult?
So we take this brief moment to send our loving kindness phrases while being uncomfortable in hopes that this practice may we find some ease in that next difficult relationship we encounter off our mat.
And with that we send our phrases to a 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.
May you be happy.
Tears come to my eyes as I think about the past Abby that had to endure and suffer in these difficult relationships.
I am now that future Abby that gets to support my past self as I started my practice today.
But I'm so glad I get this opportunity to be that future Abby and I hope that you find some strength as you send your loving kindness phrases to this difficult relationship as you've made it and will continue to make 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.
Luckily my dear friends we're coming to the end of our difficult relationship.
We sigh it out.
We let it go.
We move on closing coming to the end of our practice with our final group all beings everywhere our fifth and final group we will send our loving kindness phrases because we must cherish this life however fleeting or deep it may feel to you.
We get this one beautiful shot on this amazing mystery of a planet in this ever-expanding universe.
And so we cherish in our last moment we let go we send our loving kindness phrases 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.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
I can understand why you might not want to share this planet with everything that is currently on it.
Whether that's toxic people,
Toxins,
Or maybe just giant spiders.
But we must find this connection to all because life is so fleeting and is full of mysteries that my small human brain could not possibly understand.
And so even though it is fearful,
Grossly overwhelming,
But I hold the deepest faith that it is also forever gratifying to be here in this one precious life that I share with all beings everywhere.
So I cherish that connection with all.
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.
You You are amazing,
Dear friends.
This is the last second of your practice today,
Closing out with all beings everywhere.
I'm so grateful that you've taken this time for yourself to connect with me,
To share in our compassion for all of these many relationships in our life.
I hope to see you again soon,
Maybe continue our practice together.
All we can do is try.
And I'm so grateful you're here today trying with me.
Until next time,
With love,
Namaste.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
Please do take your time getting up.
See you soon.
