Hello,
I'm Alice and welcome to this loving kindness meta meditation.
A meta meditation focuses on love and meta means loving kindness,
Friendliness or forgiveness.
This type of meditation comes from the Buddhist tradition and starts with self-compassion then moves outwards to feelings of warmth and love for others.
By generating love and empathy for both ourselves and others we can positively affect our physiology by improving our vagal tone and our nervous system's ability to return to a balanced state.
Increasing self-compassion is a key component in healing chronic illness or pain as we send feelings of love and safety to our nervous systems.
And sitting now in a comfortable position enabling your spine to be tall yet relaxed.
Placing your feet on the floor and one hand on your heart or wherever feels comfortable.
And when you're ready gently closing your eyes or lowering your gaze.
And we'll spend a few moments settling in.
Relaxing your shoulders,
Smoothing the lines on your forehead,
Settling yourself to feel supported by the surface beneath you and beginning to tune in to your natural breath.
And beginning to turn your attention inwards.
Focus on the sensation of your breath in and out through your nose.
Maybe feeling the gentle movement of your hand resting over your heart.
And follow the journey of your breath up and out of your nostrils.
Perhaps noticing that it's cooler on the inhale and warmer on the exhale.
And cultivating smooth and steady inhales and smooth steady exhales.
Breathing in and out through the nose.
Gently and slowly.
And beginning now with speaking silently to yourself.
Using these words.
May I be happy?
May I be healthy?
May I live with ease?
May I be happy?
May I be healthy?
May I live with ease?
Your hand on your heart speaking silently to yourself.
May I be happy?
May I be healthy?
May I live with ease?
And now we'll begin to widen our circle of focus and we'll send love and compassion to someone that you love deeply.
So perhaps a partner,
Your best friend,
Your children or a pet.
And you can say their name.
May you be happy?
May you be healthy?
May you live with ease?
May you be happy?
May you be healthy?
May you live with ease?
Really picturing this person.
May you be happy?
May you be healthy?
May you live with ease?
And we'll send loving kindness now to someone that you feel neutral about.
For example,
A neighbour or a work colleague.
May you be happy?
May you be healthy?
May you live with ease?
May you be happy?
May you be healthy?
May you live with ease?
And now we widen the circle of focus again.
This time to someone that you have a more difficult relationship with.
Understanding or thinking of that person,
Sending these words to them.
May you be happy?
May you be healthy?
May you live with ease?
May you be happy?
May you be healthy?
May you live with ease?
And noticing in your body how this feels as you send love and kindness to someone that you have a difficult relationship with.
And now we'll extend the loving kindness to all living beings.
May all living beings be happy?
May you be healthy?
May you live with ease?
May you be happy?
May you be healthy?
May you live with ease?
So perhaps picturing animals,
Plants,
The fish in the ocean,
The birds in the sky.
May you be happy?
May you be healthy?
May you live with ease?
And finally you come back to yourself again,
Hand on heart,
Repeating these words to yourself.
May I be happy?
May I be healthy?
May I live with ease?
May I be happy?
May I be healthy?
May I live with ease?
May I be happy?
May I be healthy?
May I live with ease?
May I be healthy?
