Welcome to a loving kindness meditation.
It's Alicia Bliss.
Please become comfortable in your chair or a cushion on the floor for this practice.
Sitting with a relaxed but straight posture with your shoulders relaxed.
Allow your hands to rest comfortably in your lap.
Now gently close your eyes.
Settling into the awareness of the body and the breath.
Feeling into your body right now.
Noticing what's here.
Connecting to whatever is to be experienced in your body in this moment.
Connecting to the breath.
Noticing the rise and fall of the belly.
The rise and fall of each inhale and exhale.
In this practice we'll be cultivating loving kindness.
We all have within us this natural capacity for loving kindness.
Loving kindness is a natural opening of a compassionate heart to ourselves and to others.
It's a wish that everyone be happy.
We begin with developing loving kindness towards ourselves.
Allowing our hearts to open with tenderness.
Now allow yourself to remember and open up to your basic goodness.
You might remember times when you've been kind or generous.
You might recall your natural desire to be happy and to not suffer.
If acknowledging your own goodness is difficult,
Look at yourself through the eyes of someone who loves you.
What does that person love about you?
Or you may recall an unconditional love you felt from a beloved pet.
And as you experience this love,
Notice how you feel in your body.
Maybe you feel some warmth or heat in the face.
A smile.
A sense of expansiveness.
This is loving kindness.
A natural feeling that is accessible to all of us.
Always.
Now rest with this feeling of open,
Unconditional love for a few moments.
Letting yourself bask in the energy of loving kindness.
Breathing it in and breathing it out.
Inviting feelings of peace and acceptance.
So beginning now to wish yourself well by extending words of loving kindness to yourself.
I'll be offering as guidance the phrases that I've chosen to use in my own practice.
And now offering these words in your mind for yourself.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be held in loving kindness.
May I feel connected and calm.
May I accept myself just as I am.
May I be happy.
May I know the natural joy of being alive.
And now repeating in the mind these words of friendship and kindness to yourself once again.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be held in loving kindness.
May I feel connected and calm.
May I accept myself just as I am.
May I be happy.
May I know the natural joy of being alive.
Now you can open the circle of kindness by bringing to mind someone who is dear to you.
Someone whom you care about and who has always been there to support and love you.
Reflect on this person's basic goodness.
And sing what it is in particular that you love about him or her.
In your heart feel your appreciation for this dear one.
And begin your simple offering.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be held in loving kindness.
May you feel my love now.
May you accept yourself just as you are.
May you be happy.
May you know the natural joy of being alive.
Now bring your mind to a neutral person.
This is someone you might see regularly but don't know very well.
It might be your neighbor or the grocery store clerk.
Bring this person to mind now.
And repeat the words of loving kindness.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be held in loving kindness.
May you feel my love now.
May you accept yourself just as you are.
May you be happy.
May you know the natural joy of being alive.
And now if it's possible for you,
Bring to mind someone with whom you've had a difficult relationship.
Perhaps it's someone you don't like to feel sympathy or compassion for.
Seeing if it's possible to let go of the feelings of resentment and dislike for this person.
And reminding yourself to see this person as a whole being deserving of loving kindness.
As someone who feels pain and anxiety.
As someone who also suffers.
Seeing if it's possible to extend to this person the words of loving kindness in your mind.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be held in loving kindness.
May you feel my love now.
May you accept yourself just as you are.
May you be happy.
May you know the natural joy of being alive.
Good.
Now allow your awareness to open out in all directions.
Yourself,
A dear one,
That neutral person,
And that difficult person.
And of all beings,
Humans and animals living everywhere.
Living in richness,
Poverty,
War,
Peace,
Hunger,
Abundance.
Aware of all the joys and sorrows that all beings experience.
May all beings be filled with loving kindness.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be awakened and be free.
May all beings be happy.
And now,
Bringing this practice to a close by coming back to extend kindness to yourself.
Sitting for a while and basking in the energy of loving kindness that may have been generated here.
