When we think of doing loving kindness meditation,
We typically think about giving loving kindness to others,
Which is a beautiful,
Generous,
And kind thing to do.
However,
We need this same love and kindness for ourselves.
Today we're going to give ourselves the loving kindness that we so often give other people.
When I think about self-care,
I think about recalibrating my energy,
Grounding,
Bringing myself back to the present moment.
When I think about self-love,
I think about acceptance,
True acceptance of who I am in this moment,
Perfect in this moment.
I encourage you to give that love to yourself and acceptance to yourself in this moment just as you are,
Perfect as you are right here,
Right now.
So to begin,
I invite you to close your eyes and start breathing nice,
Long,
Deep breaths in and out of your nose,
Sitting up nice and tall in your dignified position,
Upright but not up tight.
Rest your hands on your lap or your knees facing down or facing up,
Whatever feels good to you.
Your feet can be firmly planted on the floor if you're sitting in a chair or cross-legged if you're sitting on a cushion or a couch.
As you take these nice,
Long,
Deep breaths,
Feel your ribcage expand and contract as you breathe.
As you inhale,
Really feel your ribcage expand and as you exhale,
Feel it contract.
Now,
You can let your breath return to its natural rhythm,
Just moving in and out of your nose on autopilot,
Not really having to think about it much at all.
And take notice of how your body feels in this moment.
Is there tension anywhere,
Tightness?
Are you holding stress anywhere in your body that you can feel?
Sort of take inventory of that.
And we'll now release any tension that may have been building up.
Really notice the muscles of your face,
If you feel any tension in your forehead,
Your cheeks or your jaw.
Feel it release now.
Encourage your shoulders to fall away from your ears on your next exhale.
Allow a feeling of ease and peace to permeate your chest.
Allow a feeling of calm to overtake your belly,
Allowing your belly to be nice and soft as you breathe.
We are now ready to offer phrases of love and kindness to ourselves.
When I do this,
There's two ways that it feels good to me.
One is to imagine another version of myself in my mind's eye standing before me,
Ready to receive the love and kindness that I'm about to offer.
Another way is to almost imagine in my mind's eye that I'm standing in front of a mirror and I can see my own reflection in the mirror.
So whichever way feels good to you,
That's what you can envision in your mind's eye.
And we will use a set of phrases that we offer to ourselves and feel ourselves receiving it.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I know peace.
As you repeat these phrases of love and kindness,
Imagine yourself receiving them.
You are giving them lovingly to yourself.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I know peace.
Repeat these phrases in your mind silently and imagine yourself receiving them.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I know peace.
If you find you get distracted for any reason,
Simply return to offering yourself these phrases of love and kindness.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I know peace.
You can let those phrases go.
Release them now and give yourself some nice long deep breaths.
Rather connecting you to your body,
Your mind,
Your spirit and this present moment.
And if at any moment going through life you feel like you need some extra TLC or love and kindness,
You can always give this to yourself by repeating these phrases to yourself even for just a minute at a time.
May I be healthy.
May I be happy.
May I know peace.
May I know peace.
