Loving Kindness Meditation
by Amy Lee
This 15-minute Loving Kindness (Metta) Meditation is a mindful practice to increase positive feelings such as love, joy, gratitude, and appreciation toward ourselves, as well as toward those with whom we share our lives. Music: "Mer-Ka-Ba" by Jesse Gallagher is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.
Transcript
Today's offering is a loving-kindness meditation.
This is a meditation practice to generate feelings of love and kindness and grace and compassion towards oneself as well as towards other people.
To feel that love,
To rest in the awareness of that love while releasing any desire or expectation for that love to be returned in due course.
It is simply the act of practicing love for love's sake.
So to begin,
Finding yourself in a comfortable seat.
Whatever a comfortable seat means for you and your body today.
You might be sitting in a chair or upon a cushion on the floor or you may even be lying down.
Just finding that seat and allow yourself to land.
The gaze can be soft or the eyes can be closed.
Noticing the points of contact between you and the surfaces that are supporting you.
Softening the belly.
Finding a sense of regal length in the spine.
Jaw relaxing and releasing.
Letting the back of the tongue drop down and away from the roof of the mouth.
Noticing the muscles of the face.
Releasing the muscles around the eyes,
The eyes themselves.
Maybe the forehead,
The temples.
Noticing if you're carrying any tension there and if you are,
See if it's available to you to just kind of let that melt away.
And then drawing your attention back to that soft belly.
Noticing how on the inhale the belly fills with air like a little balloon and how on the exhale the belly softens and releases.
Noticing the quality and state of your breath today without needing to change anything or correct it,
Whatever that means to you today.
Just noticing.
Noticing what the breath is like today at this moment.
Noticing how the body gently lifts on the inhale and how the body releases and sinks down on the exhale.
Taking a moment here to just watch that ebb and flow of the breath.
Drawing your attention inwards.
Visualizing yourself in your mind's eye.
Perhaps even visualizing yourself sitting there in your seat at this moment.
Allowing yourself to steep for a moment in the true and deep awareness and essence of who you are.
Looking at yourself as if you were looking at yourself in a mirror.
And holding that awareness of who you are at your core.
Repeat to yourself silently,
Gently,
With love.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be free from suffering.
May I be at peace.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be free from suffering.
May I be at peace.
If you notice other thoughts coming in or find that your mind is beginning to wander,
Notice that.
And then simply bring your attention back to your breath.
Bring it back to the words.
Bring it back to your practice.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be free from suffering.
May I be at peace.
If you find it difficult to send this love to yourself,
Think of an act of kindness you've done.
It can be something small.
Or you can think of yourself as a child.
A younger version of yourself.
And wish that child well.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be free from suffering.
May I be at peace.
Now bringing to mind someone you are close to.
Someone perhaps with whom you share your life.
Maybe a parent or a partner.
A child or a friend.
Someone you love.
Visualize this person sitting right in front of you.
Bringing to mind their essence as a person.
Holding the image of this person in your mind.
Send this person some loving kindness by repeating silently,
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
Again imagining that this person is sitting with you and that you are speaking to them.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
Now drawing to mind someone with whom you have a neutral relationship.
Someone you do not know well.
Perhaps this person is a neighbor or someone at your workplace.
Or maybe someone who works in a store or a cafe that you frequent.
Calling forth an image of this person now.
Visualizing them in your mind's eye.
Sending this person some loving kindness.
Silently repeating,
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
Now call to mind someone with whom you may have a challenging relationship.
This does not have to be your most challenging relationship.
Maybe it is simply someone with whom you've had a disagreement.
Someone with whom you've recently experienced some tension.
If the feelings around the relationship that you have brought to mind feel too raw at this moment,
Perhaps choose another person,
Another relationship for this part.
Or maybe imagine this person as a child.
If this part feels difficult,
Bring your attention back to your breath for a moment.
Knowing that the breath is here to support you.
Then return as you are able,
Again calling forth perhaps a younger version of this person that you have chosen,
And with grace and compassion for both them and yourself.
Send this person some loving-kindness by silently repeating,
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
Again,
Speaking in your mind as if this person were sitting right in front of you,
And you are speaking directly to them.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
Now bring to mind a mental image of the physical space where you are currently practicing.
And allow your mind's eye to widen almost as if it were the lens on a camera.
Panning out,
Expanding your view,
Envisioning your neighborhood,
Your city,
Your state or province,
Your country,
Your continent,
Until you are holding an image of the entirety of planet Earth in your mind's eye.
Almost as if you were looking at it now from outer space.
The planet surrounded by that space,
And in the distance perhaps the planets beyond.
And holding that image,
Imagining all of the life within it.
Expanding your awareness.
Sending loving kindness now to all beings everywhere.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at peace.
Beginning to deepen your breath.
Focusing again on the ebb and flow of your breath.
And noticing any sensations that may have arisen in your body.
Perhaps there are places you are feeling tension.
Noticing those.
And also noticing any places where you might be feeling ease at this moment.
Finding movement in fingers and toes.
Allowing the chin to drop toward the chest.
Rocking the head slightly from side to side.
And then lifting the head.
Allowing the eyes to open a bit if they have been closed.
Glancing around your space.
Visually connecting with the objects in the space around you.
And then bringing palms together.
Rubbing your hands.
Building some heat and vibration together between the palms.
And then stacking your hands one on top of the other at the heart center.
Sealing in your practice.
