Loving Kindness Through The Body
This is a Loving Kindness (Metta) Meditation using hand motions to bring the feeling of compassion in and through the body. When we bring compassion into the body through subtle movement, it brings a greater sense of connection and compassion within.
Transcript
Hello and welcome to our loving kindness meditation practice.
This is a Buddhist practice that is also known as the Meditation.
In the loving kindness practice,
You work to cultivate a deeper sense of compassion for yourself first and foremost,
And then for all living beings from there.
In this journey,
You repeat a set of phrases that I will guide you through.
And in that repetition,
We also are working on feeling.
So I will be guiding you in using your hands as a gesture to deepen into your expression of feeling the emotions of compassion and letting them move through your body.
So if you're used to staying still with a meditation,
I invite you to just explore this and try it on.
So I now ask you to come into a comfortable seat,
Whether that is cross legged,
Maybe sitting in a chair,
Maybe even standing wherever you may be.
Just find a sense of grounding rooting into the now moment.
And starting to connect to your breath.
Inhaling deeply.
Exhale,
Let it go.
Deeper and deeper into the moment,
Deeper and deeper into your body with the breath.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale,
Filling the belly and feeling the body.
Exhale,
Softening and letting go.
As with everything,
Compassion starts within us.
So beginning with you,
Bringing your hands to your heart center and repeating quietly in your mind or out loud if you feel called.
May I be well.
And then bring your hands into the air like you're drawing a smiley face.
May I be happy.
And bring your hands together and then down towards the earth.
May I be free from my own suffering.
Hands to heart.
May I be well.
Hands like you're drawing a smiley face.
May I be happy.
Hands come together and down towards the earth.
May I be free from my own suffering.
And flowing with that,
Connecting with that.
Don't worry about getting the hand gestures right.
Allow them to be your own if something else comes through to express the words of compassion to yourself.
May I be well.
May I be happy.
May I be free from my own suffering.
And repeating this quietly on your own.
May I be well.
May I be happy.
And may I be free from my own suffering.
Hands to heart.
May I be well.
Hands come into the air drawing a smiling face.
May I be happy.
Hands come together and down towards the earth.
And may I be free from my own suffering.
And repeating one last time.
May I be well.
May I be happy.
And may I be free from my own suffering.
And closing this portion with maybe a squeeze of your own hand.
Maybe even a full hug for yourself.
A squeeze of your shoulders.
Thanking yourself.
And taking in a deep in-breath.
Full and feel.
Exhale,
Soften and let it go.
And now we're going to imagine as if the person that comes to mind first,
Someone that you love and adore and cherish,
Sits across from you.
Working and cultivating this sense of compassion towards them.
So you can bring your hands now in front of your heart like you're offering a platter.
And repeating,
May you be well.
And creating that smiley face.
May you be happy.
Hands together and down towards the earth.
May you be free from your own suffering.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
And repeating this,
Feeling this towards someone who you deeply love,
Admire,
Cherish.
And may you be well.
And may you be happy.
And may you be well.
And may you be happy.
And may you be well.
And may you be well.
And may you be well.
And may you be well.
And may you be well.
And may you be well.
And may you deeply love,
Admire,
Cherish.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
And may you be free from your own suffering.
Last round.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
And may you be free from your own suffering.
And imagining as if you close this with them.
Whether you're giving them a hug,
A squeeze,
Whatever feels right.
Taking a deep in-breath,
Full and feel.
Exhale,
Soften and let it go.
Noticing.
As now,
It's as if that person steps to the side and across from you.
You call in someone who you feel very neutral about.
Maybe someone who you don't even know their first name.
But you interact with them in the world.
Maybe there you're a barista.
Or someone that works in your building.
Someone that you saw at a stoplight.
Now,
Bringing compassion towards them.
May you be well.
Hands extend out like you're holding a tray.
May you be happy.
Hands create a smiley face in the air.
Hands come together and towards the earth.
May you be free from your own suffering.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be free from your own suffering.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be free from your own suffering.
Repeating this.
Noticing what it's like to share compassion towards a neutral party.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be free from your own suffering.
Last time.
May you be well.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
And may you be free from your own suffering.
And saying goodbye,
Closing this in whatever way you see fit.
Maybe it's a handshake.
Maybe it's a hug.
And allowing that individual to step to the side.
Taking in a deep in-breath full.
And feel.
And as you exhale,
Soften and let it all go.
Noticing.
Now calling in across from you someone whom you have difficulty with.
Someone who there is a challenging dynamic.
First person that comes to mind,
Allow them to enter.
And start working towards compassion.
Towards even them.
Hands extend out.
May you be well.
Hands into a smiley face.
May you be happy.
Hands come together and towards the earth.
May you be free from your own suffering.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
And may you be free from your own suffering.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
And may you be free from your own suffering.
Repeating this.
Holding the cadence of compassion.
Towards this individual.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
And may you be free from your own suffering.
Last time.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
And may you be free from your own suffering.
And may you be free from your own suffering.
Closing this in whatever way you see fit.
Allowing their essence to set aside.
Taking in a deep in-breath.
Full and feel.
And as you exhale,
Soften and let it go.
Noticing,
Pausing,
Seeing how it feels.
To bring compassion towards that dynamic.
And now,
Imagine if you bring this whole group,
Yourself included,
Into a little cluster.
Like you're wrapping your arms all around them.
And repeating to all individuals here.
May we all be well.
May we all be happy.
And may we all be free from our own suffering.
You can bring the hand motions of course still into this.
Hands out.
May we all be well.
Hands out into a smiley face.
May we all be happy.
Hands come together and towards the earth.
May we all be free from our own suffering.
And feeling.
Sharing the same level of compassion.
To this group.
Yourself included.
And now,
Imagine as if this group turns into the town that you live in.
All living beings,
Not even just people.
But all living beings in this radius of where you live.
Spreading loving compassion to them.
May you all be well.
May you all be happy.
May you all be free from your own suffering.
Imagining this spread even further into the state in which you live.
May we all be well.
May we all be happy.
May we all be free from our own suffering.
And you can imagine however you see yourself zooming out and sending this compassion towards the whole earth.
All living beings.
May all living beings be well.
May all living beings be happy.
May all living beings be free from their own suffering.
May all living beings be well.
May all living beings be happy.
May all living beings be free from their own suffering.
Really moving this loving kindness through you.
Hands extend.
May all living beings be well.
Hands come into a smiley face.
May all living beings be happy.
Hands come together and towards the earth.
And may all living beings be free from their own suffering.
Feeling this extension from your heart of compassion.
Across the board.
And then imagine that compassion come back down from the scope of the earth.
Into the state in which you live.
Into the town in which you're in.
Into that challenging dynamic.
Into the neutral dynamic.
Into the loving dynamic.
And back to you.
Pause and feel here.
Taking a deep in-breath.
Full and feel.
Exhale.
Soften and let it go.
Allowing yourself to bask.
In the essence of loving kindness.
In the essence of compassion.
Cultivating compassion truly is an art form.
It takes practice and dedication.
Because compassion doesn't pick and choose.
Compassion is seeing the human for the living.
That thread of consciousness that weaves us all together.
And it may be challenging with some and may be easier with others.
And that's the art form.
And I want to touch on the aspect of our own suffering.
I don't believe that as humans we can be free from all suffering.
Because that's just the polarity of this earth that we experience.
But we can be free from our own internal suffering.
That we may put our own selves through.
And that everyone puts themselves through in some way.
And it is challenging.
But the more we can shine the light of compassion and true unwavering love for self onto us.
We may be able to lessen the burdens that we carry.
And we may be able to see those around us and show them that they can too lessen those burdens.
Because they are deserving of compassion and love.
And it reminds us that that's really what we all want in some way.
Is compassion and love.
Understanding and being seen.
So thank you for meditating with me today.
Thank you to dedicating time to cultivating this art form.
And knowing these phrases,
This feeling that you've cultivated is yours.
And one that you can continue to grow and enhance through the practice of loving kindness.
Thank you.
