Loving Kindness For Oneself

Loving-kindness practice for oneself is a very effective way to start befriending ourselves and treating ourselves with gentleness, care, kindness, and love. It counteracts the voice of the harsh inner critic that we all have within us. From this place of self-compassion, we are likely to become less critical of ourselves when we make mistakes. The more loving and patient we are with our difficulties, the less lost we are in reactivity thereby leading to wiser choices and wiser actions.

Transcript

Welcome to the Loving Kindness Meditation.

We will do this meditation to generate feelings of goodwill and loving kindness for our own selves.

Take a moment to let your body settle in a comfortable position.

Relax the whole body.

Keep the head,

Neck and back erect but not rigid.

Keep the hands comfortably placed on the lap or on the knees.

Allow your eyes to gently close and tune in to the feeling of the breath flowing in and out of the body.

Focus your attention on the sensation of the breath moving past the nostrils or on the sensation of the breath moving into the belly,

Lifting it during each in-breath and receding gently on each out-breath.

Follow the breath as it comes in and goes out.

Find comfort in your posture and settle into it.

Allow your body to be as soft and relaxed as possible.

Now focus your attention exclusively on yourself.

Remember that you too deserve unconditional love,

Kindness and happiness just like all other living beings.

I will now repeat some traditional phrases of loving kindness.

In the short period of silence that follows after each phrase,

Repeat it a few times to yourself and breathe in the qualities of warmth,

Kindness,

Compassion or love towards yourself.

Do this with all your heart.

If you notice that your mind has wandered off,

Gently bring it back to this practice.

May I be happy.

May I be peaceful.

May I be peaceful.

May I live with ease.

May I be peaceful.

May I be peaceful.

May I be peaceful.

Start with a small flame of the intent behind each phrase,

Attend to it and nurture it.

Slowly get more fuel for the tender feeling that arises in your heart as you offer loving kindness to yourself and allow it to expand and to gain momentum.

If you notice that your mind has wandered off,

Gently bring it back to this practice.

May I be happy.

May I be peaceful.

May I be peaceful.

May I be peaceful.

May I be peaceful.

May I live with ease.

May I be peaceful.

May I be peaceful.

May I be peaceful.

May I be peaceful.

May I be peaceful.

May I be peaceful.

May I be happy.

May I be peaceful.

May I be peaceful.

May I be peaceful.

May I be peaceful.

May I live with ease.

May I be peaceful.

We now come to an end of this meditation.

When you are ready,

You can open your eyes.

Resume your day to day activities while trying to keep alive the experience of loving kindness towards yourself.

Reviews

This meditation was soothing and centering for me. Thank you!