Welcome to this loving kindness meditation.
The practice of loving kindness is a practice of softening and opening our heart.
It's a practice of well-wishing,
Well-wishing to ourself,
But also well-wishing to those around us,
Those we hold dear in our heart,
And also those we may not know at all,
And to all beings of this earth.
Through loving kindness practice we manage to expand our circle of compassion.
And we begin to bridge the gap between us as humans,
Becoming more aware of our shared humanity,
Becoming more aware of any suffering of those around us without letting it consume us.
We often say that negative emotions cannot coexist at the same time as positive ones,
And vice versa.
So with loving kindness practice what we're also doing is wiring our brain for positive and well-wishing intentions,
Developing self-compassion and compassion towards others in new ways.
So if you find yourself here today it could be that you want to deepen your loving kindness practice,
You want to deepen your connection to those around us.
This is a very noble trait,
This is a very beautiful practice,
And especially in a world that may at times seem confusing and difficult,
Where we are confronted with messages of otherness and difference.
Practicing loving kindness is a beautiful way to bring awareness to our shared humanity,
The shared humanity between all beings,
Regardless of their origin,
Regardless of their culture,
Regardless of any other label created by society.
So in order to begin I would love to invite you to find a comfortable position.
It is important for a loving kindness meditation to ensure that you are comfortable.
And if throughout this meditation you need to change your position you can of course do so.
Make sure to do so mindfully.
In order to begin please gently close your eyes.
Let's take a few moments to get grounded and to become present.
The next in breath focusing on the feeling of the air entering our nostrils,
Entering our throat.
We can feel our body moving with the breath.
We can place our hand on our belly or on our chest and simply allow the breath move us.
And so just for a few moments we can sit with our breath,
Breathing in,
Breathing out at our own pace,
Not trying to control it.
And we will start this loving kindness meditation with directing loving kindness towards ourself.
Remember loving kindness practice is a hard practice.
It is therefore important to start with us first before we can wish well to those around us.
We will now repeat these three wishes in our mind.
Three times in a row.
May I be happy.
May I be safe.
May I be healthy and free from harm.
And again.
May I be happy.
May I be safe.
May I be healthy and free from harm.
And one more time.
May I be happy.
May I be safe.
May I be healthy and free from harm.
As we repeat these we can put our hand on our chest and just feel the warmth.
Feel our heart softening.
And in order to gently open our heart to those around us we now imagine a person that we hold very dearly in our heart.
This can be a family member,
A friend,
A mentor.
And we start by directing well-wishing towards them.
Really imagine the warmth of the feelings.
Imagine having them standing in front of you.
On an important day.
And feel the love for this person in that moment as we repeat.
And again.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you be healthy and free from harm.
And again.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you be healthy and free from harm.
And one last time.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you be healthy and free from harm.
So we can feel the love flowing through us,
This love we have for that person we hold dearly in our heart.
We can feel our circle of compassion slowly expanding as we wish them well.
For the next moment we imagine a person we don't know,
Someone we may have seen in the street,
In public transport,
In our class.
Someone whose story we do not know.
And we start wishing well to them too,
Just as we wish to ourselves and to those we love.
Those whose stories we know,
Whose sufferings we know.
And we engage in the same kind of unconditional well-wishing.
So as we imagine that person,
We start by wishing them well.
May they be happy.
May they be safe.
May they be healthy and free from harm.
And again.
May they be happy.
May they be safe.
May they be healthy and free from harm.
And one last time.
May they be happy.
May they be safe.
May they be healthy and free from harm.
And as we're wishing to these strangers,
We can truly deeply connect to our limitless well of kindness,
To our limitless well of love.
Realizing that we truly do not know much about these strangers,
We do not know about their suffering.
But they too are deserving of love.
They too are deserving of kindness.
They are just like us.
And so we can feel our heart opening,
Softening.
We may feel vulnerability and that is absolutely okay.
This is a hard practice.
It teaches us to feel,
It teaches us to become receptive to those around us.
To connect us to the oneness,
To the shared humanity.
And so as our heart opens,
We can imagine someone with whom we may have a difficult relationship.
This can be someone from our past,
Someone from our present.
It can be a family member,
A former friend or a colleague.
Or simply someone with whom we had a difficult relationship.
Now we may feel some resistance,
Wishing well,
Especially at the beginning of our loving kindness practice.
It is absolutely normal.
But we can gently move into a place of wishing well,
Non-identifying.
And so we begin our well wishes to those with whom we may have a difficult relationship.
May they be happy.
May they be safe.
May they be healthy and free from harm.
And again,
May they be happy.
May they be safe.
And one last time.
May they be happy.
May they be safe.
May they be healthy and free from harm.
Now this last practice that we have just done may take a little more time to ease into and that is absolutely fine and always make sure to take your time as your heart opens.
And in this last loving kindness practice we are expanding our circle of compassion to all beings.
Regardless of whether we know them or not.
They are all deserving of unconditional love,
Of unconditional kindness.
And so we begin wishing well to all beings.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings be healthy and free from harm.
Again.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings be healthy and free from harm.
And one last time.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings be healthy and free from harm.
As we finish with wishing well to all beings we can feel our circle of compassion expanding,
Expanding far beyond our body,
Making our muscle stronger,
Making our heart open.
And through this practice,
You will develop so much more of our human qualities.
The quality of seeing others as human to us,
Humans that are perfectly imperfect.
Humans with stories just like us,
With suffering,
Just like we may experience.
And we will become aware that there are moments where we have to listen,
Where we have to reach out.
And in these moments we will learn to hold space for those that need it the most.
So before we close this practice I would love to invite you to place your hand on your heart,
Feeling that warmth,
Feeling that muscle getting stronger.
I would love you to spend last moment,
Giving thanks to yourself for spending this moment here,
Expanding your humanity expanding your compassion.
I wish you a beautiful beautiful day.
Thank you.
Thank you.
