I'd like to invite you to stop and turn inwards.
So sit back in your chair with your back supported,
Active but relaxed.
Feel your body physically settle into this space,
Your chin slightly tucked in and your feet grounding into the floor.
Allowing yourself to gradually turn away from the world of doing and towards your being that's always there.
Setting an intention right now to be here.
I am exactly where I'm supposed to be.
This is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing.
This is it.
This moment is all that's real.
Today I'll be guiding you through loving kindness meditation.
So simply relax and follow me as I guide you to a place of self compassion and friendliness.
First towards yourself and then outwards to other people.
Before we begin,
See if you can open to whatever you experience in the body in this moment.
Connecting to the breath,
Noticing the rising and falling of the belly.
In this practice we'll be cultivating loving kindness.
We all have within us this natural capacity for loving kindness or friendship that's unconditional and open,
Gentle,
Supportive.
Loving kindness is a natural opening of a compassionate heart to ourselves and to others.
It's a wish that everyone be happy.
We begin with developing loving kindness towards ourselves,
Allowing our hearts to open with tenderness.
Just be aware that this meditation may at times feel mechanical or awkward.
It can also bring up feelings contrary to loving kindness,
Feelings of irritation and anger.
If this happens for you,
It's especially important to be patient and kind towards yourself,
Allowing whatever arises to be received in a spirit of friendliness and kind affection.
Often we're not used to treating ourselves in that spirit,
So just notice how it feels for you with no judgement.
Now allow yourself to remember and open up to your basic goodness.
You might remember times you've been kind or generous.
You might recall your natural desire to be happy and not to suffer.
If acknowledging your own goodness is difficult,
Look at yourself through the eyes of someone who loves you.
What does that person love about you?
Or maybe you can recall the unconditional love you felt for a beloved pet.
It may help to use the imagination and to picture yourself as a young child standing before you,
Perhaps four or five years of age.
If that allows tender feelings of kindness to flow more easily.
And as you experience this love,
Notice how you feel in your body.
Maybe you feel some warmth or heat in the face,
A smile,
A sense of expansiveness.
This is loving kindness,
A natural feeling that's accessible to all of us,
Always.
Resting with this feeling of open,
Unconditional love for a few minutes.
Letting yourself bask in the energy of loving kindness,
Breathing it in and breathing it out.
Inviting feelings of peace and acceptance.
It's beginning now to wish yourself well by extending words of loving kindness to yourself.
I'll be offering as guidance the phrases that I've chosen to use in my own practice.
You're invited to alter these phrases and choose whatever words express your wishes of loving kindness towards yourself and others.
Now offering these words in your mind for yourself.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May I be well in body and mind.
May I be at ease and happy.
And now repeating in the mind these words of friendship and kindness to yourself once again.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May I be well in body and mind.
May I be at ease and happy.
Now you can open the circle of loving kindness by bringing to mind someone who's dear to you.
Someone who you care about and who's always been supportive.
Reflect on this person's basic goodness.
Sensing what it is in particular that you love about him or her.
In your heart,
Feel your appreciation for this dear one and begin your simple offering.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May you be well in body and mind.
May you be at ease and happy.
Now bring to mind a neutral person.
This is someone you might see regularly but don't know well.
It might be a neighbour.
Someone in a shop.
Someone you see on your way to work or school.
Bring this person to mind now and repeat the words of loving kindness.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May you be well in body and mind.
May you be at ease and happy.
And now,
If it's possible for you,
Bring to mind someone with whom you've had a difficult relationship.
Perhaps it's someone you don't like to feel sympathy or compassion for.
Seeing if it's possible to let go of feelings of resentment and dislike for this person.
Reminding yourself to see them as a whole being.
Deserving of loving kindness.
For someone who feels pain and anxiety.
For someone who also suffers.
Seeing if it's possible to extend to this person the words of loving kindness in your mind.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May you be well in body and mind.
May you be at ease and happy.
Now,
Allow your awareness to open out in all directions.
Yourself.
A dear one.
A neutral person.
And a difficult person.
And of all beings.
Humans and animals living everywhere.
Living in richness.
Poverty.
War.
Peace.
Hunger.
Abundance.
Aware of all the joys and sorrows that all beings experience.
May all things be filled with loving kindness.
May all things be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May all things be well in body and mind.
May all things be at ease and happy.
Now,
Bringing this practice to a close by coming back to extend kindness to yourself.
Sitting for a while and basking in the energy of loving kindness that you may have generated.
Allowing yourself to feel loving kindness towards yourself.
And when you're ready,
Wiggle your fingers and your toes to bring movement back into the body.
Landing you back into this space.
And gently blinking open your eyes and keeping your gaze soft.
Seeing if you can hold on to any feelings of loving kindness you've cultivated.
Taking them into your day.
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