My name is Samantha Case and I will be guiding you through this guided meditation.
You will know this meditation is finished when you hear a gentle bell at the end.
If you'd like to receive more guided meditations,
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Com To begin this loving-kindness meditation,
Take a moment to find a comfortable position where you feel most at ease and most comfortable.
So that might mean sitting in a chair or maybe it means lying down on the floor or on a bed.
So you want to be comfortable but you also want to be alert.
So just take a moment to make your adjustments and whenever you feel ready you can close your eyes or you may choose to keep your eyes open and if you do so just let your gaze rest upon one point so that your gaze softens.
And now just take a few moments to fill the body with a few deep breaths.
Taking a deep inhale to fill your belly and expand your lungs and a slow exhale out your nose.
And again a deep inhale filling the body with your awareness and a slow exhale to release,
Soften,
Relax.
And one more time deep inhale and a slow exhale.
And now let your breath return to its natural rhythm and take a moment to notice the body,
Noticing the way that it's resting on the chair or on the floor,
Feeling a sense of support and notice the state of your heart in this moment and seeing if you can notice this without having judgment,
Feeling like you must feel one way or feel another.
But how does your heart feel?
Does it feel tight?
Does it feel open?
Knowing that no matter how you feel you can still engage with this practice.
And just see if you can let go of whatever tension you can,
Any tension that's ready to be released in the body,
Loosening your shoulders,
Softening your hands,
Relaxing your belly.
And feel a sense of a smile spread through your eyes and softening the flesh around them.
And bring it this slight smile down to the mouth,
Feeling the smile from the inside out.
And now let this smile expand into your heart and imagine this smile expanding in your heart area,
Creating a receptive and tender space through the whole heart and chest area,
Allowing there to be a sense of spaciousness.
And now bring into your heart someone you love,
Someone whose sense of goodness is really clear to you.
So this might be a person or it could be an animal,
A pet.
Choose someone that feels easeful for you and take some moments to reflect on the qualities that you most appreciate.
You might bring to mind his or her intelligence or humor,
Maybe their kindness or vitality.
And picture this person when he or she is feeling love and appreciation for you.
Be aware of their essence as good and wakeful and caring.
And as you feel your appreciation for this person,
We will walk through a few phrases that you can imagine yourself offering to this person.
You can repeat each line after me.
May you be filled with loving-kindness.
May you feel safe and at ease.
May you be happy.
May you be free of suffering.
And again,
May you be filled with loving-kindness.
May you feel safe and at ease.
May you be happy.
May you be free of suffering.
And one more time,
Really feeling the sense that you're offering this to the other person.
May you be filled with loving- kindness.
May you feel safe and at ease.
May you be happy.
May you be free of suffering.
Now widen this space to bring to mind a more neutral person.
So this might be someone that you see regularly but don't know very well or feel strongly about either way.
Could just be somebody that you see around the community.
And take some moments to recall how this person looks,
How they move,
How they speak.
Maybe imagine them laughing and just relaxed and at ease.
Just reminding yourself that this person also wants to be happy and doesn't want to suffer.
And as this person comes alive for you,
We'll use the same phrases that we offered the dear person before.
So imagining this person and sharing these phrases with them.
May you be filled with loving-kindness.
May you feel safe and at ease.
May you be happy.
May you be free of suffering.
And just take some moments to continue to work through these phrases again.
Offering them to this person.
Going through them on your own.
May you be filled with loving- kindness.
May you feel safe and at ease.
May you be happy.
May you be free of suffering.
Now in keeping that dear person to you,
As well as the neutral person that you chose,
Keeping them in your mind but maybe more in the background,
Take a moment to imagine yourself.
Maybe picturing yourself in this moment seated.
Noticing if this feels difficult as we turn to yourself.
Maybe it doesn't.
Just noticing.
And take a moment to connect with your heart.
And now offer these phrases of kindness and good wishes to yourself.
May I be filled with loving-kindness.
May I feel safe and at ease.
May I be happy.
May I be free of suffering.
And if this feels robotic or mechanical,
It's totally okay.
Just to know that it's still having an effect.
And if it's challenging to feel this sense of kindness towards yourself,
Maybe you imagine the close person that you brought to mind earlier.
Maybe you imagine them offering these wishes to you.
And see if you can really feel it in your heart so that it feels sincere.
May I be filled with loving-kindness.
May I feel safe and at ease.
May I be happy.
May I be free of suffering.
And just take a moment to continue repeating these phrases to yourself.
Seeing if you can open to them.
And now imagine yourself with the other two people you brought to mind.
And see yourselves together.
Bringing to mind a sense of shared humanity and your vulnerability and your basic goodness.
And allow your awareness to open out in all directions.
In front of you.
To either side of you.
Behind you.
Below you.
Above you.
Maybe out into this community.
Towards all the wild creatures that fly and swim and run across the fields.
The dogs and the cats in our homes.
To all the humans living in your estate.
And just see how wide you can extend this sense of loving-kindness.
This sense of wanting good for yourself and for others.
And now come back to your breath.
Noticing each inhale.
Each exhale.
And noticing your body.
How it feels in this moment after that practice.
And when you feel ready you can blink your eyes open.
