Be comfortable in your chair or cushion sitting with a relaxed but straight posture.
Relax your shoulders and pull them back slightly.
This position allows you to expand your rib cage in all directions when you breathe,
Creating more spaciousness around your heart.
Rest your hands comfortably in your lap.
Gently close your eyes.
Take a deep breath and release.
For a few moments,
Just focus on your breath and clear your mind of worries.
Notice when you are breathing in and out.
Observe the wave-like movements of the belly.
Settling into awareness of the body and the breath,
Become present and observe whatever might come up with openness and non-judgment.
In this practice,
We'll be cultivating loving-kindness.
I would like you to think of someone that you love easily,
An uncomplicated love.
This could be a child,
Your spouse or even a pet.
Visualize this subject and call to mind this loved one's good qualities.
Your goal is to arouse warm and tender feelings naturally by visualizing how connecting with this loved one makes you feel.
You might experience this as warmth and a feeling of expansiveness in your heart.
This is loving-kindness,
A natural feeling that is accessible to all of us,
Always.
Rest with this feeling of open and unconditional love for a few moments.
While still visualizing this person,
Imagine that you are extending a golden light from your heart to them and that this golden light is offering them happiness,
Love and kindness.
Send this light out to them during your exhalation with a strong heartfelt wish that they be truly happy and free from suffering.
I'll be offering as guidance the phrases that I've chosen to use in my own practice.
Feel free to alter these phrases and choose whatever words resonate with you in this moment.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you always feel loved.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you always feel loved.
Now continue at your own pace,
Sending wishes of loving-kindness to this person or pet.
Moving forward,
I would like you to do the same,
But this time extending wishes of loving-kindness to yourself.
Again,
Feel free to alter these phrases and choose whatever words resonate with you in this moment.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I always feel loved.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I always feel loved.
Now continue at your own pace,
Sending wishes of loving-kindness to yourself.
Moving on,
I would like you to visualize a difficult person,
Someone whom you dislike.
Please do not select someone that you associate trauma with,
But more a subject that might challenge or frustrate you.
Again,
Feel free to adapt the wishes according to what feels right at the moment.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you always feel loved.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you always feel loved.
Here,
Uncomfortable emotions might come up.
You might sense a blockage inside.
I would like you to observe this and give compassionate attention to the negative emotions that arise.
When you turn towards them and feel them completely,
Then they lose their power.
Now continue at your own pace,
Sending wishes of loving-kindness to this difficult person.
Finally,
During the last stage of this meditation,
I would like you to evoke that warm feeling in your heart and gradually call to mind all your friends and family as a group.
Now also welcome in the people with whom you share connection,
Even remote connections,
And extend wishes of loving-kindness to all of them.
May you all be happy.
May you all be healthy.
May you all feel loved.
May you all be happy.
May you all be healthy.
May you all feel loved.
Now continue at your own pace,
Sending wishes of loving-kindness to this extended group of people.
Come back to your breath now and sit here for a while,
Experiencing the energy of loving-kindness that may have been generated during this practice.
Notice how your body feels if any emotions are surfacing.
Notice the expansive feeling of love radiating with your presence.
See it is as smooth as water,
You can see it accidently.
You
