Loving Kindness Meditation
Loving kindness meditation is one of the most beautiful heart-centered practices for spreading the vibration of love. As you open your heart, you can begin to tune into the love and kindness that resides within you, and then send it out to those around you.
Transcript
Loving kindness meditation,
Also known as Metta meditation,
Has its origins in the practices of Buddhism.
As you open your heart,
You can begin to tune into the love and kindness that resides within you and then send it out to those all around you.
Find a comfortable position and let's begin.
Take a moment to be aware of any thoughts or feelings that you are experiencing right now.
Acknowledging how things are for you in this moment.
Begin to bring your awareness to your body,
Dropping into your space.
Feel your feet,
Your legs,
Your hips,
Your lower body and upper body,
Your arms,
Shoulders,
Neck and head.
Beginning to feel the movement of your breath,
The actual sensations of breathing.
Reminding yourself that you are here,
Alive and whole in this moment.
Take a deep breath into your body and exhale,
Relaxing down into your space.
When you are ready,
Bring to your mind the image of a person who you know or you've known in your life to be loving and kind to you.
Someone who easily evokes feelings of warmth and love.
It could be a spouse or partner,
A parent or family member,
A mentor or close friend.
Someone who has been good to you,
Who helps you feel safe and who's caring easily emanates from them to you.
And if a person past or present doesn't come to your mind,
Then you can bring to your mind someone who you know to be inspirational.
Someone it is easy to imagine sending wishes of wellbeing to.
Take a deep breath here with a clear image of this person in your mind and imagine saying to them,
May you be happy,
Healthy and whole.
May you have love,
Warmth and affection.
May you be protected from harm and free from fear.
May you be alive,
Engaged and joyful.
May you experience inner peace and ease.
Picture them now receiving your words.
You may also have your own words or wishes for them,
So feel free to add anything else that resonates with you.
Take a few moments now to feel how it is to wish these things for them.
Sending these wishes of wellbeing to emanate from you toward them.
And as you do this,
Notice how it feels inside of you.
As you send these wishes of wellbeing to this person that you love or care about.
Now see if you can imagine this person wishing these very same things for you,
Knowing that they have your wellbeing in their heart.
Imagine this person close to you,
Feeling their presence and unconditional love for you.
As they say the words to you,
May you be happy,
Healthy and whole.
May you have love,
Warmth and affection in your life.
May you be protected from harm and free from fear.
May you be alive,
Engaged and joyful.
May you experience inner peace and ease.
Let these feelings wash over you,
Feeling the unconditional love and caring for you.
Letting these feelings of love and safety grow within you,
Knowing that there is nothing you have to do to deserve these feelings and wishes.
They are given freely without condition.
Try to connect to the true meaning of these phrases,
Even if it is difficult to feel all of the warmth right now.
Know that it is their wish for you.
Take a deep breath here and you can let the image of the person slowly leave your mind.
Now see if you can have these wishes of wellbeing for yourself.
Hearing you say to yourself,
May I be happy,
Healthy and whole.
May I have love,
Warmth and affection in my life.
May I be protected from harm and free from fear.
May I be alive,
Engaged and joyful.
May I experience inner peace and ease.
Take a moment here to absorb these wishes for yourself.
How does it feel to send these words and wishes to yourself?
Take another deep breath in and let it go.
Now you can begin to extend these good wishes to the people in your close surroundings.
Perhaps they are also in your home or your neighborhood.
This could include your pets and animals.
Saying to these people and beings in your mind,
May you be happy,
Healthy and whole.
May you have love,
Warmth and affection in your life.
May you be protected from harm and free from fear.
May you be alive,
Engaged and joyful.
May you experience inner peace and ease.
As you send these wishes,
Feel the warmth and love growing in the space around you.
As this love within you grows,
It might even be possible to expand these feelings further out to the beings that are living in your part of the world.
Your town or city,
Your friends,
Your family.
You may even like to include the animals and the plants.
In your mind,
Say to these beings,
May you be happy,
Healthy and whole.
May you have love,
Warmth and affection in your life.
May you be protected from harm and free from fear.
May you be alive,
Engaged and joyful.
May you experience inner peace and ease.
And if you feel strong now and you're comfortable with this,
You might try to extend these wishes to the people in your whole country,
To the people of the neighboring countries and knowing that there are no borders between love,
You can send this energy to the people,
Plants and animals in your greater surroundings.
In your mind,
Extend this loving kindness to these people and beings saying to them,
May you be happy,
Healthy and whole.
May you have love,
Warmth and affection in your life.
May you be protected from harm and free from fear.
May you be alive,
Engaged and joyful.
May you experience inner peace and ease.
Feel the sensation of expansion that this brings to you.
Allow your loving words and thoughts to extend out over a great area.
Wishing goodness upon all of the people,
Plants and animals of the land.
Continue to expand these wonderful thoughts and feelings as you extend your wishes of well-being to the entire world.
Imagine our planet earth wrapped in a bubble of beautiful loving energy that has been created by you.
In your mind,
Send your thoughts to all of the people,
Plants and animals on this earth.
May we all be happy,
Healthy and whole.
May we all have love,
Warmth and affection in our lives.
May we all be protected from harm and free from fear.
May we all be alive,
Engaged and joyful.
May we all live together in peace,
Ease and happiness.
Sit for a moment with this feeling,
Knowing that your intention of sharing the loving kindness within you has now been spread over the entire world.
Imagine some of these people of the world gratefully accepting your words.
Imagine you are connected with these people,
Plants and animals from your heart to theirs,
Sharing this beautiful sensation of loving kindness with them.
Take a deep breath in,
Feeling the expansion of the loving energy within you and breathe it out,
Letting that energy surround you.
As this loving kindness meditation comes to an end,
Take a moment to appreciate and feel what has been generated through this practice.
Even if there have been difficult parts of this practice,
Know that this beautiful meditation has the potential to increase your sense of aliveness,
Connection and belonging.
Take one last deep breath here and when you are ready,
Allow yourself to return back to your physical presence,
Noticing the sensations of your body.
Connect with the movement of your own breath that is bringing aliveness and nourishment to your entire body.
Just as your wishes of wellbeing will bring aliveness and nourishment to all of those around you.
4.9 (28)
Recent Reviews
Jules
June 5, 2023
This was magnificent! I don’t say that often, but wow! I am going to work, feeling a lot of love and peace and happiness in my heart!
Ian
January 1, 2022
Fantastic meditation - I feel more alive and connected. Thank you.
Chance
December 19, 2021
May you be safe, and live with ease Namaste 🙏🏼