Hugging Kindness Meditation

A short practice on compassion. This is a variation on the loving kindness practice. Using the breath to imagine embrassing and hugging each person we are thinking of during the practice. Recorded live on Arambol beach, Goa, India. Do this practice with either your eyes closed or gaze low.
Please note that all my recordings are done using a simple headset so I apologise for the quality of the recording / sound levels.

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Chris and today we're going to be doing a short practice called hugging kindness.

So this is a variation on the meta practice loving kindness and the sounds you can hear behind me,

The blissful sounds of the Arabian Ocean sat on the beach in Goa.

So for this practice we're going to be thinking with a mind's eye of five different scenarios.

I'm going to be guiding you through this and we're also going to be working with our breath and in between each scenario I'll be ringing a bell.

For each scenario I'd like you to be using your breath to be thinking of a hug.

So for each person on the inhale opening your arms and on the exhale embracing a person.

So the first person we're going to start with is just somebody random.

So it could be somebody you've seen on your commute to work,

It could be somebody you see in the grocery store every day.

So we're just going to start by taking a nice long inhale,

Imagining that person then on the exhale imagining you're embracing them.

Inhale open your arms,

Exhale embrace them.

Carry on breathing normally now and just repeat the words in your mind,

May you be happy,

May you be well.

May you be happy,

May you be well.

Inhaling,

Opening your arms,

Just in your mind exhaling imagining you're embracing and holding that person.

May you be happy,

May you be well.

May you be happy,

May you be well.

So in your mind's eye maybe making eye contact with the person as you're saying these words,

May you be happy,

May you be well.

May you be happy,

May you be well.

Next inhale just imagine opening your arms and the exhale embracing them.

May you be happy,

May you be well.

So moving on now to the next person and this is you.

I'm going to be thinking about you.

I'd like you to imagine you being really happy.

So whether it's you with your child,

You're singing,

You're dancing,

A big smile on your face,

You are full of joy.

In your mind's eye have that image of yourself and then on your next inhale imagine you're opening your arms to embrace yourself and your exhale you're holding your happy self.

Inhaling,

Opening your arms to embrace.

Exhaling,

Holding and embracing and feeling your happy self.

Carrying on breathing normally and just repeating these words as if you're speaking to yourself.

May you be happy,

May you be well.

May you be happy,

May you be well.

Once more on the inhale imagining you're opening your arms and the exhale just holding and feeling and sharing that joy.

On the inhale may be happy,

In the exhale may be well.

Going back to normal breathing and just repeating that phrase again.

May you be happy,

May you be well.

May you be happy,

May you be well.

And now moving on to the next person.

Think of someone who's dear to you,

Who might be struggling at the moment and you just want to share some love,

Some compassion.

Somebody who's going through some difficult times.

So just picture that person in your mind's eye and then your next inhale imagine opening up your arms and then the exhale embracing them,

Holding them,

Sharing your happiness.

Inhale,

Exhale,

Embrace and hold them.

Going back to normal breathing now and just looking into the eyes and repeating these phrases.

May you be happy,

May you be well.

May you be happy,

May you be well.

Once more taking a nice long inhale,

Opening your arms,

Seeing them coming towards you.

Exhale,

Just embrace them.

Inhale,

Open your arms.

Exhale and embrace and hold.

Inhale,

May be happy.

Exhale,

May be well.

Inhale,

May be happy.

Exhale,

May you be well.

So for the next person,

This is often a tricky one for people in loving kindness.

Try to think of somebody who you yourself are struggling with.

So somebody who's done something that has made you unhappy.

This can often instigate feelings of frustration,

Of anger.

We're going to do something slightly different for this.

We're not going to embrace the person,

We're just going to open our arms.

And remember this isn't a forgiveness,

This is just a healing to the relationship.

So have that person in your mind's eye.

On your next inhale,

Just open your arms.

On the exhale,

Just try to sensation of letting it all go,

Relaxing the body.

On your mind's eye on the inhale,

Opening your arms.

On the exhale,

Just letting it all go,

Washing away the anger,

Trying to heal the relationship.

Remember you're not forgiving here,

You're not forgetting.

Going back to normal breathing and just looking that person in the eye,

May be happy,

May be well,

May be happy,

May be well.

Taking a nice long inhale as you imagine opening your arms.

And then exhale,

Just letting it go.

Inhaling,

Opening the arms.

Exhaling and letting it go.

Back to normal breathing.

Open the eye,

May be happy,

May be well,

May be happy,

May be well.

So now,

It's the last section.

We're going to think of everyone.

So from all of the people you've been thinking about within this practice,

To people in the cars next to you on your commute,

Or your neighbours,

Or your office colleagues,

To people you know overseas,

To people you don't know overseas,

To people you've seen on the news,

Just think of everybody.

Breathing in,

Big wide open arms in your mind's eye.

On the exhale,

You're embracing the world.

Inhale,

Opening your arms.

Just in your mind's eye.

Exhale,

Feeling and holding everybody with a big smile.

Now go back to normal breathing.

Thinking of all those people,

May be happy,

May be well,

May be happy,

May be well,

May be happy,

May be well.

Take a nice long inhale,

In your mind's eye,

Opening up your arms and embrace the world.

Nice long inhale,

Opening your arms and embrace the world.

Go back to normal breathing now.

Just looking at all these people and thinking,

May be happy,

May be well.

And repeating those words in your mind,

May be happy,

May be well,

May be happy,

May be well.

Thank you so much for taking the time to practise today.

I apologise for the sound quality but I just wanted to share these beautiful sounds of nature.

As you can hear,

Some energetic yoga going on nearby me.

No cows today.

Have a wonderful day.

May you be happy.

May you be well.

Reviews

That was so beautiful and the nature sounds so supportive and gentle. Thank you for sharing this very heart warming practice. Namaste 🙏✨️

Thank you for the beautiful sounds of the ocean and may you be happy too.

What beautiful variation

Really beautiful! Loved the background sounds, actually. It allows you to hug different people, and to really feel the human embrace. I'll sure go back to this meditation. There are so many people left to hug! Thank you!

Excellent meditation. What a feeling of happiness and healing.

May you be Happy
May you be Well
🙏☺️💞

Thank you very much

The sound quality could've been better so I really want to give it 4.5 out of 5. Overall though, I enjoyed and appreciated the practice!

Beautiful Chris thank you 😊

Lovely 😊 💖🧘‍♀️✨

Full of love and kindness !!! Amazing meditation ! I give 10 stars ⭐️ for this one ! Thank you 🙏

I enjoyed this so much and hugs are pure delight! Thank you!❤️

Really enjoyed that chris thank you, I loved the sounds of nature behind. :)

Love it! Starting the day with a smile on my face 😊

Loved it!! Thank you so much. Will be bookmarking this 🧘‍♀️.

Brought a smile to my face! What a wonderful metta meditation.

No need to apologize for the sound quality!

Bookmarked!

Thank you!

I really got into this meta, even though I’m not a ‘huggy’ person. I also liked the background noise - not too much, and certainly not distracting. Thank you!

I love this. ☺️ thank you