We'll begin our practice by choosing a posture that will best support us in this moment.
You could be seated,
Standing,
Or laying down.
And finding a position that allows you to come into some coziness coupled with awakeness.
Closing the eyes or simply lowering your gaze.
As we take this moment to come into our body,
I invite you to unfrown your lips.
Feel the release of your neck and throat.
And soften your heart.
We'll be practicing loving-kindness meditation,
And the intention is to cultivate positive emotions and sentiment inside.
Really seeing if it's possible to connect with bodily sensations.
And let's start just by contemplating,
What does love feel like for you?
If love feels like too strong of a word,
You could contemplate the word kindness or gratitude.
And just get curious.
You might notice warmth in the chest or tingling in the heart space.
Or you might not notice any sensation and that's okay.
In this practice I'll be inviting you to bring to mind different people and groups.
And for some it might be easier to notice a sensation.
And for others it might be more distant or difficult.
And that's okay.
This is a practice of planting seeds in the garden of our own heart.
A garden in which maybe nothing has yet bloomed or there may already be an abundance of flowers.
Starting to start,
I invite you to bring to mind someone near and dear to you.
This could be a significant other,
A parent,
A child,
A pet,
A best friend.
And maybe just by having the presence of this being in your mind's eye,
Maybe you can already feel something in relation to this person or animal.
I'm going to offer a couple of phrases and I'll be creating a pause in a space after each phrase.
You have a couple options here.
In this pause you're welcome to recite the phrase verbatim,
Directing it to this near and dear or loved one.
You may also edit the phrase and make it your own.
Maybe something that would be more personal,
More meaningful,
Or in a way that you might normally say something.
And then the last option is you don't have to say or repeat anything at all.
You can just be with the reverberation of the phrase that I've offered and just imagining this going to this person.
With those options shared,
We'll begin to direct some positive wishes for this being,
This near and dear one.
May you be healthy and well.
May you be safe and protected from danger.
May you know love and connection.
As these phrases travel out,
See if you can notice what's happening inside.
Any bodily sensations?
And remembering that if you're not feeling anything,
That's okay.
And now gently let the image of this near and dear one fade away.
Now I invite you to bring to mind someone you don't know so well.
This could be a stranger.
It could be someone that you work with that you don't know well.
It could be someone who checked you out at the grocery store.
Or maybe even a neighbor that you don't know too well.
Someone you see in passing semi-regularly.
If you're not sure who to choose,
You can't go wrong.
Sometimes whatever the mind brings up first,
It's maybe a gentle way of telling you,
Pick me.
And now we're going to offer these same phrases to this person.
And as we say them,
See if you notice any shifts or sensations in your body.
May you be healthy and well.
May you be safe and protected from danger.
May you know love and connection.
And then gently letting the image of this person fade away.
And now I invite you to imagine you're holding up an imaginary mirror.
And behold,
You're looking at yourself.
You might notice whether this is a little challenging.
And what we're going to do now is offer these phrases and well wishes to ourself.
So imagining and or silently saying them and directing them right back at you.
May I be healthy and well.
May I be safe and protected from danger.
May I know love and connection.
And as these wishes continue to land on yourself,
Just noticing whether it was easier or more difficult than earlier.
Bringing kindness to whichever way it landed.
And now I'm going to invite you to see if you can hold a larger space and think about the world at large,
All beings.
Human,
Animal.
May all beings be healthy and well.
May all beings be safe and protected from danger.
May all beings know love and connection.
As we bring this practice to a close,
Take a moment to reflect on the remarkable effort it is to be born on this planet and immersed in all the people,
All the information that comes our way.
And each of us come into this place with such innocence and we become influenced over time.
And all of us are seeking a way to find more freedom,
Balance,
Contentment,
Courage.
Recognizing the beauty of what a human being can be.
And appreciating this shared wish for peace and connection.
So just allowing for some appreciation for this.
And then bringing awareness to the sounds around you.
And noticing whether there's a part of the body that wishes to move or stretch.
Taking one final breath in and out to bring this practice to a close.
