A warm welcome to students,
Faculty and staff,
Parents,
Alumni and community members around the world.
Good morning and hello to those of you in other countries that are attending today.
My name is Kay Wood-Fitzhugh.
I am a family nurse practitioner intimately involved in healthcare for over the last 30 years.
I enjoy being part of the University of Virginia School of Nursing Compassionate Care Initiative,
And I am a certified teacher of mindfulness-based stress reduction with the University of Virginia Mindfulness Center.
For the next few moments,
The invitation will be to join together in a loving kindness meditation.
Loving kindness,
Or holding all in positive regard,
Is a key aspect of mindfulness practice,
And the translation of mindfulness in other languages is actually heartfulness.
The reserve of loving kindness is thought to be innate and is something to be tapped into at any moment.
It's like the sun and it's always shining,
Even when clouds obscure it on a rainy day.
When we live in this chronic state of stress,
As we have these last 13 months or so,
It often leaves us feeling depleted and off balance.
Yet loving kindness is not something to be wished for,
Mimicked or developed for some future time.
It's available now,
Just waiting to be tapped into at any moment.
And after all,
This is the only moment that we really can be sure of.
And the loving kindness meditation can be a powerful refuge when we're experiencing disruptive emotions,
Feeling off balance,
And dealing with all of the uncertainty of life as it unfolds,
Especially now.
So finding a comfortable position,
Dignified and wakeful,
Either sitting in a chair or on a cushion or lying on a soft surface.
Turning the attention inward and bringing your awareness to the body,
Sensing now your own body,
Feeling the weight of gravity,
The contact points with the surface the body is resting on.
If you feel comfortable,
You may close your eyes and with the attention drawn inward,
How is it for you today in this moment?
And acknowledging all that is here,
When you feel comfortable,
Allowing this to fade into the background and narrowing the focus of your attention to places in the body you feel loving kindness.
The sensations of being fully and totally loved or loving another with abandonment.
Noticing where you feel these sensations around the heart,
In the chest,
In the whole body,
And lingering for a few moments in these sensations or the emotions being evoked.
If you are unable to sense into areas of loving kindness in the body,
Acknowledging what is here for you in this moment.
You may also picture in your mind's eye what it would feel like to be unconditionally accepted and loved,
Noticing where you feel this in the body.
Now picturing in your mind's eye someone or something that you have great affection for or boundless positive regard towards and inviting them into your heart.
It can be your partner,
A family member,
A mentor,
Or a neighbor.
It can even be your dog or cat,
Someone alive or someone who has passed,
Holding them in generous affection and positive regard,
Inviting them into your heart's embrace.
And if you feel comfortable,
You may place your hand over your heart or hold one hand in the other,
Feeling the warmth of the skin,
Imagining this person and being in your heart,
Cradling them,
Holding them,
Loving them,
Enjoying them as best you can and noting what you are feeling in the body.
What emotions or thoughts are being evoked and just lingering here in this field of loving kindness awareness?
When you feel ready,
You may extend this generosity of loving kindness using these words or ones you choose,
Looking into their eyes.
May you be well in mind and body.
In all ways as you travel along your life's journey,
May you be well.
May you be safe and free from inner and outer harm.
In all times as you travel your life's journey,
May you be safe and free from harm.
May you find peace with ease in mind and body,
In all your ways as your life shifts and changes.
May you find peace.
And now inviting your own self into this circle of awareness because you are not separate from the universe that gave rise to you.
And you are also worthy of loving kindness.
Because a field of loving kindness is limitless,
Remember it's like the sun that's always shining even when we can't see it or feel it.
With the invitation of picturing in your mind's eye a time when you felt unconditionally loved,
Safe,
Embraced,
Cared for,
Being rocked in a loving kindness cradle.
Allowing your own heart to be held and bathed into this way by the warmth of this radiant,
Pulsing field of loving kindness.
And lingering here for a few moments,
Noting what sensations of where you feel this in the body,
What emotions are evoked and resting in this moment.
And giving this generosity of positive regard,
This loving kindness to yourself,
May I be well in my mind and my body.
In all ways as I travel life's journey,
May I be well.
May I too feel safe and free from inner and outer harm.
In all ways,
May I be safe and free.
May I find peace as my life constantly shifts and changes.
In all things,
As I travel along my life's journey,
May I find peace.
And noticing how is it in the body,
In your heart,
In your hands,
And narrowing the focus of attention back onto the breath and enjoying this last breath together,
Interconnected on some level with one another.
Allowing the breath to move in,
Permeate the body,
And move out again.
Knowing you can carry this loving kindness meditation with you throughout your day before you go to sleep and when you awake,
Inviting those you choose into your heart,
Holding them and yourself in positive regard.
And when you are ready,
Slowly opening the eyes.
May you all have a wonderful week of loving kindness and see you next week.
