Today we will begin our loving kindness meditation.
This form of meditation is a meta practice where we open our inner wisdom,
Our spirit to the outer world where we connect within and find unity within all.
Go ahead and find a comfortable seat.
You can be in a chair for this practice or on the floor with your legs crossed.
Close the eyes and take a moment here to feel the weight of the body sinking into the earth.
Grounding down through the lower body and the spine tall,
Crown of the head reaching up to the sky.
Begin to notice your breath.
Observe the rhythm of your breath as the chest rises and falls with each breath cycle.
Finding the heart space opening wide and exhaling,
Releasing,
Letting go.
To practice our loving kindness meditation,
We will begin with our awareness at the center of our heart.
Go ahead and send loving kindness from the center of your heart everywhere below the heart all the way down to the soles of the feet.
And send loving kindness to everywhere above the heart from the heart up the chest and all the way out the crown of the head.
Your loving kindness may look like a bright white light or it may feel warm and tingly.
Whatever your loving kindness looks or feels like,
Go ahead and send that to the entire left side of the body.
The whole left side of the upper body and down to the leg and out the sole of the foot.
Sending loving kindness to the entire right side of the body from the foot all the way up to the crown of the head.
Sending loving kindness to the entire front side of the body.
And sending loving kindness to the back side of the body.
The whole back,
The hamstrings,
Out the soles of the feet.
Collectively these six sides are called the six sides of loving kindness and we'll come back to these.
From the center of your heart,
Send loving kindness to those you live with,
Your loved ones.
Send loving kindness to their hearts.
Send loving kindness to your neighbors.
These people are your friends,
Your support system.
Send them loving kindness too.
And send loving kindness to any animals and plants that you feel close to.
Maybe they reside with you too.
Sending loving kindness to those people who are neutral in your life.
Perhaps the grocery clerk or the mailman or woman.
Send these people loving kindness too.
From the center of your heart,
Send loving kindness to nature,
To the mountains,
The plains,
Bodies of water.
Opening your heart to nature.
Go ahead and send loving kindness to people all over the world.
People far away,
Perhaps friends that have moved.
Go ahead and send loving kindness to the hearts of many.
And from the center of your heart,
Go beyond Mother Earth,
Sending loving kindness to the sun,
To the moon and stars,
And to the planets beyond.
Here you can begin any style of meditation that resonates with you.
Perhaps a sound meditation or following your breath in and out of the body where it enters at the bottom of the nose.
Perhaps observing the rhythm of your breath.
The warmth of the air entering the nostrils.
Whatever practice you choose,
Begin this now.
Good.
Completing this last round of the meditation you are doing.
And slowly shifting your mind's eye back to the center of the heart.
And from your heart center,
Sending loving-kindness to anyone that perhaps hurt you or you hurt them.
Someone you felt anger towards or jealousy.
Someone who has hurt your heart or you've hurt theirs.
Go ahead and send loving-kindness to these people too.
And to close our loving-kindness practice,
We will complete the six sides one last time.
So from the center of your heart,
Send loving-kindness to everywhere below the heart.
And everywhere above the heart.
Sending loving-kindness to the left side of the body,
The arm,
The legs.
And to the right side of the body.
Sending loving-kindness to the front side of the body,
The face,
The chest,
The belly,
The thighs,
The shins,
The top of the feet.
Sending loving-kindness to the back side of the body.
The backs of the legs,
The low back,
The mid-back,
The upper back,
The back of the head,
And the crown of the head.
Shifting your awareness to the center of your heart and staying here for a round of three breaths.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Remaining centered in your loving-kindness.
I encourage you to practice your loving-kindness meditation each morning.
And you can do your loving-kindness meditation at the beginning and at the end of whatever meditation you choose to practice each day.
Opening your heart to love and light and joy.
