Opening The Heart With Loving Kindness

Using the words of the metta bhavana or loving kindness practice we can open our hearts to both giving and receiving love. In this short practice we will use intention and compasion so that you can water the seed of compassion within and in doing so, heal your heart.

Transcript

Finding a comfortable position in which to meditate.

Setting yourself up so that your body is relaxed and upright.

Taking a few deep breaths and gently closing your eyes if you wish.

Making sure your spine is long and tall and that your body is in a comfortable position.

One that can be held for the duration of this practice.

The intention that we have in this meditation is to nurture the seed of compassion.

According to the Buddhist we have seeds within us for everything for anger and unhappiness or happiness,

Sadness,

Anxiety,

But joy,

Wisdom,

Freedom also.

And like every seed the more that we nurture it the more we feed it the more it will grow within us so that one day it will blossom,

It will fruition,

Come to fruition within us.

So sometimes it feels like we're not really doing anything or it's not really showing up in our lives and this is the time to have faith,

Trust and persist.

So when you're ready you're going to place an intention and the intention is this practice will nurture and nourish the seed of compassion within me.

My intention is to nurture and nourish the seed of compassion within me.

Whatever words that you wish to use just repeat that intention three times to yourself without any expectation.

And then bring to mind somebody who loves you.

Somebody who loves you on conditioning or loved you in the past it could be a pet or a grandparent or it could be somebody who embodies love to you,

It could be Buddha,

Jesus or it could be a white light either.

But somebody or something or some deity that represents love to you.

And let yourself be loved,

Let yourself feed and feel their love.

See if you can open your heart with them to ignite that seed of self-compassion within you,

That light of love within you.

See if you can be open just a little bit even just for a second or two to receiving their love.

How does it feel?

We're often so good at giving our love to other people we don't take a moment to stop and feel what it feels like to receive that love.

When we don't receive love we're denying other people the pleasure that we get ourselves from giving our love.

So receiving creates the cycle or finishes the cycle completes it.

And then you can let go of that image and move to the mantra.

May I be well,

May I be happy,

May I be at peace,

May I be well,

May I be happy,

May I be at peace.

Knowing that you don't have to believe these words,

That they are an invitation,

An aspiration that someday perhaps you will believe them but for the moment you're just saying them slowly with intention in the hope that someday you will believe them.

May I be well,

May I be happy,

May I be at peace,

And if you wish you can imagine yourself well and happy and at peace.

When your mind wanders say not now,

Come back to the mantra.

Remembering to mind somebody who may be struggling at the moment,

A good friend perhaps who's going through a tough time,

Somebody that you would like to send positive energy towards and you offer the words of your loving kindness mantra to this person.

So your mantra becomes may you be well,

May you be happy,

May you be at peace.

You can add their name at the end of each mantra if you wish.

Visualizing your love,

Your unconditional love traveling from your heart to theirs,

Sending them your meta.

May you be well,

May you be happy,

May you be at peace.

Over and over coming back to your mantra,

Noticing that perhaps might even be a little bit easier to give your meta to your good friend than it was to yourself.

Again that's perfectly normal,

Natural.

We often find it easier to be kinder to our friends than we are to ourselves and that's okay.

That's what we're learning to change as we cultivate self-compassion so we can be just as kind to ourselves as we are to other people.

And then bringing to mind another friend or family member who you'd like to send your meta to.

Imagine them standing in front of you and sending them your meta with your mantras.

Again adding their name if you wish.

Seeing your compassion travel from your heart to theirs,

Your well wishes.

And then bringing yourself and your other friend back into the mantra and into the visualization.

As you say may we all be well,

May we all be happy,

May we all be at peace.

Seeing your meta travel from you to your first friend to your second friend and back to yourself.

Place your hand on your heart if you wish,

The center of your chest where your energetic heart is rather than your physical one.

As you come back to the mantra that you started with may I be well,

May I be happy,

May I be at peace.

And notice if perhaps it's a little bit easier to give yourself that meta now,

To say those words to yourself.

It might even be a tingling or a warm sensation in your heart.

And then you can let go of the mantra and just breathe into this heart for a moment or two.

Knowing that you've done something pretty profound here today.

That you've nurtured that seed of compassion within.

And for a moment reflecting and asking your heart if there's anything that you can do for it today.

And the answer will be a whisper.

It'll be something simple like more water or smile or breathe.

Maybe you won't get an answer but that's okay sometimes just asking the question is enough.

Slowly now we begin to bring this practice to a close.

Or if you wish you can stay in this position giving yourself more meta by going back to the mantras for a little bit longer if that's what's comfortable for you.

Otherwise you can slowly bring your awareness back into your body.

Back into your surrounds.

Legs and fingers and toes if you wish.

Having a stretch.

Opening your eyes whenever you're ready.

Thank you for listening.

Namaste.

Reviews

A wonderful Metta meditation. Asking of yourself at the end was a revelation. Thank you. Your voice and cadence are so helpful.

Powerfull and feels so grounding and warming. Thank you ❤️

Very beautiful practice, thanks very much:)

Beautiful quiet reflective meditation. I will come back to this again. Thank you. 🙏

Soothing and filled with Love, thank you

I am grateful for the peaceful and welcoming sensibility of your gift to us. Thank you. May the blessings of Metta abound to you, and may you know that you make a difference in our world.

Really lovely 💚

Peaceful and loving...namaste and blessings 🙏🏻

A lovely metta meditation, thank you 🙏🏻

Beautiful guided meditation.. thank you

Very gentle, soothing. Just what I needed.

Very nice meditation. Thank you!

Peaceful and full of kindness Thank you

Thank you for this nurturing, peaceful meditation. Namaste.🙏🏻🦋

Lovely! Thank you! 🙏

Simply lovely 🙏🏻

Lovely. Thank you. Many Bountiful Blessings to you xxx

I loved it, thank you

Such lovely words, peaceful practice. Thank you 🙏🏼☺️