So go ahead and find a comfortable seat,
Wherever you are.
Finding a space where you can sit quietly,
Resting the hands on your knees or in your lap,
Palms facing down,
And bringing your attention to your breath for a moment,
Noticing the sensation of the air as it enters your body through your nose,
Feeling the chest and the belly expand with the inhale,
Feeling the body soften and sink into the surface that you're sitting on as you exhale.
And with the inhale,
Sitting up a little bit taller,
The crown of the head reaches up toward the ceiling,
And then slight tuck in the neck,
In the chin,
So that your neck is long.
And as you exhale,
Softening the face,
Softening the shoulders,
Resting the tongue on the bottom of the mouth,
Making the intention to bring all your attention to the here and now,
Dropping any thoughts,
Any occupations of the mind,
Just placing the thoughts right in front of you,
Placing them down,
Knowing that you can return to them,
Later they'll still be there.
And then just spending a few moments just breathing in and out through the nose,
Creating some space in the mind and the body with the inhale,
Connecting to the earth and feeling the body sink with each exhale,
Then bringing to mind a person that you care deeply about.
Could be a family member,
A friend,
Partner,
Maybe a pet.
Some being that you care a lot for.
And seeing that person standing in front of you,
Imagining or envisioning deaf face,
And seeing them standing there,
Smiling at you,
You smiling back at them.
Wishing that person well.
You may think,
May you be happy,
May you be healthy.
May you find joy and peace in your life.
Just breathing here,
Spending a few moments,
Wishing that person well.
With each inhale,
Expanding the space inside your body,
Creating those well wishes.
And with the exhale,
Sending the wishes towards that person that you care so much about.
And then moving on and letting go of the image of this person.
And bringing to mind somebody that you have a neutral relationship with.
Could be a classmate,
Maybe a colleague at work or somebody that you frequently meet but don't have a deep connection with.
And again bringing that person to mind,
Their face,
Imagining them sitting next to you or you standing with them,
Smiling at them,
And them smiling back at you.
And again,
Extending your well wishes to this person.
You may think,
May you be happy,
May you be healthy.
May you find joy and peace in your life.
And again with each inhale,
Creating the space within you to cultivate these well wishes.
And as you exhale,
Sending the wishes to that person.
Now letting go of that image as well.
And bringing to mind somebody with whom you have a more difficult relationship.
Maybe perhaps that you don't particularly like.
And again,
Seeing that person either sitting with you or standing in front of you.
Seeing their face,
Looking into their eyes,
If possible seeing them smiling at you and you smiling at them.
If possible.
And again,
Taking deep breath in and creating space for sending positive wishes to this person.
If it's easier,
You might want to place a hand or two on your chest as you inhale,
Feeling the chest expand.
And as you exhale,
Feeling it sink and soften.
And then you may think,
As you envision this person,
May you be happy,
May you be healthy.
May you find joy and peace in your life.
And with each inhale again,
Creating space within you for these well wishes.
And sending them to this person as you exhale.
And now slowly letting go of this image too.
And imagining or trying to see yourself as you're sitting in your space.
Perhaps you can imagine looking at yourself from the side or from above.
As you see yourself sitting there,
Giving yourself a smile,
And again,
You may place your hands over your heart as you inhale,
Cultivating some positive wishes for yourself.
You may think,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
And may I find joy and peace in my life.
Perhaps observing the sensations in your body,
Any emotions,
Anything that's coming up in the mind,
Perhaps any impulses to action as you sit and cultivate these positive wishes for yourself.
Imagining the experience to be whatever it is,
Without trying to change it or evaluate it in any way.
Just sending positive wishes to yourself.
And slowly letting go of that image too,
Bringing the attention back to your breath.
Taking a deep breath in,
Perhaps rolling the shoulders up towards the ears and down as you exhale,
Externalizing the attention,
Perhaps noticing any sounds around you.
And wiggling the fingers and the toes,
And giving yourself another smile,
And then slowly when you're ready,
Opening up the eyes.
