Hello.
Today I want to share with you a practice that's called friendly wishes.
Friendly wishes are a way for us to show kindness and care towards ourselves and others without actually having to do anything physically.
When we practice friendly wishes,
We use this as an opportunity to explore our powerful minds and our powerful hearts by helping us offer these friendly wishes.
The people don't have to be near.
They could be far,
Far away and we could still offer them these wishes of kindness and care.
Let's go ahead and try it.
Start by finding a comfortable position.
You could be seated or lying down,
Whichever is best for you.
And if you're comfortable,
Go ahead and close your eyes just so that you're not distracted by the things that you see.
Let's enjoy three breaths together.
Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Let's enjoy one more.
Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Take a moment to just notice your body here,
Seeing how it's supported by the chair or the couch or the floor beneath you.
And just allow your body to settle right where you are,
Seeing what it might be like to find some stillness like a statue.
Letting the body rest right here.
And now let's go ahead and explore these friendly wishes by using that powerful mind and powerful heart to offer this wish towards ourselves first.
So silently to yourself saying,
May I be happy.
May I be peaceful.
May I be happy.
May I be peaceful.
May I be happy.
May I be peaceful.
Enjoying a moment to notice how that made you feel.
And now in your mind's eye,
See if you could picture someone,
Someone whom you love,
Someone you really like being with,
Someone who is kind to you.
It might be a friend or a family member or maybe even a pet.
See if you can imagine them in your mind's eye right now.
Picture their face.
And let's go ahead and offer the same friendly wish,
Saying silently to yourself,
But offering it to this other person.
May you be happy.
May you be peaceful.
May you be happy.
May you be peaceful.
May you be happy.
May you be peaceful.
And again,
Enjoying a moment to just notice how that made you feel.
Imagining this other person receiving your friendly wish.
And let's offer one more friendly wish this time.
See if you could bring to mind someone whom you don't know very well.
It might be someone in your neighborhood,
Maybe someone in your community,
Maybe someone that works at the grocery store.
Whoever it is,
Someone that you see,
But you maybe don't know very well.
And see if you can bring them to your heart and your mind.
And let's see if we can offer that same friendly wish.
Saying silently to yourself.
May you be happy.
May you be peaceful.
May you be happy.
May you be peaceful.
May you be happy.
May you be peaceful.
And again,
Just notice how that makes you feel.
As you offer that friendly wish to someone that you don't know very well.
Let's enjoy another breath together.
Breathing in through the nose.
And breathing out through the mouth.
You can go ahead and blink your eyes open if they're still closed.
And let's take one more moment to know that you could use these friendly wishes anytime,
Anywhere,
Any place,
Whenever you need to offer someone else kindness and care.
And that you know you can't really be with them.
This is a great practice to use.
Also,
When you yourself need a little bit of kindness and care,
Knowing you can always offer friendly wishes.
Have fun spreading friendly wishes.
