Welcome to this loving kindness meditation.
It's also known as a meta meditation.
It's one of my favorite practices as it's a meditation I return to time and time again.
Research has even proven it helps to cultivate self compassion and positive emotions such as joy,
Gratitude,
Hope and love.
In this meditation we will use mantras and visualization.
So when you're ready find yourself in a sustainable and comfortable position.
Close your eyes or gaze down the tip of your nose,
Whichever is most accessible to you today.
Take a deep breath in and a long breath out.
Imagine a person that is close to you.
Someone that you cherish.
Somebody that brings you joy,
That you look forward to being in their presence.
Imagine their face.
Say their name silently to yourself.
Imagine that person right beside you,
Sending you their love.
That person is sending you wishes for your safety,
For your happiness,
Your health.
Feel the warmth of their presence completely absorb you.
Now imagine them on your left side,
Sending you well wishes.
Feel the kindness and the warmth.
Bask in the warm wishes and the love.
Now we'll send loving kindness to that person.
Picture their face again.
And we'll repeat the following phrases silently to ourselves.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May your heart be at peace.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May your heart be at peace.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May your heart be at peace.
Pause at the end of each phrase,
Really feeling the weight of each phrase,
The power of the words and the emotions that come with them.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May your heart be at peace.
You're doing a great job.
Now picture yourself sitting here.
Picture yourself,
Maybe from above,
Looking at yourself with caring and compassionate eyes,
Visualizing a slight smile on your face.
Perhaps you lift the left corner of your mouth,
Followed by the right corner of your mouth.
And if it would feel comfortable,
You can bring a hand to your heart.
Now we'll send the same loving phrases to ourselves.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May my heart be at peace.
Continue to pause at the end of each phrase,
Allowing yourself to soak in the full weight and the full meaning of each word.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May my heart be at peace.
If you find your mind wandering away,
Simply guide it back like an old friend,
Like that cherished person you pictured a few moments ago,
Coming back to the present moment,
Staying grounded in the phrases,
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May my heart be at peace.
And now picture somebody that you feel neutral about.
Maybe somebody that you don't know very well.
Maybe you don't even know their name.
Could be a bus driver.
Could be a neighbor that you saw walking their dog.
Picture their face.
Feel their presence.
Offering yourself grace and time to really think about this person.
Sometimes it's hard to think of who.
When you're ready and have the image of this person in your mind,
Send them loving kindness.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May your heart be at peace.
Observing the emotions arise and perhaps shifting as you imagine somebody you don't know very well.
How are you responding to sending them loving kindness?
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May your heart be at peace.
Now,
Imagine somebody that has been challenging you lately.
Somebody that it might be more difficult to get along with them or to communicate with them.
Notice your reaction to the prompt.
Whatever it is,
It's okay.
This is a difficult part of the meditation.
This person could be a client,
It could be a family member,
A friend,
A child.
Could be a customer.
Could be someone you've seen in the news.
And once you have their face pictured in your mind,
We'll practice sending them loving kindness too.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May your heart be at peace.
And if you're finding that this is very difficult for you,
Maybe you're feeling tension or resistance rise within you.
Trust that's okay and it's only human.
And if this is true for your experience right now,
Then try sending yourself loving kindness in this moment.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May my heart be at peace.
Great job.
Now we will expand our awareness to the entire world,
The entire universe and everything that's included in it.
Every cell,
Every animal,
Every plant,
Every country,
Every person.
Sending warm wishes to all living beings in the entire universe.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be healthy.
May all things be at peace.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be healthy.
May all beings be at peace.
Observe the expansive feeling of sending these warm wishes to all living creatures.
Now return your attention to your breath.
Take a long,
Deep breath in.
A long breath out.
Just like that,
We'll do one more.
Take a deep breath in,
The longest breath in of the day.
Empty out your lungs.
Notice the state of your mind.
Notice the feeling in your heart and your soul after practicing loving kindness.
And when you're ready,
Gently blink your eyes open.
Bringing your conscious awareness back into your physical environment,
Maybe by looking around the room.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
Sending you all the love and kindness.
