Hi,
My name's Georgia and welcome to your meta loving kindness meditation.
Today we'll be directing kindness to ourselves as well as out into the big world to everyone and everything around us.
So as we begin our practice today,
I'll invite you to come and find a comfortable seat,
Whatever that looks like for you,
It might be seated with your back against the wall,
Seated on a yoga mat,
A meditation stool,
Or perhaps just on a seat.
And once you've found that comfortable position for you today,
Just check in with your spine and see if you can very gently and mindfully guide the spine to a longer,
Straighter position.
And as the crown of the head reaches up,
Are you able to soften your shoulders downward towards the hips?
You can take your palms perhaps facing upward toward the ceiling with the backs of the hands resting on the thighs.
And then do whatever else feels good to make sure that you are completely comfortable,
Alert yet relaxed.
Now really dropping in,
We'll close down our eyes.
And as the eyes close down,
Just take a few moments here to simply arrive into your body,
Into your space,
And meet your breath as it is.
Release any expectations of how your practice should look,
Feel,
Or be.
And know that whatever it is that you experience in your meditation,
It's perfect.
Now we'll begin to increase the depth of our breath.
Take a very slow,
Deep breath in.
Part your lips,
And let the breath go.
Two more,
Breathe in slowly,
Deeply.
Part your lips,
Breathe out,
Feel the grounding sensation as the breath leaves the body.
Last one,
Breathe in.
Last one,
Breathe in slow and deep.
Hold the breath at the top,
Relax your shoulders,
Lengthen your spine,
And then open your lips,
And breathe out fully.
Coming back to your natural breath with perhaps a little more depth and length.
Notice sensation within and throughout the body.
Notice the temperature of your surroundings.
Notice the feeling of your hips grounded,
Your spine long,
And the rhythm of the breath in,
Out,
In,
Out,
In,
In,
Out.
Softly direct your attention now to your chest.
And now,
We'll begin to increase the depth of our breath.
Take a very slow,
Deep breath in.
Take a very slow,
Deep breath out.
And then,
We'll begin to increase the depth of our breath.
And then,
We'll begin to increase the depth of our breath.
Notice the sensation in your chest.
And just begin noticing whatever sensation may be present in your chest area.
Perhaps this area feels quite open,
Maybe there's some tingling,
Perhaps there's a pulsation beneath the chest.
Looking for that beat,
That pulsation now just beneath the chest.
The source of our being,
Paying attention to your heart space,
Heartbeat.
Take a moment to connect with your heart and just notice whatever's there,
Whatever you feel,
Whatever you can pick up on.
Send the breath to your heart,
Feel the breath wrap around the heart as you breathe in.
And lighten the heart space as you breathe out.
Take a few breaths like that,
Just breathing into that heart space,
Connecting your mind to your heart.
And when you feel ready,
I invite you to begin to visualize an image of yourself.
This image of yourself could be you here as you are right now in this moment,
Or perhaps it's you in another moment in time.
Become clear with this visual of yourself in your mind's eye.
And from your heart space,
We offer these words.
May I be happy,
May I be safe,
May I be free from suffering,
May I live my life with ease.
From here,
Guide your attention back towards your heart space,
Your life force,
That pulsation within your chest.
Once you find that connection,
Begin to bring to mind someone you care deeply for.
Someone that brings you joy,
Love,
Connection.
Invite their presence into your space and notice for a moment how their presence makes you feel.
From the heart space,
We offer these words toward them.
From our heart to theirs,
May you be happy,
May you be safe,
May you be free from suffering,
May you live your life with ease.
Bringing your attention back to your heart space.
Now begin to visualize someone in your life that you don't particularly feel too much for.
This may be someone you just met,
It may be someone you work with,
A distant friend,
Someone you've walked past on the street.
Just begin to bring their presence into your space,
Their energy into your space.
And from your heart back to theirs,
Offer these words.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you be free from suffering.
May you live your life with ease.
Coming back to your heart space and that pulsation within.
Begin to visualize someone who may have been slightly challenging towards you in your life.
Perhaps someone who has let you down or upset you or the dynamic of your relationship has been quite challenging and hard.
And as you invite their presence into your space,
Just notice how their presence makes you feel without getting too attached.
And then from your heart out to theirs,
These words.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you be free from suffering.
May you live your life with ease.
Now begin to notice the feelings in your body.
The feelings of your heart.
Perhaps you feel warmth,
Friendliness.
Perhaps there's a sense of kindness within and around.
Really connect to that sense of kindness and warmth and see if you can offer,
Extend this warmth further to other important people in your life.
Family,
Friends,
Teachers,
Students,
Children,
People that live far away from you or close by to you.
Those you haven't seen for a little while.
And anyone or anything that pops up into your awareness,
Extend this love and this warmth to them.
Anyone or anything that has expanded your heart space,
Expanded your life,
Expanded your mind.
Extend this love to every being on the planet.
Every animal,
Every creature,
The plants,
The earth,
The ocean.
Extend this love as far as you can and may all beings and all things and all creatures be embraced in loving kindness.
May they be happy.
May they be safe.
May they be free from suffering.
May they live their life with ease.
And as we close our practice,
Take one last moment to connect to your heart and say thank you to yourself,
To your mind,
To your spirit for this time of practice and spreading loving kindness from yourself outward.
Start to breathe with a little more awareness and perhaps as you breathe a little deeper,
You might like to find a little bit of movement in the shoulders,
Maybe in the head,
The neck,
The fingers,
The toes.
Very kindly,
Slowly,
Softly,
Just start to do what you need to bring yourself back into your physical space.
And we'll take one last deep breath together on an inhale,
Lengthen your spine,
Expand your belly,
Your ribs,
Your chest.
And on your out-breath,
Open the mouth and really release the air quite strongly through the mouth.
If it feels good,
Hands to heart together,
Take one more breath in.
And on your breath out,
Namaste,
Thank you for practicing with me today and spreading your loving kindness out into the universe.
