In this guided meditation,
We're going to do,
We're going to practice some loving kindness.
By practicing loving kindness,
We start with generating loving kindness towards ourselves and then we gradually spread it out to include more and more people.
And this will not only affect us but it will affect everybody that we come into contact with.
So we will get into a comfortable position and turn off any distractions.
Take a few deep breaths and just feel the support of the ground,
The chair,
Whatever is supporting your body.
And just let go of anything that might distract you from this meditation,
Maybe things that you've got to do later.
We can put all that to one side now because it'll still be there afterwards.
And when you've meditated,
Hopefully you'll be in a better space to be able to deal with the challenges that come up later in the week.
So what a better way to start the week by generating some loving kindness.
So just connecting with the breath and just check in with yourself.
Notice how you're feeling,
Any thoughts that are present.
Just acknowledge whatever's there without judgment,
Not trying to push anything away.
And just notice how you're feeling towards yourself this morning.
And again,
Observing without judgment.
And perhaps you could become more aware of how you talk to yourself.
Are you kind to yourself?
Would you talk to a friend the same way that you talk to yourself?
And again,
There's no judgment,
You're just noticing.
The first time you do this,
This can be quite a revelation.
And however you've talked to yourself in the past,
Now we can have the intention to be kinder and more loving and more patient with ourselves.
So how would it feel to wish yourself well on this Monday morning?
How much kindness can you feel in your heart right now?
If you find it helpful,
You can drop in phrases like,
May I be well,
May I be happy,
May I be free from suffering.
And notice how that lands.
Again,
With no judgment.
If it feels uncomfortable and strange to wish yourself well,
To send yourself love,
Just acknowledge that.
Notice how it feels in the body,
If there's any tension,
Just relax it and let it go now.
And you might notice that you keep tensing up,
And every time you do,
Just relax and let go.
And now bring to mind a good friend.
And notice what feelings,
Thoughts,
Emotions arise when you bring your friend to mind.
And how does it feel in the body?
And how do your friend,
And how do your feelings towards your friend differ towards your feelings towards yourself?
And again,
Just notice if it's easier.
Maybe there's a sense of relief.
Or I don't have to put the spotlight on me now,
I can move away from that.
And again,
Just notice without judgment,
Whatever's there,
Whatever comes up,
Everything is welcome here.
And how does it feel to wish your friend well?
To wish them happiness and freedom from suffering.
And if your mind wanders off,
You can just bring it back to the breath and your friend,
And how it feels to wish your friend well.
And if it's helpful,
Again,
You can use the phrases,
May they be well,
May they be happy,
May they be free from suffering.
And every time the mind wanders off,
If you get lost in thought,
Come back to the breath and the body.
And again,
Just notice if it's easier to wish your friend well than to wish them happy.
Ground yourself in the present and come back to your friend.
May they be well.
May they be happy.
May they be free from suffering and from the causes of suffering.
And now bring to mind somebody that you don't know very well.
You might not even know their name just by sight.
And when you bring this person to mind,
There's probably no strong feelings towards them either way.
And can you have the intention of wishing them well,
Just as you would towards your friend and towards yourself,
Seeing their common humanity and they want to be happy,
Just like we do.
We don't have to know anything about anybody's life.
Circumstances to wish them well,
To send them loving kindness,
Wish them freedom from suffering.
And notice how that feels.
If there's any resistance,
Boredom,
Not trying to force anything that isn't there already.
Just trying to cultivate a sense of openness and connection.
And you can use the phrases again.
May they be well.
May they be happy.
May they be free from suffering.
And notice how that lands.
What's your response?
Any thoughts?
How does it feel in the body?
Observing without judgment.
May they be well.
May they be happy.
May they be free from suffering and from the causes of suffering.
Now moving away from the neutral person to a person who we find difficult or who finds us difficult.
And this doesn't have to be an archenemy.
It could even be a friend or a family member where there's some tension,
A disagreement.
And the intention is to look past those differences and wish them well anyway.
Again,
Seeing their common humanity.
They're probably suffering.
And they want to be happy,
Just like we do.
And if you find that it's difficult or too difficult,
Then also send some loving kindness towards yourself.
There's no judgment here,
No blame.
Just observing the responses and what comes up when you bring this person to mind.
With kindness.
And you can also notice where you feel it in the body.
There's any strong feelings.
There's probably a strong sensation in the body too.
And then if it helps,
You can stay with the bodily sensations and let go of the thoughts around that.
And unhook from those difficult emotions.
Feeling the ground beneath you,
The support of the earth.
May they be well.
May they be happy.
And may they be free from suffering and from the causes of suffering.
And now bring into mind all four people.
Yourself,
Your good friend,
A neutral person,
And a person where there's some difficulty.
And the intention is to wish everybody well.
Send them loving kindness equally,
Regardless of our feelings towards that person.
We don't have to like someone to wish them well.
Notice how that feels for you.
Where do your preferences go?
Is it easier?
For your friend than it is for yourself or the difficult person.
Again,
Just notice with kindness without judgment.
And now extend those feelings of loving kindness and well-wishing to include more and more beings.
So let's send loving kindness to all the people who are here meditating right now.
Wishing them well,
Wishing them happiness.
And appreciating yourself and everybody for taking this time to cultivate loving kindness.
Not only benefits us,
But also benefits the world.
And then extending that sense of well-wishing to include the people around you.
The people you're going to meet later today,
Later this week.
Other people in your neighborhood.
And all the animals and other sentient beings.
And you can extend that sense of well-wishing and loving kindness as far or as near as feels comfortable for you.
Go beyond the rest of your town or village or city,
Wherever you live.
The rest of the country.
The continent,
The world.
And then out into the universe.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be happy.
And may all beings be free from suffering and from the causes of suffering.
And now for the last minute or so,
Just letting go of any effort.
And allowing the benefits of the practice to become integrated into every cell of your body.
And knowing that when you leave and go about the rest of your day,
That it's going to have a positive effect.
On everyone that you come into contact with.
Well,
Thank you everybody for joining me this morning.
I hope you have a wonderful day and rest of the week.
