Hello,
My name is Hilary Lafon and I'm so grateful that you've joined me today to explore a loving kindness practice.
Today we're going to offer peace to loved ones,
Offer kindness to neutral folks,
Individuals that may not be our favorites and of course to ourselves.
This practice is amazing at cultivating love and peace and connection to ourselves and to our community,
Spreading the ripples out into the world of kindness,
Compassion and love.
So wherever you find yourself today,
Make yourself as comfortable as you can,
Sitting in an upright position,
Feet planted on the floor,
Hands in your lap,
Your gaze is soft or your eyelids are closed.
Let your belly hang,
The muscles in your body soften and relax as we bring our attention to our breath.
Wherever you are in your breath cycle,
Exhale all your breath out and inhaling deeply through the nose for the count of four,
Inhaling two,
Three,
Four and exhaling through the nose for the count of four or five,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Two more times,
Inhale through your nose and exhale through your nose or your mouth,
Allowing your body to soften,
Expand,
Create space.
One more time,
Inhale through your nose and again,
Sighing it out,
Breathing out slowly through your nose or your mouth,
Feeling every cell in your body relax,
Soften and release.
Breathing normally for yourself,
Allowing a wave of relaxation to wash over you,
Feeling your hands soft,
Your feet at ease,
Any tension in the back of the head,
The neck or the shoulders,
Just notice and allow relaxation.
Now with your eyes closed,
Taking a moment to check in with your heart,
Set an intention for today.
What is your heart telling you?
What do you need?
What can you do for yourself today?
If your mind has wandered,
Come back to the breath and allowing your chest to expand with each inhale and exhale,
Setting your intention today,
Following your heart.
For some,
You may be trying to cultivate love,
Compassion,
Forgiveness.
For others,
Opening your heart,
Not letting past events or traumas dictate your future.
Whatever it is,
Set your intention,
Take a moment to settle in.
And as we think about loving kindness,
What that means to ourselves,
To others,
In your mind's eye,
Think of one person that you love,
That is easy to love,
That when you think about your whole body just relaxes,
Maybe a smile comes to your face.
This could be a human,
An animal,
Any sentient being on the planet.
Visualize them in your mind's eye and enjoy the feeling that washes over you.
And repeat after me these phrases as you send loving kindness out into the world.
Visualize them sitting in front of you,
Maybe you're holding them in your arms.
May you find peace.
May you find joy.
May you not suffer.
May you find peace.
May you find joy.
May you not suffer.
Noticing if any areas of your body has become tense or need to move a little bit.
See if you can get yourself just one percent more comfortable.
As you let this loving kindness meditation wash over you,
Sending the intentions out into the world.
Notice if your back has tensed or if your legs need a little reminding to let go.
Letting your body get heavy in the chair,
Rooted,
Secure,
Safe.
Now bring to mind someone in your life that you neither love or don't love.
Someone neutral.
Someone in your community you might see often.
Someone at work,
Maybe on a different floor or building.
Maybe a check out assistant or associate at the grocery store.
Maybe a barista,
A waiter,
A waitress.
Maybe a neighbor.
Someone that does not cause you any discomfort.
Could be an animal as well.
The squirrel that comes into your yard each morning that you notice in the corner of your eye.
Allow your body to soften as you breathe.
Your mind wanders coming back to the breath to anchor you to the present moment.
And as you visualize this creature sitting before you,
Repeat the words after me in your mind.
May you find peace.
May you find joy.
May you not suffer.
May you find peace.
May you find joy.
May you not suffer.
Spend a moment noticing how your body feels.
Noticing if any sensation pops up in the forehead,
The throat,
The chest,
Or the stomach.
Allowing your hands to remain soft and relaxed.
Your feet unflexed.
Noticing the sensations as they arise and feeling a deep sense of peace and contentment.
As your body settles in and softens,
Bring to mind someone in your life that may not be the most pleasant individual.
No one that has caused you trauma or severe duress or stress.
Just someone that may rub you the wrong way,
Slightly uncomfortable.
Again,
It could be a human,
An animal.
And as your body might tense up just with the thought of this sentient being,
Allow yourself to relax.
Give yourself permission to open up.
You're in a safe place.
There is no harm that can be done today.
Allowing your body to soften and expand.
Creating the space to send out love and kindness.
Visualize this individual or being sitting in front of you.
And repeat after me.
May you find peace.
May you find joy.
May you not suffer.
May you find peace.
May you find joy.
May you not suffer.
If your mind has wander,
Recommit to your breath,
Taking a deep breath through the nose,
Lining your chest,
Feeling your stomach get large with oxygen.
And exhale,
Sigh it all out.
Allowing that wave of relaxation to massage the back of your head,
Neck and shoulders.
Breathing in and out deeply.
Noticing if you're clenching your teeth.
Any tension in the lower back.
Let your belly be soft.
Now bring to mind an image of yourself sitting in front of you.
Allow yourself to smile,
To be open and kind.
Feel your heart expand and grow.
Creating space for connection and love.
And as you visualize yourself in front of you,
Repeat after me.
May you find peace.
May you find joy.
May you not suffer.
May you find peace.
May you find joy.
May you not suffer.
Breathing,
Relaxing.
Now visualize sitting in a circle with your loved one,
The neutral being.
The one that's not so easy to get along with and yourself.
As you breathe and settle,
Repeat after me.
May we find peace.
May we find joy.
May we not suffer.
May we find peace.
May we find joy.
May we not suffer.
Feel your community all around you.
Feel light,
Loved,
Content.
Take one more moment to bathe in the practice in which you've created.
Reconnecting again with your intention.
Noticing how you feel now compared to when we started.
These check-ins help us keep coming back to our meditation,
To our practice,
Our mindful exercises.
Thank yourself for coming today,
Spending a few minutes of this self-care.
Imagine if everyone adopted this kindness practice.
How would the world be different?
How would you feel?
Ending our time together with three of the deepest breaths you've taken all day.
Exhaling everything out.
Inhaling through the nose for the count of four,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And exhaling through the nose or the mouth for five,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Two more times.
Inhaling deeply,
Sipping in the air.
And as you exhale,
Having your exhale just be slightly longer than the inhale just to remind our body we are safe,
Relaxed,
And at peace.
Last time,
Inhale.
And exhale.
When you are ready,
Open your eyes.
Have some movement in your body.
Take a moment before you get into your next activity.
Thank you for allowing me the precious gift of your time.
Until next time.
