Body-Based Loving-Kindness Practice With Wise Reflections

In this meditation, Dr. Howard Johnson guides a loving-kindness body scan, followed by mindfulness of pleasant, neutral and unpleasant body sensations. He offers reflections which help us to connect with a sense of universal love and care for both ourselves and others, helping us to grow in wisdom and compassion

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Dr Howard Johnson.

Welcome to this loving kindness practice.

Together we will be connecting to our present moment experience whilst allowing ourselves to recognise the boundless love and care that pervades the entire universe and is already available to us if we let it in,

Helping us to grow in wisdom and compassion.

So begin by finding a comfortable and supportive sitting posture,

And closing the eyes.

Bringing the attention down to the feet and noticing whatever sensations we find there.

Tingling,

Pressure,

Numbness or fuzziness.

Whatever sensations we find in the feet are okay.

Holding the feet in awareness in the same way that we would hold some being who we care very deeply about.

Perhaps a small child or a pet,

Noticing the sensations in our feet in the same way.

And as we do this,

It may be helpful to notice the sensation of the breath rising and falling in the background.

It's perfectly natural for the mind to wander.

It may be helpful to notice the mind wandering in the same way that a small child will get distracted and wander off task.

We don't get angry at them,

But we acknowledge what's happened and very patiently with kindness,

We guide them back to be present with the task again.

Opening this caring warm glow of attention up to both of our legs now,

Noticing all of the sensations,

Vibration,

Buzzing,

The contact of our clothes against the skin and sensations coming from deeper within the body.

There may be sensations of discomfort.

And so it can be helpful to offer those some extra caring attention.

Just as though some being who we care very deeply about were in discomfort or even in pain or distressed.

We don't turn our back on them.

We give them extra caring attention.

So holding our legs in the same kind of attention.

Almost as if we can give the legs and the feet a mental massage with our attention.

Soothing them caring for them.

Bringing the same quality of attention up into the pelvis and taking our time to explore all of the different sensations here around the hips.

The soft organs of the body.

Noticing how the mind still wanders.

Just like a small child who keeps going off tasks.

No problem.

It's just the nature of the mind to be like this.

Very gently in a very caring,

Very patient way.

Acknowledging where the mind has gone.

And very caringly,

Very lovingly,

Inviting the mind to come back with interest to the body sensations right now.

Just as they are.

Beginning now to bathe the back in this very kind glow of caring attention.

Running the attention up the natural curve of the spine.

Listening to the messages of the body.

For a while we may notice the sensations in our stomach.

A sense of movement.

The pressure.

Sharp sensations,

Dull sensations.

The movement of the stomach with the breath rising and falling.

Listening to our friend,

The body,

Talking to us through its own language.

Which of course is the language of sensation.

Bringing this caring attention up into the chest.

Noticing all the sensations around here.

Movement.

Tension.

Tightness or spaciousness.

Whatever sensations are okay.

Listening with unconditional regard and acceptance of the body.

However we find it.

Feeling the weight of the arms beside the body.

The sensations across our shoulders and down the arms into the hands and the fingers.

Sensations of pins and needles,

Prickliness or vibration.

The contact of the arms against whatever they may be resting on.

The hands in the lap or a cushion.

Bathing the arms in warm listening caring attention.

And then bringing this same quality of attention up into the throat.

Aware of whatever sensations we may find there.

The sensation of swallowing,

The contraction in the muscles.

Tightness,

Relaxation.

And the sensations in the head and the face.

The temperature of the air as we breathe in.

The feeling behind the eyes.

The sensations on the scalp.

All are completely welcome.

The invitation now is to open this warm glow of caring attention up to the whole body.

And beginning to include a sense of the body breathing.

It may be helpful to notice the very subtle rocking sensation caused by an in-breath and an out-breath.

And to feel the body as though it were being very softly and very caringly rocked back and forth like a small child or a baby.

Being cared for,

Being looked after and being listened to.

The body being gently rocked by the breath.

The body breathing.

The invitation now is to scan through the body and notice any pleasant sensations that we may find.

Pleasant sensations may be very subtle.

The feeling of warmth or fuzziness.

Perhaps a natural letting go of an out-breath.

The feeling of relaxation as the body deflates and the breath leaves.

Taking our time.

And when we've noticed a pleasant sensation,

Becoming more curious in the detail of the sensation.

Is there movement?

Does the sensation have a centre or edges?

Is it heavy or light?

And as we continue to notice,

Asking ourselves,

Can I really claim that this sensation is mine or that it belongs to me?

Or that it defines me?

Feeling the change in quality of the sensation.

Could I tell it to stay forever if I wanted to?

Would it obey me?

Could I move it around my body easily?

Or is it more true that this is a human experience?

Felt at different times,

In different places and in different intensities by the millions and billions of people all around the world.

No owner.

Not defining anyone.

The universe welcomes the experience to arise just as it is.

It welcomes it to change.

And when the experience leaves,

The universe doesn't get upset.

It doesn't try to hold onto it,

But it welcomes it to come.

That which unconditionally welcomes the arising,

The changing and the passing away of all experience is the definition of unconditional love.

So let us connect with this now whilst noticing the sensation.

Dropping into the mind this sentence.

May this sensation be blessed with unconditional love and care.

Whether it arises in me or someone else,

It doesn't matter.

May this sensation be blessed with unconditional love and care.

Dropping this phrase into the mind in the same way we may drop a pebble into a quiet lake.

Allowing the sensation to be however we find it.

May this sensation be blessed with unconditional love and care.

May this sensation be blessed with unconditional love and care.

If the mind continues to wander off,

Then remembering the mind is just like the small child who we care for,

Whose nature it is to wander off.

It's not a problem.

Very patiently with kindness and curiosity guiding them back into this moment.

Helping to connect again and again with this pleasant sensation.

Coming,

Going,

Changing.

May this sensation be blessed with unconditional love and care.

Now the invitation is to scan through the body again.

This time noticing any ordinary or neutral sensations that may be around right now.

A sensation that isn't pleasant and it isn't unpleasant.

Perhaps a sense of vibration or fuzziness or perhaps the absence of sensation.

Taking our time to settle in to this new area of the body.

Feeling the breath moving up and down in the background as we notice the detail of this sensation.

Does it have a movement?

The size?

Does it have edges?

Perhaps just a sense of space,

Emptiness.

And asking ourselves again,

Can I claim this sensation as mine?

Could I make it bigger or smaller?

Could I tell it to go away and never come back?

Would it obey me?

Or is it more true to say that this is a human experience,

Felt at different times and in different intensities by the millions and billions of people all around the world?

Is it more true to say that this is a collective experience?

Not mine.

Not me.

The universe doesn't judge its ordinariness.

It doesn't turn away in boredom.

But it unconditionally allows it to be here,

Just as it is.

So let us connect again with this unconditional love.

May this sensation be blessed with unconditional love and care.

May this sensation be blessed with unconditional love and care.

May this sensation be blessed with unconditional love and care.

Continuing to notice the detail of the sensation or the sense of space or emptiness as we say this phrase.

The breath still moving up and down in the background.

May this sensation be blessed with unconditional love and care.

May this sensation be blessed with unconditional love and care.

Now the invitation is to make another shift in the focus of our awareness.

This time scanning through the body,

Noticing any area of unpleasantness or discomfort.

It may be a wise choice not to notice anything which would overwhelm or be too intense.

Perhaps a more subtle area of unpleasantness in the body right now.

Choosing a sensation to notice in more detail and taking our time to settle into this new place of the body.

Feeling the breath moving up and down in the background as we do so.

Becoming curious in the quality of the sensation.

Does it have a weight?

Is it contracted?

Is it expanding?

Is there movement in it?

Does it feel sharp or dull?

And as we notice the detail of the sensation,

Asking again,

Is there any way at all that I can claim this as my own?

Am I the owner of this sensation?

Could I tell it to go away?

Would it listen to me?

Could I ask it to never come back again?

Or is it more true that this is a human experience?

Something felt at one time or other and in different intensities by the millions and billions of people around the world.

The sensation arising and falling naturally amongst the collective.

The universe doesn't grow a pair of arms and throw out pain or unpleasantness.

The universe welcomes it to arise.

It welcomes it to change.

And when or if it leaves,

It's perfectly welcome to go.

So let us now connect again with the sense of unconditional universal love that's already here.

May this sensation be blessed with unconditional love and care.

Keeping the breath moving in and out.

If at any point the unpleasant sensation becomes too much,

Then it's perfectly okay to move the attention away for a while,

Even to open the eyes and focus on something around us in the room.

Then when we choose to,

Closing the eyes and coming back to the unpleasant sensation or perhaps choosing a different unpleasant sensation to notice.

Noticing the detail of the sensation.

And then connecting again with a sense of universal love and care.

May this sensation be blessed with unconditional love and care.

May this sensation be blessed with unconditional love and care.

May this sensation be blessed with unconditional love and care.

May this sensation be blessed with unconditional love and care.

And now when we're ready,

Opening up the awareness to the whole body.

Feeling the soft rhythm of the breath moving throughout the entire body.

Holding the whole of our being in a loving caring attention.

Feel the whole body humming with pleasant,

Ordinary and unpleasant sensation coming and going.

And keeping a soft,

Gentle awareness of the whole body breathing.

Reflecting,

Can it be said that I own this body?

Did I choose when it was born?

Could I tell it to stop ageing and would it obey me?

Would the body obey me if I told it to never die?

Or is this a human body?

Just like any other human body around the world arising,

Changing and ceasing according to its own natural law.

The universe unconditionally welcomes this body as it welcomes any of the other millions and billions of bodies around the world.

So let us connect now with this unconditional love.

Keeping an awareness of the body breathing,

May this being and all beings be blessed with unconditional love and care.

May this being and all beings be blessed with unconditional love and care.

May this being and all beings be blessed with unconditional love and care.

May this being and all beings be blessed with unconditional love and care.

May this being and all beings be blessed with unconditional love and care.

May this being and all beings be blessed with unconditional love and care.

And very slowly,

Taking plenty of care,

Beginning to bring some energy back into the body,

Wiggling the fingers and the toes.

And in our own time,