Welcome to this guided meditation where we will be exploring together the practice of Metta,
Extending well-wishes and loving kindness towards various people and beings in our lives.
It has been said through the practice of Metta meditation that an individual can cultivate enhanced social connections,
Reduced anxiety and stress,
Even an overall reduction in chronic pain.
The practice of Metta is an ancient Buddhist practice where we hold in our mind's eye the image of a person or persons that we wish to extend deep loving kindness towards.
Now when you think about this,
Typically people who you already feel adoration,
Love and compassion towards are often the easiest to bring to your mind's eye.
What isn't so easy however is extending your well-wishes to people who you perhaps feel indifferent towards,
Who you've been hurt by or who you feel conflicted whenever you're around them.
It's also not very easy to put yourself at the center of your own well-wishes,
Especially if you're grappling with feelings of shame,
Guilt or self-blame.
And so today we're going to practice together remembering that this is a practice,
Which means you're not expected to get it right right away,
But hopefully over time you'll begin to see the benefit of extending your own well-wishes to all sentient beings.
Through the practice of Metta meditation,
We start to recognize our common humanity,
A common desire to want to be free of pain and suffering,
A common desire to want to be happy and healthy and safe.
So taking a few moments now to find yourself in a comfortable seated or lying down position,
The emphasis is on your comfort today.
So whatever posture feels most comfortable for you,
Go ahead and take that position now.
If you'd like,
You are welcome to place one or both hands over top of the heart as a gesture of self-love,
Self-compassion and compassion for all.
Spend a few moments drawing the awareness to your breath,
Noticing and sensing the subtle rise of the chest and abdomen on the in-breath and noticing subtle release of the breath on the out-breath.
When you feel ready,
Begin by bringing into your mind's eye an image of yourself.
Imagine that you are standing across from yourself,
Looking into your own eyes and holding space for meeting with yourself with compassion,
Curiosity and with a tender friendliness.
It is often been said that if we can't extend ourselves our own love and compassion,
That it's increasingly difficult to genuinely do the same with others.
And so we begin by silently extending our own well-wishes to ourselves.
You may repeat silently.
May I be happy.
May I be well and free of suffering.
May I be safe and protected.
May I be at peace and ease,
Allowing yourself to sink into the intention of expressing yourself your own love and kindness.
And when you feel ready,
Slowly begin to bring a person who you feel deep adoration and feelings of love towards.
This could be a cherished friend or neighbor or family member.
Bringing into the mind's eye the image of you standing across from this person with a sense of compassion,
Curiosity and friendliness.
Repeating these words,
May you be happy.
May you be healthy and free from suffering.
May you be safe and protected.
May you be at peace and at ease.
And as you're comfortable,
Moving now by bringing into your mind's eye the image of an individual who you feel no particular emotion towards,
A feeling of indifference.
This could be a stranger or an acquaintance,
Somebody you pass throughout your day,
Somebody in your workplace who you don't have any particular relationship with.
Building into your mind's eye the image of this person as you stand across from them with a sense of compassion,
Curiosity and friendliness.
Silently repeating these words,
May you be happy.
May you be healthy and free from suffering.
May you be safe and protected.
And may you be at peace and at ease.
Having this genuine intention to wish this person who you feel indifferent towards,
Well wishes.
The invitation now is to bring into your mind's eye the image of somebody who you feel difficult emotions towards.
And if this isn't comfortable in this moment,
Give yourself permission to hold in your mind's eye somebody who you feel deep love and compassion towards instead.
As you hold this person in your mind's eye,
Standing across from them,
Sense as best you can feelings of compassion,
Curiosity and a genuine willingness to hold space with ease.
Repeating the following phrases,
May you be happy.
May you be well and free from suffering.
May you be safe and protected.
May you be at peace and ease.
And just noticing the experience of holding into your mind's eye a person with whom you've had difficulty with.
Sometimes during meta meditation opposite feelings such as anger,
Grief or sadness may arise.
And this is not wrong.
See if you might take this as a sign that your heart is opening and releasing painful feelings by revealing what still remains held between you and another person.
Remembering there's no need to judge yourself for having any of these feelings during this practice.
As you're comfortable bringing into your mind's eye the image of two or three or more people in your life who you have feelings of fondness,
Love or adoration towards.
Feeling standing across from this group of people and sensing the feeling of compassion,
Of gratitude and friendliness.
Silently repeating these phrases.
May you all be happy.
May you all be well and free from suffering.
May you all be safe and protected.
May you all be at peace and at ease.
Starting to grow this group of people in your mind by bringing more people into this image that you know that are part of your community.
Whether you have deep feelings of warmth or perhaps they are more of an acquaintance.
Bringing and expanding this group in your mind to include people who are regularly in your life.
Repeating these phrases.
May you all be happy.
May you all be well and free from suffering.
May you all be safe and protected.
May you all be at peace and at ease.
As you continue bringing into your mind other neighbors,
Acquaintances and strangers.
Perhaps envisioning the town or city in which you live.
Repeating these phrases.
May you all be happy.
May you all be well and free from suffering.
May you all be safe and protected.
May you all be at peace and at ease.
Growing this circle of people to include all people that are part of the country in which you live from all backgrounds,
All faiths,
All genders,
All ethnicities,
All ages.
Repeating these words.
May you all be happy.
May you all be well and free of suffering.
May you all be safe and protected.
May you all be at peace and at ease.
Growing this group in your mind's eye to now include people across all nations,
All countries,
All around the globe.
Repeating these phrases.
May we all be happy.
May we all be well and free of suffering.
May we all be safe and protected.
May we all be at peace and at ease.
And finally,
Including all sentient beings,
All animals,
All life forms in your mind's eye,
Including all the people around the globe.
Repeating these phrases.
May we all be happy.
May we all be well.
May we all be safe and protected.
And may we all be at peace and at ease.
Taking a few moments to continue to hold your hands to heart.
Breathing in this love and kind energy into your heart space and breathing out your well wishes,
Your love and kindness to all sentient beings around the globe.
I want to thank you for connecting to the feelings of benevolence and love and kindness.
May you experience deep peace and ease in your day ahead.
