Maitri/Metta (Loving Kindness) For Courage

This meditation begins with settling by using a full breath through a slow body scan. Maitri meditation uses words of affirmation that travel on the current of the breath. We witness the breath softly at the belly and repeat on the current of the inhale or whatever feels natural. The exhale is to embody and feel the words. May I embrace my fears. May I embrace my faith. May I embrace my courage. Then offer the words to ALL. Enjoy! Please follow me, rate/review, or leave a comment. Big love!

Transcript

So today we're going to do a Maitri or loving kindness meditation for courage.

So have a comfortable seat.

I prefer to sit on the ground with something elevating my buns.

However,

You can sit in a chair,

Totally fine.

You can sit against the wall if you need some extra support.

If you're on your chair though,

You want to scoot a little bit forward so you're not leaning back on the chair if possible.

And bottom flush to the side.

Sitting bones will tilt forward and the tailbone will stick out a little bit.

On the ground,

Knees wide.

My pants are a little tight,

But I like to have my heels aligning down the center and on your chair.

Feet hip width or shoulder width apart,

Soles of the feet rooted.

We'll begin with a little settling.

Place your palms down on your legs.

Close your eyes.

And as your attention begins to turn inward from its outward focus,

Let your breath deepen.

Feel your breath down and focus on exhales out of the mouth.

When you inhale,

Fill the lower belly like a balloon and the back ribs expand.

Exhale out of the mouth and feel this emptying quality downward.

To the earth,

Tongue is soft.

Again slow the breath,

Full capacity without force,

Filling the lower belly.

Spine is elongating,

Slight tuck of chin out the mouth,

Maybe a ha sound or a sigh and feel like your bones are dropping,

Settling to the earth.

Good.

And we'll keep that and add a body scan.

So inhale,

Collect your awareness and breath from toe tips rising up,

Belly fills spine,

Fingertips to crown.

Exhale out of the mouth,

Trace the same pathway down,

Exit breath,

Tension out of fingers,

Toes to the earth.

Do that again please.

Welcoming this moment and as you exhale an invitation to arrive,

To be still,

To soften,

To let go.

Again.

As your attention moves through the body,

Rising,

Sparking focus,

Exhale breath and awareness falls,

Accessing ground instability.

And with this slow body scan,

You begin to meet yourself where you are and welcome what you are observing,

Whether it's a sensation,

A thought or a feeling.

Welcome this experience and release any expectation,

Assumption.

Last breath.

Excellent and then feel at the bottom of the exhale the emptiness,

The shift from a few deeper breaths.

We'll go through the points of posture.

There's six.

The lower body is rooted however you're sitting.

We establish that a little bit by bottom flexed back,

Weight to the front of the sitting bones,

Feet hip width,

Shoulder width or knees wide.

And with the tailbone sticking out a little bit honoring the natural lumbar curve so it may feel like that the belly is soft and allowing that descending quality,

That openness of the bones of the legs.

And then from that we get this rising of the spine.

So with the hands down on the legs,

You might even press into the thighs,

Knees,

Lift the breastbone,

The sternum.

And then imagine leaning back the shoulders,

The back of the chest over the pelvis and then feel the base of the skull hovering over the breastbone with a slight tuck of chin.

You can keep breathing as your attention refines to your posture.

Now the palms can be down.

My preferred choice.

Palms can be up,

More of a receptive quality.

A mudra of contemplation interlaced hands,

Palms up in the lap,

Thumbs crossed.

Whatever you choose,

Elbows are soft and we will change the hand position just a little bit but know those are your options to come back to at any time.

Feel the tongue soft in the mouth,

Slight part to the lips.

It's as if the spine could move through the crown of the head.

The head is light.

And then the eyes can be closed,

That's what I prefer.

However if you get easily distracted,

A little agitated in body or anxious,

You might open your eyes.

Focus on one spot on the ground that's not moving and see if that helps bring back any energy or focus.

We'll practice some wave breathing or in yoga we call it a complete breath,

A virdha breath.

One hand on navel,

One hand on chest.

Let the elbows be soft.

Remember how we began breathing with filling the belly first?

So that's the first aspect of a complete breath is filling the belly as you inhale.

And I like to exhale out of the mouth however you can do whatever you like.

Exhaling out of the mouth helps me find more ease.

And if you notice that as soon as we start to try to concentrate the breath in the belly that that's not what's happening for you,

It's okay.

Just think about it,

Even if it's not happening physically,

Just think about the breath moving down.

It's just good information.

It can be telling you that maybe your breath initiates in your chest first,

Which sometimes creates a more shallow breath.

So if you practice drawing the breath down over time,

You may find that it brings a bigger breath but also maybe more ground or sense of feeling centered inside of yourself.

So the first step,

Inhaling lower hand,

Exhale out of mouth.

And now we're going to watch the breath move into the rib cage.

So lower belly fills first,

Then the ribs expand laterally,

Side to side,

And then exhale out of the mouth.

The muscle for breathing,

The diaphragm is located in between the ribs,

So just accessing the diaphragm.

And then the last part is filling the upper hand,

Trying not to let the shoulders tense or any part of the body,

Except for the belly ribs move.

So keep the chest still,

And then the breath is inhale,

Filling belly,

Ribs,

Chest,

Top hand,

Exhale out of the mouth,

The breath empties from the top to the bottom,

Navel pulling into spine gently.

And the thing about breathing technique,

Pranayama,

When you first begin bringing your attention to your breath,

It may be difficult to try to smooth it,

To control it.

For some of you it might not be,

But if you do find that you notice the restrictions and the limitations of the breath,

That information is just giving you something to work with.

You don't have to beat yourself up or wish it to be different.

It takes time to learn how to breathe slowly,

To breathe fully,

And beginning to fill the breath in three dimensions if you haven't.

So not only bottom to top,

Top to bottom,

But front back,

Side to side.

You don't want to strain at the top or bottom,

So if you find that happening,

Just notice.

And you don't need to force,

You don't need to fill up so much that you're straining or empty so much that you're straining.

See if you can let the breath be easy.

We'll do a few more.

And also noticing the presence of your touch of your hands on your body.

Last breath here,

When you complete your exhale,

Release that technique.

Appreciate this moment that you get to spend with yourself.

Just breathing,

Focusing on you.

You can release the hands down into any of those three positions that I mentioned.

Down,

Palms,

Palms up,

Or interlaced thumbs touch.

If you need to adjust your body in any way,

Do that.

So we'll try to come to a soft breath,

Just a relaxed breath.

However,

If you'd like to use any of the techniques I've taught you,

Please use them.

They will help you come back to focus if you find yourself thinking,

Which is natural for meditation,

Or if you just find yourself wanting to move your body.

Just take a deeper breath,

Use it as if like a reset button,

And see if you can come back to the practice.

So adjust a little.

Make sure you feel rooted.

Take your hand position.

You can close your eyes or keep them open.

With the breath soft,

Bring your attention to the belly,

Right below the navel.

Notice how the belly rises so gently on the inhale,

So soft,

And falls so gently on the exhale,

So soft.

And choose that for this remainder of time,

Short time we share,

That your body will be still.

So when and if the impulse comes to move,

You'll see if you can soften into that reaction,

And notice if it changes.

Breath so soft at the navel.

Maitri meditation,

Loving kindness,

Are repeating affirmative words as offerings,

As blessings.

So we'll begin with I,

Offering this embracing of our courage to ourselves first.

And the first couple of times you repeat the words silently,

Just notice the immediate reactions within.

Because those responses,

The first response that you have to words,

To language,

Are just good information.

How do you feel about the words?

Do you believe them?

Do you not believe them?

Does it stir up anything for you?

And then as we continue to go further in the meditation,

Just settle with the words,

And just see if it shifts.

So I like to repeat the words on the current of the inhale,

And let the natural exhale be empty so I can embody the words eventually.

However you can do whatever feels natural to you.

So with the breath at the lower belly,

So soft,

Silently repeat,

May I embrace my fears.

On the next inhale,

May I embrace my faith.

Inhale may I embrace my courage.

And then the exhale is empty,

And we continue this.

May I embrace my fears.

May I embrace my faith.

May I embrace my courage.

On the inhale,

So soft at the navel,

Body still,

May I embrace my fears.

May I embrace my faith.

Just noticing.

May I embrace my courage.

We'll keep repeating,

You want to get to a place where you're memorizing it a little bit,

And if you mess the words up,

It's okay.

If any word just organically arises,

It's great to just make it your own if you don't get it exact,

Okay?

May I embrace my fears.

May I embrace my faith.

May I embrace my courage.

May I embrace my fears.

May I embrace my faith.

May I embrace my courage.

And let's do a few rounds silently.

Okay.

Now we'll take the same formula,

However we'll change I to all,

Offering this prayer and blessing.

May all embrace their fears.

Feel it.

On the inhale,

May all embrace their faith.

Exhale is empty,

Embodying the words.

May all embrace their courage.

Please continue silently.

And feel it.

Let's come back together.

May all embrace their fears.

May all embrace their faith.

May all embrace their courage.

And we'll end with one round of I.

May I embrace my fears.

May I embrace my faith.

May I embrace my courage.

Turning your palms up,

Please.

Receiving the practice.

As if downloaded into your cells.

And inhale,

Circle the arms,

Please.

Arms down,

Exhale,

Cleansing the mind,

The heart,

Giving it to the earth,

The experience.

And gathering the hands in prayer.

Just honoring the sacred space.

And the eagle mudra,

Right hand to heart,

Left hand on top.

Right thumb crosses and the fingers are the heart wings.

We say J,

We mean celebrate or praise the flow that guides you.

That your heart,

Your life,

Your spirit,

Your practice may follow the flow effortlessly.

We say J-O flow.

Thank you.

Reviews

Loved the pacing. The audio is a bit tinny, but still clear and audible. I’ve been learning the Maitri practice from Shambhala Buddhism, but it was a really nice to get the yoga perspective. Wonderful meditation 10/10

you are amazing. im navigating poly situations and this helped me understand that my jealousy was from neglecting my own needs. i love this mantra.

Lovely! I appreciate you! God bless you 🙂