Today's practice is not a standard unified mindfulness technique,
But is a traditional practice of nurturing positivity.
It's called loving-kindness practice.
Unified mindfulness,
In addition to having its own library of techniques called ULTRA,
Universal Library for Training Attention,
Is also a system of classifying any and all practice techniques.
So we've been doing techniques in the nurture-positive quadrant of ULTRA.
This technique would also be classified as a nurture-positive technique.
In loving-kindness practice,
We generate feelings of loving-kindness or friendliness and caring for the well-being of others.
We do this by repeating words or phrases.
You can use whatever phrases you like,
But I'll give some of the most commonly used ones in this practice.
These are the phrases used by the fantastic mindfulness teacher Sharon Salzberg,
Who talks and writes a lot about loving-kindness.
The way you practice the technique is you bring a person to mind,
And then you send that person well wishes by sending these phrases to them with your mind and heart.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
We'll send these phrases as a gift of loving-kindness to ourself and to others.
Begin by sitting comfortably in a relaxed and alert posture.
Bring to mind a person that's dear to you,
Someone you feel very positive about.
With them in mind,
Silently send them these phrases.
May you be safe.
Be happy.
Be healthy.
Live with ease.
May you be safe.
Be happy.
Be healthy.
Live with ease.
Keep repeating these phrases and sending the loving-kindness feelings to that person.
Now bring yourself to mind.
You'll send these well wishes to yourself.
If it's difficult to imagine wishing yourself well,
One strategy is to picture yourself as a child and send these wishes to that child version of yourself.
May I be safe.
Be happy.
Be healthy.
And live with ease.
May I be safe.
Be happy.
Be healthy.
Live with ease.
Continue doing this for a few moments.
May I be safe.
Be happy.
Be healthy.
Live with ease.
Good.
Now bring to mind an acquaintance or neighbor.
Someone you know of but don't really know them well.
Someone you might pass on the street or in the hall.
Send them the loving-kindness phrases.
May you be safe.
Be happy.
Be healthy.
Live with ease.
May you be safe.
Be happy.
Be healthy.
Live with ease.
Now think of a difficult person.
Someone you may have had tension with now or in the past.
Send them these well wishes,
Even if it might be hard to do.
They can be beneficial for you.
With that difficult person in mind,
Repeat the phrases.
May you be safe.
Be happy.
Be healthy.
Live with ease.
Now send these well wishes to everyone at once.
Everyone,
Everywhere.
May you be safe.
Be happy.
Be healthy.
Live with ease.
May everyone be safe.
Be happy.
Be healthy.
Live with ease.
Great job.
We're all human beings together.
It can be a great way to nurture the positive in yourself to silently send well wishes to others.
Try doing this next time you're in a meeting or interacting with someone,
Perhaps a restaurant server or cashier.
Just silently wish them well.
See how that nurtures positive emotion for you.
Thanks for practicing.
Have a great day.
