Loving kindness for other and self.
And so beginning with placing our body in a posture,
A posture that is dignified and a posture that maybe embodies alertness,
Kindness,
Something that is comfortable and that you can feel at ease.
And then placing our mind by bringing to mind our intention for this practice.
Maybe an intention to cultivate kindness towards our friends and cultivating kindness towards ourselves.
And just spending a couple of moments reflecting on our motivation.
Maybe how beneficial it is for ourselves and those around us.
And now just beginning to settle the mind in the usual way.
And we can regulate the breath and if it helps we can count or we can use phrases like breathing in,
Breathing out.
Nothing too forced.
Keeping the breathing equal yet relaxed.
And as we do this we may notice from time to time there's quite a lot of activity within the mind which is fine.
We just let it do its own thing.
Simply focusing on regulating the breathing and counting.
And as we continue to regulate the breath focusing a little more on the out breath and just noticing any tendency for the body to release and relax.
And now just letting go of any counting and return to a natural breathing pattern.
Allowing the body to breathe all by itself.
And then shifting very gently our focus into the body and down into the body.
And just beginning to notice any sensations from the top of the head.
Allowing any sensations just to be as they are.
And then moving slowly down to the eyes,
The ears and the nose,
Mouth,
Jaw and the neck.
And maybe becoming aware of sensations in the shoulders and allowing them to be just as they are.
And continuing moving this attention through the body.
Sensations in the upper arms,
The ribcage,
Lower arms,
Abdomen,
All the way through to the pelvis and around the buttocks,
The thighs,
Knees,
Hands and just slowly through the lower legs and the feet.
And maybe tuning into any contact with the chair or the cushion on the ground.
Just cultivating this idea of the body supported by the ground and surrounded by space.
And as the ground supports the body unconditionally,
So the body supports the mind unconditionally.
Allowing the mind to rest here with the body,
Nothing to do,
Nowhere to go.
And as our mind wanders,
As it does,
Just noticing where it's wandered to and gently bringing it back to our mindfulness support of breath or sound.
And just remembering that when we do get distracted.
Just coming back simply to resting with this support.
So bringing to mind somebody we care for,
Maybe someone or an animal that we have a quite straightforward relationship with and that we are naturally comfortable with them.
And maybe not thinking too hard about who we're going to choose,
Just allowing them to emerge of their own accord.
And this person that we're bringing to mind we can visualize them sitting with us or a felt sense that they are around us.
And just noticing how it feels to have this person present here with us right now.
And we can notice any thoughts within the mind,
Any feelings,
Sensations.
And then we can begin to say the loving kindness phrases for this person.
And you can use these phrases just quietly within your mind or you can use your own phrases.
Just something that makes sense to you.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
And then just once again gently bringing this person to mind and repeating the phrases.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
And may you live with ease.
And so just noticing how our experience unfolds as we say these phrases.
And almost like a pebble being dropped into a well.
And just noticing the ripple effect.
And maybe just reflecting that just as this person wants to be happy and safe and free from harm,
So do we want to be happy,
Safe and free from harm.
And now maybe for one more time just visualizing ourself with this person.
Perhaps holding hands or putting our arms around each other.
And again repeating the phrases.
May we be safe.
May we be happy.
May we be healthy.
May we live with ease.
And again just noticing any sensation or feelings through the body.
And repeating one more time.
May we be safe.
May we be happy.
May we be healthy.
And may we both live with ease.
And we can now just gently begin to let go of this image or to dissolve the image.
And in our own time bringing to mind a younger version of ourselves.
Or again a felt sense of a younger version of ourselves.
Maybe even thinking about an old photo.
And just again recognizing that this younger version also wanted to be safe,
Happy,
Free from harm.
And again using this image of ourselves,
Directing the phrases once more to ourselves.
May I be safe.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I live with ease.
And just an open mind being curious.
How does the mind and body react when we say these phrases?
And there's no right or wrong with whatever we experience.
And we can now once again repeat those phrases and just being curious.
May I be safe.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I live with ease.
And so just now allowing that image of a younger version of ourselves just to dissolve and to let go.
And really focusing on becoming aware of ourselves as we sit here right now.
So just breathing and recognizing that this version of ourselves right now we also want to be safe,
Healthy and free of harm.
And let's see how it feels within the body to say these phrases to ourselves here and now.
May I be safe.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I live with ease.
Again being curious,
Maybe noticing any differences in the sensations that we experienced previously and attending to the moment and how you are right now.
And as the practice comes to an end just repeating one more time for ourselves in the moment as we are.
May I be safe.
May I be happy.
May I live with ease.
May I be healthy.
And just with a slow openness checking how the body feels,
Gently letting go of the practice and coming back to the mindfulness support of sound or breath.
