For the Brahma Vihara practices,
Loving kindness and compassion and sympathetic joy and equanimity practice,
It's nice to lean back.
You could even lie down if that's available to you.
If you're standing and you want to find a nice wall to lean against.
In other words,
Bringing a lot of kindness and ease to the body and just relaxing in the moment.
And then thinking about someone in your life who is acquaintance.
Someone who you see every so often,
Whether you see them in real life or you see them on a screen.
And you may not even know too much about them.
You may know a little about them,
But they're not really in your inner circle.
And see if you can see something about them that is bringing them some happiness,
Some joy.
Maybe that they're healthy.
Maybe that they have a job,
Good job,
Job.
Or at home,
Something really basic,
Enough food.
And then say to them,
You can do this silently to yourself.
May you be joyful,
Happy with your life.
And may your joy increase.
May you be happy and joyful about your life and may that joy increase.
Can be helpful to bring a smile to your lips.
And you might notice.
If there's any comparison happening,
Because that can happen.
And if it does happen,
If it comes up,
It's not a problem.
Just notice it,
Let it go.
Come back to focusing on the person you've chosen and their joy,
The goodness in their life.
And come back to wishing them well.
May you have joy and may your joy increase.
And sometimes this practice can feel either it can feel kind of hokey or it can feel kind of rote.
So just keep with it.
And just explore.
See how it feels to you to be cultivating joy for someone else.
See if it brings a little bit more joy into your life today to do this practice.
Thank you.
Thank you.
