So coming to sitting,
Establishing the seated posture,
Upright,
Dignified,
Like a mountain,
A seated mountain.
And taking a look in the mind,
What thoughts are here.
And taking a look in the mind,
What thoughts are here.
What's the traffic like in my mind?
What kinds of thoughts are there in my mind?
Noticing the feeling tone throughout the whole body.
What does it tell me about how I'm feeling?
What emotions might be here?
And what body sensations are showing up for me?
If there are emotions,
How do they show up in the body as body sensations?
Whether they are unpleasant,
Neutral or pleasant.
And then allowing attention to come to rest in the abdomen.
Noticing the rising,
The falling of the belly on an in-breath,
On an out-breath.
So that when the belly rises,
I know that I'm breathing in.
And when the belly falls,
I know that I'm breathing out.
Breathing in.
Returning again and again to the rising and the falling of the abdomen.
Just riding the waves of your own breathing.
And on each in-breath,
Starting to expand the field of awareness.
More and more and more until you can encompass the whole body with your awareness.
A wide-open,
Spacious awareness.
That includes the breath and that also includes other body sensations.
Emotions,
Thoughts.
There's enough room for all of it to be part of our ongoing experience from moment to moment.
And with this spacious awareness,
I'll invite you now to imagine someone,
Somebody.
Somebody that you care for a lot,
That you know cares for you also.
It could be a spouse,
A child,
A parent,
A really good friend,
A mentor,
A spiritual leader or a figure,
A pet.
Imagining this person or this being right in front of you.
Allowing the details of that person's face to become clear to you.
Noticing the affection you have for this person.
The wish for them to be well,
For them to be loved,
Free from suffering.
And then finding your own way of communicating that wish to them.
You might place a smile or a half-smile on your face.
You may touch them in a caring way.
Just imagining doing so.
You can also communicate using words.
May you be happy.
May you be peaceful.
May you be strong and healthy.
May you be free from suffering.
So maybe using your own words,
Your own wishes,
Spending a few moments wishing this person you love well.
Sending them your loving kindness.
And as you do that,
Notice what happens in your own experience.
Your own thoughts,
Emotions,
Body sensations,
Your own breath,
Your own posture.
Your own facial expression.
And seeing now if you can switch perspectives for a moment.
Getting behind the eyes of that person that you care about and that you know cares about you.
And through their eyes looking back at you.
And in the same way they would want you to be happy,
Free from suffering.
Taking a moment now to wish this loving kindness to yourself.
And that might involve putting a hand over your heart.
A kind,
Caring touch.
And that might involve using wishes.
May I be happy and peaceful.
May I be healthy and strong.
May I be free from suffering.
Or maybe using your own wishes,
Your own words.
And again,
Just noticing your own experience right now as you do that.
What thoughts are around?
What emotions are showing up?
How does that feel like in the body?
Noticing your own posture,
Your own facial expression as you wish yourself well.
On the next out-breath,
Releasing yourself from your awareness and bringing to mind someone who's neutral.
Could be someone you see on a regular basis,
A neighbor,
Bus driver,
Cashier.
Someone you don't have any particular relationship with.
It's neutral.
Bringing up that person,
Imagining them right in front of you.
Recognizing that's a human being who wants to be happy and free from suffering.
And so taking some time now to offer your wishes of well-being.
Whether that's a smile,
Caring touch,
Certain words.
Just taking some time to cultivate this loving-kindness towards this neutral person.
As you do that,
Notice what's showing up in your own experience.
What thoughts are around?
What emotions are showing up?
What thoughts are showing up?
And on the next out-breath,
We can release that person from your awareness.
I'll invite you now to bring someone else to mind.
Someone with whom you have just a little bit of difficulty.
Someone who disappointed you,
Who harmed you,
Did something harmful to someone you love.
Someone who's difficult to be around.
Again,
Picking someone with whom it's still possible to work with.
A three or four out of ten.
Just imagining this person right here in front of you.
Imagining the details of his or her face.
Looking into the eyes.
And noticing this is a human being.
And just like me,
This person wants to be happy and free from suffering.
And so if you're willing,
Practicing sending wishes their way of well-being,
Of loving-kindness.
And choosing the way that you do that.
With a facial expression,
With a touch,
With words.
Just keep sending those wishes their way.
And notice what happens for you.
Thoughts,
Emotions,
Body sensations,
Urges.
And on the next out-breath,
We can release that person from our awareness.
And on the next in-breath,
Bringing to mind everyone in this group,
Here in this room.
Perhaps imagining individual faces,
Maybe the group as a whole.
Noticing the group is made up of individual human beings,
Want to be happy,
Want to be free from suffering.
And so taking a moment to send the group our loving-kindness,
Our well-wishes.
Noticing what is showing up as we do this.
As we maybe recognize that everyone else in the group is sending us their well-wishes.
Seeing if we can expand now the scope of our well-wishing to other people outside this room.
People in our lives,
People we haven't met yet,
People we will never meet.
We can choose to expand it to the whole world,
To the whole planet.
All the living beings who can suffer and who can be happy.
Who wish to be free from suffering and move towards greater well-being.
May all living beings be happy,
Peaceful,
Healthy and strong.
Be free from suffering.
As we do that noticing our own experience.
As we finish this practice as it comes to an end.
Bringing the attention back to the breath at the abdomen region.
Releasing all images from the mind.
Just noticing body sensations of breathing.
As we do that noticing our own experience.
As we do that noticing our own experience.
