Hello my friends.
For this meditation I'm going to be guiding you through loving kindness or metta meditation.
To begin,
Find a comfortable position sitting down on a cushion or a chair.
Close your eyes and connect to the rhythm of your breath and imagine that you are sitting with someone or something who embodies loving kindness to you.
This could be a spiritual teacher,
A pet,
Or even a favorite tree or plant.
Bring your attention inwards and picture yourself in your mind's eye.
Become deeply aware of the person you are,
Saturating yourself with awareness.
And I'm going to ask you to repeat the following phrases.
May I be happy.
May I be peaceful.
May I be well.
May I be happy.
May I be peaceful.
May I be well.
Now imagine someone close to you.
Someone with whom you share your life.
A friend,
A partner,
A child.
Someone you love.
Picture them sitting in front of you.
Allow that image to become really rich.
You can see their face,
Their clothing.
You can hear their voice.
Wherever this person is in real life,
Speak your chosen phrases to them as though they are here with you.
May you be happy.
May you be peaceful.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be peaceful.
May you be well.
Again visualizing this person you love and watch them stand up and begin to walk away.
Now think of someone neutral.
Someone you have neutral feelings about.
And this could be a person who crosses your path,
Maybe in your neighborhood or in a local shop.
And in your mind's eye you sit them down in front of you as you speak the following phrases to them.
May you be happy.
May you be peaceful.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be peaceful.
May you be well.
You see this person and they stand up and they walk away.
Now in your mind's eye picture a person you have some negative feelings or memories about.
Someone you've had a disagreement with or a long-standing grudge.
This could be an ex-partner,
A sibling,
A colleague.
This one can be the most challenging.
If the feelings are too raw or too strong,
Choose someone you don't know personally so well or imagine this person as a child.
And you see them in your mind's eye sitting in the chair in front of you.
And you're speaking directly to them.
Again visualize their face,
Their clothing,
Maybe the sound of their voice.
Repeat the following phrases.
May you be happy.
May you be peaceful.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be peaceful.
May you be well.
As that person stands up and walks away,
Come back to yourself.
You can bring your hands to your heart and your belly if this helps to connect back with yourself again.
And now we send blessings to all beings.
We're speaking to all of life.
Expand your awareness to imagine your family,
All of their friends.
Think about people you might meet one day and two people you may never meet.
Think about the earth.
Think about animals and repeat the following phrases.
May we be happy.
May we be peaceful.
May we be well.
May we be happy.
May we be peaceful.
May we be well.
Take a few moments to focus again on your breath and on any sensations in your body.
Loving-kindness meditation is a powerful practice which can bring a host of emotional,
Social,
Neurological,
And physical health benefits,
Increasing positive emotions,
Empathy,
Improved vagal tone.
I encourage you to come back to this practice in times where you may feel disconnected from self,
Disconnected from those around you.
Please bring more awareness now into the space around your body.
Taking a nice deep breath in and let that breath go.
I thank you for joining me today for this meditation and I wish you a blessed day.
Namaste.
