Loving Kindness Meditation
Nourish your heart and soul with a loving-kindness meditation. Allow Katie to guide you through a gentle relaxation and offering of 4 simple, yet potent, mantras set to binaural beats to bring you home to your heart.
Transcript
I'd like you to find a comfortable seat.
We're gonna be focusing on a loving kindness meditation.
So as you find a comfortable seat and close your eyes,
You can roll your shoulders,
Move your neck,
Your jaw,
Softening your eyes and the skin of your face,
The outer edges of your feet,
The softening to your palms.
Starting to lean gently back into the foundation of your bones,
Your skeleton,
To lift up the front of your body,
And just peel your shoulders back a wee bit more,
Letting them melt away from your ears and softening your throat.
And enjoy a deep cleansing breath,
Whether you're in the morning,
The afternoon,
The evening,
Or any time that you'd like to come to this practice.
It is a daily practice of self-compassion.
This is one of the most challenging,
As well as potent practices that I can offer you here.
And so for this specific meditation,
I'll begin with just a gentle body scan,
And then I will guide you through a visualization and four simple mantras that I will list for you so that you know them,
Can see them as well.
So I'm enjoying a deep full breath in,
Breath out,
Beginning from the crown of the head,
Softening the forehead,
The temples,
The eyes,
The cheekbones,
The nose.
As you feel the texture of your breath coming in and out of your nose,
Begin to relax your lips inside your mouth,
Your tongue,
And the tip of your tongue.
And so much of our meditation practice is about listening,
Listening deeply to the inner landscape that is always with us.
And so softening your ears,
The back of your neck,
The front of your neck,
Your throat,
Your shoulders,
Your arms,
Your elbows,
Your wrists,
Your palms,
And all fingers.
Allowing here your awareness to trace down the back of the neck through the spine to the tip of the tailbone,
And breathing open,
Brightening the back of the lungs and the entire back of your body.
And begin to feel your sit bones,
Your legs,
Your feet,
Your ankles.
Coming up through the front of the legs,
The thighs,
The hips,
The belly,
The chest,
And coming home to your heart.
And I'd like to begin with a poem as you continue your breath here this evening.
And so this is called Prescription for the Disillusioned,
And it's an invitation to renewal and beginnings by Rebecca Del Rio.
Come new to this moment,
Remove the rigid overcoat of experience,
The notion of knowing,
The beliefs that cloud your vision.
Leave behind the stories of your life,
Spit out the sour taste of unmet expectation.
Let the stale scent of what ifs wave back into the swamp of your useless fears.
Arrive curious without the armor of certainty,
The plans and planned results of the life you've imagined.
Live the life that chooses you,
New,
Every breath,
Every blink of your astonished eyes.
So taking a deep breath in,
Honoring that the practice of self-compassion,
Of loving kindness towards your inner being,
It's not just this one event,
But an ongoing daily practice.
It is also the root practice for our inner life and also for our relational lives.
And so as you sit,
Eyes softening,
Gazing inward,
For the next few moments,
Let there be nothing for you to do,
Nothing,
Nowhere to go,
Nothing to accomplish.
This is a time simply to be with you,
The skin,
These bones,
These muscles,
Tissues,
Liquids,
Settling here as you pay attention.
And as you breathe in,
Imagine yourself sitting in a room,
Meditating.
Let the image come to you however it comes.
And allow the image to fully emerge.
And as you settle into this image of you,
Meditating,
You hear someone open the door to the room,
Walk in and sit in front of you.
And with your eyes closed,
You realize with your inner eye that it is you sitting in front of you.
Somehow in an instant,
You realize somehow in an instant,
The entire story of this person,
You,
Is known to you.
You know all the ways he or she has suffered,
Has been betrayed,
Has betrayed others.
You know all the moments of despair and loneliness.
You know all the places of shame and neglect,
Loss and death.
And you say to yourself,
This person knows suffering.
Take a breath,
A relieving,
Releasing breath out.
And in this moment,
Sensing this person,
You,
This person's sorrows in your heart,
Simply radiate loving kindness to the one sitting in front of you.
Getting to feel your heart open to you.
Distracting thoughts may come through,
But just come back to your heart and extend your compassion to this person.
Let this flow happen for another moment.
And then a blessing to this person,
You,
As you hold your heart in your heart,
Your whole heart,
And with your inner eye as you gaze upon this person,
You,
And your mind's eye say,
May you be safe,
May you be healthy,
May you be safe,
May you be healthy,
May you be content,
May you be peace,
May you be healthy,
May you be safe,
May you be content,
May you be peace,
May you be safe,
May you be healthy,
May you be content,
May you be peace.
And taking a cleansing breath in and a cleansing breath out,
Begin to let the image in your mind fade of this other person,
You.
And begin to now draw in the next closest person in your heart,
Perhaps a partner,
A friend,
A family member,
Even an animal or a child.
And call them to sit in front of you with your eyes closed,
You recognize that they are there in their own image through your vision.
And acknowledge that this person,
This being,
Also knows the suffering and is therefore one of the most important things and is therefore worthy of your compassion.
Take a breath as you feel that loving kindness within your heart beginning to well up and expand as you now wish a loving,
Kind and blessing to them.
Hold them in your heart and in your mind's eye and your heart eye wish,
May you be safe,
May you be healthy,
May you be content,
May you be peace.
May you be safe,
May you be healthy,
May you be content,
May you be peace.
May you be safe,
May you be healthy,
May you be content,
May you be peace.
Take a cleansing breath in and a cleansing breath out and begin to let the image in your mind,
Your heart eye,
To fade as this person has received your blessings.
And if you would like to continue one more person,
Perhaps a person that may feel a bit heavy or a bit tired,
And if you would like to continue one more person,
Perhaps a person that may feel a bit heavy or disconnected in your heart right now,
Nothing too heavy.
Perhaps a person being,
Let it naturally rise up if that person wants to come to sit in front of you in your mind and heart eye.
Take a breath,
Take a moment,
See if there is another being now with your eyes closed that you can visualize.
And if you're having trouble with a specific being,
Then imagine here that the world is sitting in front of you.
Take a cleansing breath as you rekindle that compassionate heart within you that knows that each being,
Whether there is a free-flowing channel between you and them or not,
That each being experiences suffering and therefore you can offer compassion.
And a final blessing for this being,
Person,
Or world,
May you be safe,
May you be healthy,
May you be content,
May you be peace.
May you be safe,
May you be healthy,
May you be content,
May you be peace.
Taking a cleansing breath in,
And a breath out.
