Welcome,
Beautiful ones,
To this loving-kindness meditation.
Begin by finding a comfortable position.
You can be sitting up or lying down,
Keeping your head,
Neck,
And spine straight if that feels good,
Or just finding a position where you feel comfortable and well supported and can be alert yet relaxed.
And then closing your eyes if it feels comfortable and safe to do so,
Or just soft focusing.
Begin to take some nice,
Slow,
Deep breaths.
And on each exhalation,
Just allow yourself to let go and release.
Letting go of any of the tensions or the stress that you've found so far today.
Letting go of any thoughts or worries or fears.
And then begin to breathe in whatever way feels good to you,
Finding your breath in your body,
The gentle rise and the fall,
Or the way the air enters and exits your nose.
And if you find that your mind wanders while you're doing this,
That's okay.
Notice what minds do.
Just notice where it went and gently bring it back to your breathing.
You might have to do this many times and that's okay.
No judgment,
No criticism.
And as you breathe comfortably and easily,
Finding the ebb and the flow,
The rise and the fall,
Begin to pay attention to your body.
Noticing the soles of your feet and the physical sensations in the soles of your feet.
Bringing your attention to your hands and noticing how your hands are feeling.
Tingly,
Buzzing,
Cold,
Warm.
And then bring your attention all the way up to the top of your head.
Maybe wiggling your eyebrows a little bit to feel your scalp.
And then allowing the warmth of your breath to bring some relaxation to your body.
As you breathe,
Just allowing your body to become as comfortable as it wants to be.
And now bringing to mind someone or something or being that you care about and that you love and who loves and cares about you.
And perhaps allowing a little smile to come across your face.
And then sending these phrases or praises of your own,
Whatever feels comfortable to this person.
May you be at peace.
May you be healthy.
May you be at ease.
May you suffer less.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
And now bringing an image of yourself into your mind along with this person or being so that both of you are there and sending these phrases to both of you.
Perhaps even placing a hand on your chest,
Over your heart or on your cheek.
May we be at peace.
May we be healthy.
May we be at ease.
May we suffer less.
May we be filled with loving kindness.
And now allowing the image of the other to leave your mind and just keeping the image of yourself and holding that gently with your hand on your heart or your cheek,
Maybe holding your hands together in your lap,
Repeating these phrases or phrases of your own.
May I be at peace.
May I be healthy.
May I be at ease.
May I suffer less.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
And now bringing to mind someone maybe that you know a little bit but you don't know very well,
You know,
Maybe the grocery store clerk or the crossing guard or the bank teller and bring them into your mind along with you.
May we be at peace.
May we be healthy.
May we be at ease.
May we suffer less.
May we be filled with loving kindness.
And now bringing into the circle someone that you don't know,
A stranger that you pass by on the street,
The person in the car in front of you.
May we be at peace.
May we be healthy.
May we be at ease.
May we suffer less.
May we be filled with loving kindness.
And now bringing to mind someone with whom you have a difficult relationship or someone that you find challenging and seeing if you can include them in the circle and sending these words to them.
May you be at peace.
May you be healthy.
May you be at ease.
May you suffer less.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
It's okay if it was a little harder to send the loving kindness to the person that you find challenging.
But the more you do it,
The easier it will become.
And now just allowing yourself to imagine your whole community and just bringing in all of those people that you interact with or you don't interact with,
The people you know,
The people you don't know.
May we all be at peace.
May we all be healthy.
May we all be at ease.
May we all suffer less.
May we all be filled with loving kindness.
And then even extending out to the whole world,
To the animals,
To the plants,
To the trees,
To all the cultures,
All the peoples.
May all beings be at peace.
May all beings be healthy.
May all beings live with ease.
May all beings suffer less.
May all beings be filled with loving kindness.
And now just checking in and perhaps feeling a heart filled with love and warmth and care and allowing that feeling to move throughout your whole body,
Filling up the room,
Filling up the building,
Allowing it to extend to all beings.
And then returning your attention to your body,
Feeling your connection with whatever you're sitting or lying upon.
Bringing your awareness back to your breath.
Feeling a nice deep breath in and letting it out,
Wiggling your fingers and your toes.
And then gently opening your eyes and returning to the room whenever you're ready.
Namaste.
