Introduction To Metta Meditation

Metta, translated as "lovingkindness," is the practice of offering kindness and compassion to yourself and other living beings. A traditional Buddhist method of mind training, this simple meditation can help you open your heart to yourself and others.

Transcript

Hi everyone,

I'm Kim.

Welcome back to Meditation with Heart.

Today's practice is a beginner or an introductory loving kindness meditation.

In this practice we will be offering the phrases of Metta,

M-E-T-T-A,

Also known as loving kindness,

To three different beings.

The phrases we will use today will be,

May I be filled with loving kindness,

May I be free from fear,

May I be safe,

May I be healthy.

We will offer these phrases to three different beings.

The first,

Our self,

The second,

What's called a dear one.

Dear one is someone who's been very encouraging to us,

Kind to us,

Someone who's really favored us in an unconditional way.

So this might be a very close friend,

It might be a teacher or mentor,

It could be a pet.

It's less likely to be a parent or someone with whom you have sometimes an up and down relationship.

Pick someone easy for your dear one.

And the third being is actually a group of beings.

I'm going to pick a group of people that include strangers.

So I encourage you to maybe consider everyone you work with,

If that's a big group.

If you're someone who commutes,

You can consider everybody on the train with you.

You can consider everyone in your neighborhood,

Maybe.

But thinking of yourself in a group.

So to begin,

Please find a comfortable seat.

You could sit in a chair,

You could sit on the floor as I am.

This practice,

Like all meditations,

You can practice with your eyes closed or your eyes open.

If your eyes are open,

Please keep them still.

Wherever you're at,

Do your best to be still and also do your best to stay here throughout this meditation.

Go ahead and take three conscious breaths before we begin offering the loving kindness meditation.

Noticing your feet,

Your seat,

Your belly,

Feeling your shoulder blades in the back of your head.

Taking a moment to consider something you're grateful for.

Just appreciate that.

Bringing your attention to your feet and your seat,

Your belly,

Noticing your heart center.

Feeling your feet,

Your seat,

Your belly,

Bringing your attention to your shoulder blades in the back of your head.

Gently noticing your forehead and your cheeks and your jaw.

And allowing sound to enter your ears.

Remember bringing to your mind,

To your heart,

A presence of yourself.

Now you might imagine yourself as though you're looking in the mirror.

You could visualize yourself as a child or you could just make this connection with yourself and offering these phrases.

May I be filled with loving kindness.

May I be free from fear.

May I be safe.

May I be healthy.

May I be filled with love and kindness.

May I be free from fear.

May I be safe.

May I be healthy.

May I be filled with love and kindness.

May I be free from fear.

May I be safe.

May I be healthy.

Continuing on your own as though you're giving yourself a gift.

You're giving yourself a gift.

You you If you've strayed from the phrases if you're remembering or planning just noticing that Gently let go and come back We connect may I be filled with love and kindness.

May I be free from fear?

May I be safe may I be healthy?

Continuing on your own silent you And I'd be filled with loving kindness may I be free from fear.

I'd be safe may I be healthy Moving your attention away from these phrases Noticing your feet experiencing your feet through your feet Noticing your belly relaxing your shoulder blades relaxing your forehead and your cheeks and your jaw Just allowing sound to enter your ears You can go ahead and take three very conscious breaths.

It might be a little deeper usual breathing Noticing your family Noticing your family bringing your attention to the center of your chest your heart center and Allowing this dear one to rise for you And this being this person this Pet you could visualize them should know them you might just bring their presence here their smell Making this connection and offering the phrases may you be filled with loving kindness May you be free from fear May you be safe May you be healthy May you be filled with loving kindness May you be free from fear May you be safe May you be healthy May you be healthy.

May you be filled with loving kindness.

May you be free from fear May you be safe.

May you be healthy Continuing on your own once again,

As though you're giving a gift to this dear one So So If you're planning or remembering gently noticing You're getting back reconnecting and beginning again May you be filled with love and kindness.

May you be free from fear?

May you be safe May you be healthy So So May you be filled with loving kindness,

May you be free from fear.

May you be safe.

May you be healthy Moving your attention away from this dear one noticing your feet Bringing your attention to your seat to your belly Relaxing your shoulder blades relaxing your forehead and your cheeks and your jaw And allowing sound to enter your ears And go ahead and take a few breaths very consciously Feeling your seat relaxing your belly and bringing your attention to the center of your chest your heart center Allowing yourself to imagine yourself with a group a group that you're familiar with maybe Everyone on the subway that you ride with maybe everyone that you work with Maybe everyone in your neighborhood or your town or your church Taking a moment to imagine yourself in this group Imagine all the different people different ages hair color skin color eye color And offering loving kindness may we be filled with loving kindness May we be free from fear.

May we be safe.

Maybe healthy,

Maybe filled with loving kindness Maybe free from fear may be safe.

Maybe healthy Maybe filled with loving kindness maybe free from fear.

We may be safe,

Very healthy You will be healthy Continuing on your own as though you're giving a gift to yourself and this entire group of people.

You will be healthy You will be healthy If you've strayed from these phrases or the sense of the group,

Just noticing that,

Gently coming back,

Starting again.

May we be filled with loving kindness.

May we be free from fear.

May we be safe.

May we be healthy.

May we be free from fear.

May we be filled with loving kindness.

May we be free from fear.

May we be safe.

May we be healthy.

Moving your attention away from the sense of this group.

Just noticing your feet and your seat and your belly.

Bringing your attention to the center of your chest,

Your heart center.

And taking a moment to appreciate your efforts,

Appreciating your kindness and your intention to practice together today.

You might want to say thank you to yourself.

You can take a couple few conscious breaths.

And whenever you're ready you can open your eyes or look up and turn your attention to our video.

So this practice that we just did together,

You can do this yourself everyday.

I encourage you if you're a beginner to loving kindness meditation to practice this for a couple of months.

Give it a try.

You can do it with the video.

You can also do it on your own at home.

You can use a timer.

Set it for 15 minutes and practice.

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Thank you for practicing here today with me.