A Metta Exercise

This is a soothing and beautiful Metta exercise to allow you to connect deeply with the most loving aspects of your being. This lovingkindness meditation can be used to boost empathy and counteract stress.

Transcript

Hi everyone,

Thanks for tuning in.

This is Kira Michelle,

Also known as Wellness Rebellion.

Today's meditation is going to be on,

It's called Metta meditation,

Which is a Buddhist meditation also known as loving kindness.

So let's go ahead and get started.

It will be about 20 minutes.

So finding yourself in a really tall spine,

Sitting up,

Lengthening feeling the sit bones rooting down into the ground or into the cushion if you're sitting on a cushion or the chair and then really working to lengthen through the spine,

Working to stack the hips,

The shoulders,

The ears,

All within alignment of one another.

And that's where the shoulders up and back a few times and then softening and releasing the shoulders down and flat on the back.

So with your eyes closed,

Bring your focus to the breath and just checking in noticing where you're breathing,

Where in the body you're breathing to the chest,

To the belly,

Maybe just the throat.

And we just start to take note and that's all.

And then let's start by taking a few deep full breaths.

So releasing all the air out,

Emptying the belly,

Emptying the rib cage,

Letting it all go.

And then a full deep inhale expanding through the diaphragm,

The belly front to back,

Side to side as if your belly is a balloon that's been blown up.

And then on the exhale releasing it all out,

Letting it go,

Having the sensation of release,

Of surrender,

Of letting go.

Two more just like that.

Full deep inhale through the nose and exhale through the nose.

Last really deep full breath.

Go ahead,

Inhale and release.

And now bringing your breath back to its natural state.

I'd like to see,

I'd like you to visualize yourself.

Perhaps you're sitting in front of yourself and it could either be the person that you are today or if it helps,

When I struggle with who I am today,

It helps me if I can pull a visual of me as a child or just as when I've been going through a hard time in my life and I need a little bit of extra support.

So envision that you're sitting at a table and you're sitting across from yourself.

And I'd like you to look lovingly into the person,

Yourself sitting across from you,

Their eyes and feel this level of connection.

And go ahead and repeat the following phrases internally to yourself.

May I be filled with loving kindness.

May I be free from harm.

May I be well in my body and mind.

May I live with ease and happiness.

May I be filled with loving kindness.

May I be free from harm.

May I be well in my body and mind.

And may I live with ease and happiness.

May I be filled with loving kindness.

May I be free from harm.

May I be well in my body and in my mind.

And may I live with ease and happiness.

And then build that image of yourself with this level of compassion,

With this level of forgiveness and understanding.

And go ahead and repeat those phrases over a few more times.

Alright,

So allowing the visual of yourself to slowly start to fade into the background,

Wishing peace and well-being as it slowly starts to fade away.

I'd now like you to choose someone in your life who you love very deeply,

Someone who you care for.

And once again,

Picture this person sitting across from you and we're going to recite the same phrases.

So have that visual.

Perhaps you can have your hand held out,

Envisioning that person reaching back for your hand.

May you be filled with loving kindness.

May you be safe from harm.

May you be well in the body and the mind.

And may you live with ease and happiness.

And whether this image is clear or not doesn't really matter.

Simply just holding this idea of that person that you love sitting across from you,

Sending compassion and care,

Loving wishes their way.

May you be filled with loving kindness.

May you be safe from harm.

May you be well in the body and in the mind.

And may you live with ease and happiness.

May you be filled with loving kindness.

May you be safe from harm.

May you be well in your body and in your mind.

And may you live with ease and happiness.

Slowly allow the visual of your loved one to fade,

To slip into the background.

Next we're going to bring someone to mind who you feel neutral to.

So it could be a neighbor,

The barista at your coffee shop,

Someone you walked past today on the street or stood next to on the train.

Visualize that person and carefully recite the same phrases.

May you be filled with loving kindness.

May you be safe from harm.

May you be well in the body and in the mind.

And may you live with ease and happiness.

May you be filled with loving kindness.

May you be safe from harm.

May you be well in the body and in mind.

May you live with ease and happiness.

Finally,

We're going to conclude with a difficult person in your life,

Someone who you struggle with.

If this is one of the first few times you've practiced Metta or the first time you've practiced Metta,

Let's not choose someone who you've had a long term,

Really deep struggle with.

You can choose someone that it's a little bit lighter.

And then if you have been doing this for a while and you've worked into dealing with something that's a little bit more deep rooted,

Then go ahead and go straight to that person.

Otherwise just anyone who you've been having a difficult time with.

So see that person sitting across from you.

Try to visualize them the best you can.

Even notice your body language shift.

Notice your muscles start to contract if that's happening.

Notice the tension of your face and release,

Relax.

And then once you find yourself in a more relaxed state,

We'll begin.

May you be filled with loving kindness.

May you be safe and free from harm.

May you be well in the body and in the mind.

May you live with ease and happiness.

May you be filled with loving kindness.

May you be safe and free from harm.

May you be well in the body and in the mind.

May you live with ease and happiness.

I want you to simply notice any resistance that's coming up.

Notice any physical sensations that come up when we try to send loving kindness to someone who we struggle with.

And while we're staying on the topic of the person we're having a difficult time with,

I want you to keep in mind that hurt people hurt people.

And it doesn't make it okay that we hurt others when we're hurting and other people hurt us when they're hurting.

But there's usually a lot more going on underneath the surface than we're aware of.

So rather than an eye for an eye,

Through matter we work to find the softness in compassion.

So refocusing your attention on that person sitting across from you.

Softening the muscles in your face,

In your shoulders,

In your body.

Softening around the heart.

May you be filled with loving kindness.

May you be safe and free from harm.

May you be well in the body and in the mind.

May you live with ease and happiness.

And then as usual allow the visual,

The image of that person to fade away.

And allowing them to go with a level of compassion.

Sending them a level of compassion.

Sending them a level of forgiveness,

Whether or not you feel ready for it.

Allowing it to fade.

For the last few minutes we'll just be here focusing in on the breath.

Softening through the body,

Softening the muscles around the face.

Allowing the shoulders to fall flat and down on the back again.

Lengthening through the crown of the head.

Noticing the rise and the fall of the chest with each inhale and each exhale.

With each inhale bringing in goodness,

Bringing in compassion,

Bringing in love.

And the exhale releasing compassion to others.

Love to others.

Allow the breath to be smooth.

Allow the mind to be soft.

Allow the heart to be at peace.

And to open the eyes.

And just something to keep in mind to keep with you for the rest of your day is that hurt people hurt people.

So the ones who have hurt us usually need more compassion,

Usually need more love than those who are feeling confident and feeling strong within their heart and within their souls.

So working on this level of compassion rather than automatically putting them into a box of hate or anger.

Allowing yourself to rise above and step in with a level of mindfulness rather than a level of needing to hurt someone in return.

Thanks guys.

Reviews

Amazing , thank you for that spiritual journey through love and compassion 💖

This is awesome!
Thank you🙏🏿😇

“Hurt-people hurt people.” Thank you, wonderful meditation. 💕

Really enjoyed the lesson and pace of this meditation. Thank you.

Thankyou! That was a really well guided and helpful metta! Namaste 🙏🏻

Lovely and soothing. I appreciate the “hurt people hurt people” concept very much. Thank you!!

Soothing voice and a nice guided meditation.

Perfect sent to me, by a higher source.

A different energy level, I liked it. And new thoughts. Thank you.

Amazing as always thank you 🙏

Filled with compassion and tenderness

Loved this, thank you

Very helpful and needed 💜

This was powerful and difficult but a great exercise. Thank you.🙏🏻

This was a favorite! For whatever reason (I may have just reached a place of being truly open) I could feel a shift- thank you!