Hello and welcome to your daily meditation practice.
Let's get started.
Go ahead and close the eyes down.
Settle into your seat.
And bring your awareness to your breath.
The flow of air in through the nostrils.
And out through the nostrils.
No need to label the breath or judge it.
Just let it flow as it wants to flow.
And be interested by it.
We're going to start our meditation today with a pranayama practice or a breath practice called Samavrti or box breathing.
This breath is excellent for calming the nervous system.
And you can practice it at any time.
To get started,
Exhale out all of your air.
And inhale for a count of four.
Three.
Two.
One,
Hold at the top.
Exhale.
3,
2,
1,
Hold.
Inhale,
Three.
Too.
One.
Hold.
Exhale,
Three.
Too.
One.
Hold.
3,
2,
1.
Good.
Inhale.
Breathe.
Too.
One.
Hold.
Three.
Too.
1.
Exhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold 3,
2,
1.
Inhale 3,
2,
1.
Too.
One.
Hold.
Three.
Too.
One.
Exhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold 3,
2,
1.
One more.
Inhale 2,
1.
Hold.
3,
2,
1.
Exhale.
3,
2,
1.
Hold.
3,
2,
1.
Good.
Let your breath come back to natural.
Notice any sensations that might be occurring in the body.
Again,
No need to label or judge,
Just be aware.
Keeping your awareness on your breath,
We are now going to move into a metta meditation practice.
And metta translates to loving kindness or compassion.
With the eyes closed,
I want you to start to turn inward and think about yourself.
Think about a time where.
You've really been tuned into the basic goodness of your existence.
Maybe a time when you've been really kind or really generous.
And if it's hard to think of this,
I often encourage people to imagine themselves as a child.
And if that child,
You,
Maybe three or four years old,
Was sitting in front of you.
.
.
Right now,
How would you feel toward that child?
And once you have yourself in mind and you feel open to.
This loving kindness in yourself.
I want you to silently repeat in your head after me.
May I be happy.
May I be safe.
May I be free from suffering.
May I be at ease.
May I be happy.
May I be safe.
May I be free from suffering.
May I be at ease.
And now I want you to think of someone that you love dearly,
Someone who has been generous and kind to you,
Maybe recently or maybe throughout your life or for a long period of time.
And picture this person in your mind with love and kindness toward them.
And then repeat silently.
In your mind to this person.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at ease.
Once again,
With this person in mind,
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at ease.
Now bring a person to mind.
With whom you don't have any relationship or connection to,
But that you know of.
So maybe a grocery store clerk or someone that you pass by walking the dog from time to time,
Someone who you feel more or less indifferent about.
Once you have this person visualized in your mind,
Repeat silently.
To this person.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at ease.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at ease.
Now bring a person.
Into your mind.
Who you may not have a good relationship with,
Perhaps someone that you might even call an enemy.
Someone who generally elicits negative feelings for you when you think about them.
And I want you to envision this person in your mind's eye right now.
And look at this person and silently say to them.
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at ease.
Again,
May you be happy.
May you be safe.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be at ease.
Now letting go of that person.
Start to expand the awareness in your mind to all beings.
All people that you know or don't know.
In this state,
In this continent,
In the entire world,
All animals,
All beings,
Anything alive,
Expand that awareness.
And repeat silently in your mind.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings be free from suffering.
May all beings be at ease.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings be free from suffering.
May all beings be at ease.
Now take a moment to just let your awareness relax back into your breath.
And come back to that sweetness.
That goodness that exists within you.
Just notice how it might feel in your body.
Allowing the breath to flow naturally for three more breaths.
And gently start to open your eyes,
Come back to your awareness here.
You can glance around the room.
And when you're ready,
You can get up from your meditation seat.
Thank you for joining me.
Namaste.
