Sharing Loving Kindness & The 12 Step Prayers

A slow, gentle and uplifting practice that begins with breath-centering to let go of negative thoughts. It then walks us through each step prayer whilst sending loving kindness to an ever-expanding circle of beings; from ourselves to those around us, and ultimately to our entire community of practice and the world.

Transcript

Good day and welcome to another guided meditation in the 12-step tradition.

I invite you to just take a moment to settle into your chair or where you're lying down,

Breathing into wherever you are,

Straightening your back,

Noticing any areas of stiffness,

Or anything inside of you which is tight,

And just breathing into that,

Whatever it may be.

Continuing to focus on our breath,

We can use whatever we notice as a tool,

A tool to become more aware of what's going on inside of us or areas in our day which may have been frustrating or maybe challenging.

And our goal by using our breath is simply acceptance,

Acceptance of whatever has happened,

Whatever our current situation is in life,

How much easier,

How much more at peace we might be if we simply accept it.

Allowing thoughts to pass by,

Anything that comes to us,

Simply to let it go on a river of thoughts.

It's something that bothers us or if it's something that we take joy in,

Holding onto it lightly.

How much easier life might be if we didn't hold onto those thoughts.

We didn't take them in and not make them a part of ourselves,

But just let them go,

Realizing that all thoughts come and go.

Bring our focus back to our breath.

Breathing in,

Acceptance.

Breathing out,

We're letting go.

Today,

Our goal will be taking this new found serenity and sending loving kindness out to others.

As we do so,

We'll take time to pray a few of the step prayers that have been so useful to ourselves perhaps in the past or to others and think about ways that we can use those to bring about more acceptance and serenity among us and those around us.

Let's begin by sending some loving kindness directly to ourselves.

May I be well.

May I be happy.

May I be peaceful and at ease.

And the first step,

God,

Creative intelligence,

Universal mind,

Spirit of the universe,

I come to you as a real addict,

Addicted to so many things,

But especially one which I would concentrate and pray on today.

I need your help.

I need your help today.

And the second step,

God,

I'm standing at a turning point right now.

Please grant me your protection and care as I abandon myself to you,

Giving up my old ways,

My old ideas,

Just for today.

Amen.

Let us now send out loving kindness towards someone we may think about as we say these prayers.

Maybe someone close to us that we encounter daily,

Someone that has helped us on our journey.

Speaking directly to them as if we were looking into their eyes and say,

May you be well.

May you be happy.

May you be peaceful and at ease.

And the third step,

God,

I offer myself to the to build with me and do with me as that wilt,

Please relieve me of the bondage of self that I may better do that I will.

Please help me to take away my own difficulties,

Ego,

Striving,

Grasping that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of that power,

I love and I way of life.

May I do that.

I will always please take my will in my life,

Guide me in recovery and show me how to live again.

Amen.

Let's take the opportunity now to send out loving kindness toward someone whom we may help,

Someone that we think about or pass by but maybe haven't paid much attention to in the past.

Someone whom we may help with just a kind word or a kind thought.

May you be happy.

May you be peaceful and at ease.

Breathing in acceptance.

Breathing out and letting go.

And the fourth step,

God,

Please mold my ideals in particular areas of my life and help me to live up to them.

What should I do in each specific matter or situation?

Please guide me.

Give me strength to do what is right.

Amen.

We may also wish to ask in this step that our higher power will leave us of fear and direct our attention toward where they would have it be.

Helping to show another person tolerance or patience or cheerfulness such that you may grant a friend.

Coming back to our breath.

Thinking of someone that has perhaps made you angry or that you've had some sort of resentment against in the past.

Being willing to completely forgive that person.

Letting go of the hold that they've had over you or negative thoughts they've brought to you.

We simply wish them well.

May you be well.

May you be happy.

May you be peaceful and at ease.

Step five.

God,

I thank you from the bottom of my heart that I know you better.

Help me to become aware of anything I may have omitted.

Not discussing with another person.

Not bringing to light something from my past or something which is weighing upon me.

Help me to do what is necessary to walk as a free person at last.

Amen.

Turning our thoughts outward to a coworker or someone that we spend time with each day.

Let us wish them well.

May you be well.

May you be happy.

May you be peaceful and at ease.

Step six.

God,

Please help me to become willing to let go of all the things to which I still cling,

I still hold onto tightly.

Help me to be ready to let you remove all of these hangups,

All of these defects in my character.

And let your will seep in,

Your purpose take their place.

Amen.

Thinking about someone we may have wronged,

Someone we may have overlooked.

Our recent past,

Let's say to them,

May you be well.

May you be happy.

May you be peaceful and at ease.

Our seventh step.

My creator,

I am now willing that you should have all of me,

Good and bad.

I pray that you would remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you or my fellows.

Please grant me strength as I go from here to do your will.

Amen.

Sending our thoughts a bit further afield.

In steps eight and nine,

We're asking to sweep away the debris of our past and make an effort.

Let us make an effort by reaching out towards our neighbors,

The community nearby us,

Thinking of them or perhaps it will help to think of an individual.

May they be well.

They be happy.

May they be peaceful and at ease.

Eighth step.

God help me to become willing to sweep away the debris of self-will and self-reliance.

They will be done for this person as well as for me.

Amen.

The ninth step prayer is focused on generating patience,

Tolerance and kindness.

So let us think about perhaps a few people,

A few people that we don't have contact with but that maybe we see in the news or in media that really bother us for which we need some patience and tolerance to realize that they too are people.

Let us pray for them.

May you be well.

May you be happy.

May you be peaceful and at ease.

God please give me the strength and direction to do the right thing no matter what the consequences may be.

Help me to consider others and not harm them in any way with my words or my actions.

Help me to consult with others before I take any actions that would cause me to be sorry not to repeat such behaviors.

Show me the way of patience,

Tolerance,

Kindness and love and help me to live within these spiritual principles.

Amen.

Steps 10,

11 and 12 very much push us into the world around us towards that which we can somehow reserve in our strength and our energy towards serving others.

Let us therefore do one more loving kindness sending out everyone that we can think of.

Everyone in the world around us in the wider world.

May you all be well.

May you all be happy.

May you all be peaceful and at ease.

And may I play some small part in making that happen.

We'll read steps 10 through 12 together and then we'll send ourselves loving kindness before finishing.

God,

Please remove any dishonesty,

Resentment or fear that has cropped up in my life today and each day help me to discuss it immediately with someone or to make amends as quickly as I have harmed someone else.

Help me to cease fighting anything or anyone.

Show me where I may be helpful to someone else.

Help me to react in a sane way,

Not arrogantly or afraid.

Help me to see how I can best serve.

Your will,

Not mine,

Be done.

As we go through this day,

We pause when agitated or doubtful and ask for right action.

We constantly remind ourselves that we're no longer running the show,

Humbly saying to ourselves many times,

Thy will,

Not mine,

Be done.

Lord,

Make me an instrument of thy peace that where there is hatred I may still love.

Where there is wrong,

I may bring the spirit of forgiveness,

Discord,

Harmony.

Where there is error,

I may bring truth.

Where there is doubt,

I may bring faith.

Where there is despair,

I may bring hope.

Where there is shadow,

Light.

Where there is sadness,

Joy.

Lord,

Grant that I may not so much seek to be comforted as to comfort.

To understand is to be understood.

To love more than to be loved.

For it is self-forgetting that one finds forgiving that one is forgiven.

And in passing that one awakens to the eternal life.

To oneself,

May I be well.

May I be happy.

May I be peaceful and at ease.

Thank you for dedicating your time to yourself and to serving others in this practice today.

Reviews

Beautiful. Calm and relaxing voice.

Thank you
I love meta and the 12 steps
Perfectly combined

Perfect

Fantastic

Loved his voice. Thank you for sharing all the 12,step prayers.

Excellent combination of the 12 step prayers and the meta-prayers, thank you. I liked the cadence and paste of your voice.

The teaching is profound and the prayers healing and grounding. Thank you

Beautiful, thoughtful encapsulation of the twelve step prayers and essence, this helps me connect directly to Spirit for guidance 1-12 each day. Thank you so much 🙏🏼✨

Thank you. Love the blend. I’ll be sharing this with others. Blessings to you.

Just what I needed, I will definitely return to this. A great way to visit and feel the presence of 12 steps in my life.

So great! I will return to listen again! Just what I needed for peace and serenity before falling asleep! Thank-you

Looking forward to a re-recording-the background noise a little distracting.
However, there were some timely car beeps in there after you said “God’s will be done”😉
Overall this was very good and I will be sharing.

Excellent, perfect pace! Thank you for posting on Insite! So helpful! 🙏🙏

I enjoyed this combination of Buddhist practice and the 12 Steps.
🙏🏽💚
Well done. Thank you.