Taking your time to be comfortable.
Is there anything you could do to be 5 or 10% more comfortable?
Adjusting cushions,
Blankets,
A jumper.
Breathing in wherever you are.
Feeling the lungs expand and then breathing out with a sigh.
Releasing and letting go.
Once more,
Breathing in.
Feeling this energy fill the lungs.
Breathing out with a sigh.
Letting go.
Letting the whole body release,
Relax.
Melting into the air.
Finding your place on the earth.
With each in-breath,
Sensing the fresh air and life bringing air into the body.
And as you breathe out,
Releasing,
Letting go the air that no longer serves.
And letting the whole body follow the breath.
Releasing,
Letting go with the out-breath.
Melting into the support of the earth.
Letting these muscles that have worked so hard to hold you up.
Letting them relax and release.
Letting the ground hold you.
Noticing those points of the body that make connection with the earth.
Those points of contact.
Sensing that pressure,
Connection.
You may wish to lie here,
Just noticing the body on the earth.
Just noticing the breath.
Or perhaps you'd like to follow me in a short,
Simple compassion practice.
Bring awareness to the hands.
You may like to leave them where they are or perhaps placing them on the body.
Maybe on the thighs.
Perhaps on the abdomen or the heart.
Feeling that connection.
That warmth,
That gentle movement as the body breathes.
And perhaps moving the hands to the heart feels very weird to you.
You might like to play with that.
You might like to lean into that strangeness.
See what feels right for you today.
And bringing to mind now,
Yourself.
We're going to move into a period of metta practice.
Loving kindness when we bring warmth or a wish for compassion to ourselves and others.
We'll start with ourselves.
Sometimes feels like a challenge.
So perhaps again maybe leaning into this.
Knowing this might feel strange,
This might feel very unusual.
Playing around with this,
Seeing how this feels.
Moving into the practice and then maybe moving back again.
Bringing yourself to mind.
Perhaps as you are right now.
Perhaps as you were as a child.
Just as you are with your many different facets.
And now perhaps connecting with the compassion,
With the warmth,
The love for yourself.
Or perhaps dropping in a wish.
May I be well.
Noticing how it feels to say that.
There may be some resistance,
That's okay.
You're not alone.
Perhaps there's a sense of warmth.
You may even like to bring in the imaginative mind.
Maybe imagining a warm golden light shining on yourself or something else that feels right for you.
May I be well.
Dropping in this simple wish.
May I be happy.
May I be free.
And knowing that there is compassion for yourself in there.
Without compassion for yourself you wouldn't have come along today.
Perhaps connecting back in with that compassion for yourself.
Or perhaps connecting in with a wish for that compassion.
May I be well.
May I be happy.
May I be free.
And perhaps there's other words that are cool to you,
That feel fitting.
Maybe you'd like to use those.
May I be happy.
May I be well.
May I be free.
Noticing how it feels to send this wish to yourself.
You may even like to imagine a golden light warming the whole of your body.
This warm light of compassion shining down on you.
And as we come towards the end of this stage,
Take a deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
Beginning to release this awareness of yourself.
And bringing to mind now the breath once more.
Noticing this gentle movement of the breath in the body.
This moment.
And moving your awareness now to bring to mind a loved one.
Perhaps a dear pet.
Perhaps a friend.
Someone with whom you don't have any strife at the moment.
Sometimes people say someone you have a simple relationship with.
If that's ever possible.
Maybe a good friend.
Maybe a pet.
Maybe not a child or a lover.
Choosing someone alive.
And not worrying if the perfect person doesn't come to mind.
Good enough will do.
Holding them in the mind's eye.
Maybe you can see them,
Maybe you can hear them.
See the way they move.
The way they sound.
If it's an animal,
Perhaps remembering how it feels to have them curled up in your lap.
Perhaps connecting in with the warmth,
The love you feel for them.
Maybe imagining a golden light on them.
May they be well.
May they be happy.
May they be free.
May they be well.
May they be happy.
May they be free.
Perhaps there's other words you'd like to wish to them.
And if you find the mind distracted or wandering off,
It's okay.
Nothing has gone wrong knowing this is the nature of the mind.
Gently and kindly guiding awareness back to this moment.
To this loved one.
And coming towards the end of this stage,
Releasing awareness of them.
Noticing the breath.
The sense of the breath in this moment.
And expand your awareness now to take in yourself,
Your loved one,
And everybody else in this class practicing right now.
Perhaps imagining a golden light on all of us.
Seeing us all in your mind's eye,
Using your imagination,
Whatever works for you.
And maybe sending out a wish to be well.
May we be well.
May we be happy.
May we be free.
Whatever wish you'd like to send out.
May we be well.
And as you do this,
Perhaps noticing if you can sense this wish to be well coming to you.
Here's many people around the world practicing.
Sending you a wish to be well.
To be happy.
To be free.
And when you're already expanding a little further,
You may even like to take in the whole world maybe.
All the animals,
All the people.
May we all be well.
May we all be happy.
May we all be free.
This is so what the world needs now.
Compassion and kindness.
Sending love out to the world.
To all these living beings.
If that feels comfortable for you.
May we be well.
May we be happy.
May we be free.
And sending this love out to all living beings.
And as we begin to come towards the end of this final stage of this practice.
Beginning to release this well wishing.
Taking a deep breath in and out.
Noticing once more this breathing body.
Noticing this body on the earth.
Sense of contact with the ground beneath you.
Here and now just as you are.
There's nothing to do.
Nothing to achieve.
Just be.
And thanking yourself for being here.
For showing up.
And when you're ready taking a deep breath in.
And out.
Bringing some movement to the fingers and the toes.
In your own time.
Finding whatever movements your body needs.
Stretch,
Move.
You may like to keep the eyes closed a little longer perhaps.
Knowing there's no rush.
Namaste.
