Welcome to this loving-kindness practice.
Beginning by finding a comfortable position.
Seated,
Standing or even lying down.
Allow the body to settle.
Taking time just to feel the support beneath you.
And if it feels comfortable,
Allow the eyes to close or you can keep them open with a soft and steady gaze.
Take some time now just to allow a few natural breaths.
Making contact with the body breath by breath.
I'm just bringing your attention inwards.
As therapists we are giving care and presence and steadiness to others.
And serve with this practice,
Allowing yourself to be the recipient of kindness.
Noticing the sensations of breath in the body.
Feeling the rhythm of breathing in.
And breathing out.
And as you do so,
You might like to gently offer yourself phrases of kindness,
Care,
Goodwill.
And you might find your own phrases.
Or you might choose to adapt the words from these phrases so that they feel true for you.
May I be kind to myself in this moment.
May I be steady and safe and supported.
May I be at ease.
And it's okay.
If the words feel uncomfortable or uneasy.
Simply resting with the intention of kindness is enough for now.
Sometimes just placing a hand on your own heart.
Allows a more tactile sense of that kindness.
Now gently bring to your mind the people that you work with.
It might be a sense of your clients collectively rather than any one particular individual.
Just aware of this shared humanity.
Their struggles,
Their strengths.
Their longing for care and relief.
And then whatever way is right for you,
Offering kindness,
Offering goodwill.
Outward silently offering phrases.
Phrases like may you feel safe.
May you find moments of ease or clarity.
May you feel supported in your path to healing.
May you feel care.
And as you Use these phrases,
Maybe noticing if your heart responds.
Whether it responds with warmth or tenderness or even neutrality.
All these responses are welcome.
And I'll bring to your mind people that you are close to.
Your family members or your friends,
Loved ones.
Allowing one or more people to come into your mind and simply holding a sense of those close to you.
They might be simple relationships or complex relationships.
However those relationships are.
Offering phrases of loving-kindness May you be safe and well.
May you be held with care.
May you find peace.
Or any other phrases that arise for you in this moment.
And of course if any difficult feelings arise you can return to kindness for yourself.
Or simply just feel the breath moving through the body.
And now allowing that field of kindness to widen,
Bringing people to your mind that you do not know personally.
Perhaps your colleagues or communities or a sense of the wider world around you.
Including in this wider circle,
Those who are suffering.
Those who care for others.
Those in your city,
In your country,
And those even beyond the borders.
As wide as the heart will allow.
And in your own way of offering these simple phrases.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings feel kindness.
And just resting here with that wider intentionality.
No particular way you need to feel.
And as we start to bring this practice to a close,
Returning your attention to your own body and breathing.
Noticing the quality of your heart right now,
Perhaps maintaining that hand on the heart reminding yourself that kindness of course includes you too.
Acknowledging your heart for all the work that it does.
When you feel ready to,
You might take a deeper breath in and a slow breath out.
You can allow the eyes to open or lifting the gaze slowly knowing that you can carry this sense of kindness with you.
Into your day or night.
Into your workplace,
Your relationships.
And the wider spaces beyond you.
May we all be at peace.
