Welcome to loving kindness meditation meta.
Become comfortable in a seat or lying down.
If you're seated,
Have a straight spine,
Relax shoulders.
Allow your hands to rest comfortably on your lap.
Close your eyes.
Sitting in awareness of your body and your breath.
Feeling into your body right now.
Noticing what's there.
Open to whatever is to be experienced in the body in this moment.
Connecting to the breath,
Noticing the wave-like movements of the belly.
In this practice,
We'll be cultivating loving kindness.
We all have within us this natural capacity for loving kindness.
A friendship that is unconditional,
Open,
Gentle,
Loving,
And supportive.
Loving kindness is a natural opening of a compassionate heart.
To ourselves and to others.
It's a wish that everyone be happy.
We begin with developing loving kindness towards ourselves.
Allowing our hearts to open with tenderness.
Now allow yourself to remember and open up to your basic goodness.
You might remember times you have been kind or generous.
You might recall your natural desire to be happy and not to suffer.
If acknowledging your own goodness is difficult,
Look at yourself through the eyes of someone else who loves you.
What does that person love about you?
Or you may recall the unconditional love you felt from a pet.
It may help to use the imagination and to picture yourself as a young child standing before you,
Perhaps four or five years of age.
That allows tender feelings of kindness to flow more easily.
And as you experience this love,
Notice how you feel in your body.
Maybe you feel some warmth or heat in the face.
A smile.
A sense of expansiveness.
This is loving kindness.
A natural feeling that is accessible to all of us.
Always.
Resting with this feeling of open,
Unconditional love for a few moments.
Be there.
Feel it.
Letting yourself bask in the energy of loving kindness,
Breathe it in and breathe it out.
Inviting feelings of peace and acceptance.
So beginning now,
Wish yourself and extend these words of loving kindness.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be held in loving kindness.
May I feel connected and calm.
May I accept myself just as I am.
May I be happy.
May I know the natural joy of being alive.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
And be with yourself for a moment.
But repeat those words again.
Of loving kindness to yourself.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be held in loving kindness.
May I feel connected and calm.
May I accept myself just as I am.
May I be happy.
And may I know the natural joy of being alive.
Slowly breathe in.
Slowly breathe out.
Be with yourself.
Accepting this loving kindness gesture just for you.
Now let's open the circle of loving kindness by bringing to mind someone who is dear to you.
Someone who you care about and who has always been supportive.
Reflect on this person.
Basic goodness.
Sensing what it is in particular that you love about them.
And in your heart,
Feel your appreciation for this dear one.
And begin your simple offering of loving kindness.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be held in loving kindness.
May you feel my love now.
May you accept yourself just as you are.
May you be happy.
And may you know the natural joy of being alive.
Breathe in and breathe out.
Now bring to mind a neutral person.
This is someone you might see regularly but don't know well.
It might be a neighbor or a coworker.
Bring this person to your mind now.
And repeat the words of loving kindness.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be held in loving kindness.
May you feel my love now.
May you accept yourself just as you are.
May you be happy.
May you know the natural joy of being alive.
And breathe in and breathe out.
Now if it's possible for you,
Bring to mind someone with whom you've had a difficult relationship.
Perhaps it's someone you don't like to feel sympathy or compassion for.
See if it's possible to let go of feelings of resentment and dislike for this person.
Reminding yourself to see this person as a whole being deserving of love and kindness.
As someone who feels pain and anxiety and someone who also suffers in this world.
See if it's possible to extend this person the words of loving kindness in your mind.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be held in loving kindness.
May you feel my love now.
May you accept yourself just as you are.
May you be happy.
And may you know the natural joy of being alive.
Breathe in and breathe out.
Now allow yourself to open out in all directions yourself,
A dear one,
A neutral person,
And a difficult person,
And all of the beings,
Humans,
Animals living everywhere,
Living in riches,
Poverty,
War,
Peace,
Hunger,
Abundance.
Aware of all the joys and sorrows that all beings experience.
May all beings be filled with loving kindness.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings awaken and be free.
May all beings be happy.
Breathe in and breathe out.
And to close the practice,
We'll come back to nourishing the self,
You.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be held in loving kindness.
May I feel connected and calm.
May I accept myself just as I am.
May I be happy.
And may I know the natural joy of being alive.
Breathe in and breathe out.
Allow yourself to be for a moment,
Basking in the energy of loving kindness that you generated here.
Noticing the natural flow of your breath and feeling the stillness of your body.
Simply allowing yourself just to be right here,
Right now.
Bring a gentle smile to your lips and feel the radiance in the center of your heart.
Thank you for taking this moment out and being with yourself and allowing yourself to be filled with loving kindness.
Namaste.
