Welcome to your Live Mindfully meditation,
Coming Home.
In this practice,
We will explore cultivating a sense of friendliness with ourselves,
And then extending this to the world around us.
I'll invite you now to get into a comfortable position,
Either sitting in a chair or in a cushion on the floor.
We can allow the back to become straight but not rigid,
And perhaps moving slightly away from any back support you may have.
You might like to tuck the chin slightly to lengthen the back of the neck,
And you could allow the shoulders to soften down.
Place your hands wherever they feel most comfortable,
Either on your lap or on your knees.
If you feel comfortable with it,
You might like to now softly close down the eyes,
Or simply allow your gaze to rest unfocused on a spot in front of you.
Without changing or fixing anything,
You might like to notice the fact that you're breathing.
Allow your attention to ride the waves of the breath.
Allowing your breath to be your anchor to the present moment,
The anchor to the unfolding of your life,
To the clarity,
The calm and the sense of connection already residing within you.
Just this breath.
And this one.
When you notice the mind wander to the past or the future as it will,
With kindness and patience for yourself and for the practice,
Direct the attention gently back to resting with the breath.
Letting go of the breath now and bringing to mind a person or an animal for whom you care deeply.
A being whose presence fills you with pure joy.
Imagine their face in front of you,
Their eyes smiling.
Feel their affection beaming from them and allow your body to become flooded with their warmth.
Allow this feeling to permeate your whole being from your skin to your muscles to your bones,
All of your cells nourishing,
Nurturing,
Restoring you.
Really feeling their affection flooding through your body.
Now that we've cultivated these feelings of affection and kindness,
I invite you to practice sending these feelings of compassion back towards yourself.
Wishing yourself well.
This can be very challenging for some of us as we're so well practiced at treating ourselves sternly or with criticism.
In this situation,
We simply start where we are.
And we do the best we can.
Even if at times it feels uncomfortable,
It will soon become more natural as our skill grows in this area.
Remember,
We grow what we practice.
So we look upon ourselves with compassion,
With kindness,
With understanding and acceptance.
Sending ourselves friendly wishes.
Sending ourselves the affection we usually reserve for others.
We can further support this process by silently repeating these words in our minds.
May I be strong and safe.
May I be happy.
May I be kind to myself.
May I be strong and safe.
May I be happy.
May I be strong and safe.
May I be happy.
May I be kind to myself.
Allowing these words to ripple and resonate within you.
Let's now extend these friendly wishes to others in our life.
Please bring to mind a person you feel close to in your life,
Perhaps a family member or a friend,
And send them friendly wishes.
May you be strong and safe.
May you be happy.
May you be kind to yourself.
May you be strong and safe.
May you be happy.
May you be kind to yourself.
May you be strong and safe.
May you be happy.
May you be kind to yourself.
Bring to mind now your work colleagues,
Your immediate and extended team,
And send them friendly wishes.
May my work colleagues be strong and safe.
May they be happy.
May they be kind to themselves.
May my work colleagues be strong and safe.
May they be happy.
May they be kind to themselves.
May my work colleagues be strong and safe.
May they be happy.
May they be kind to themselves.
Letting go of these sentences now.
By practicing in this way,
We're preparing ourselves for more effective relationships with both ourself and with others.
We're cultivating our own internal home,
A space where we feel safe and loved,
A space we can create for ourselves.
From this place within us,
We can extend our compassion and kindness to others,
And we can acknowledge that all humans share the desire for a deep happiness.
We can allow this sense of shared humanity to break down the superficial barriers we often so mindlessly build between us.
And we can truly realize we are all in this together.
So as this formal practice comes to an end,
I'll invite you to sense once again back into the body,
Allowing the attention to rest at the top of the head and then trickle down over the whole body like warm water until your attention is resting once again with the feet on the floor.
In a moment,
You'll hear the sound of the bell to complete the practice.
I'll invite you to keep your eyes closed until you can no longer hear the ringing.
And then you can slowly open your eyes and transition consciously back into your day where you can choose to live mindfully.
The sound of the bell to complete the practice.
