Welcome to a 20 minute kindly awareness meditation.
Let's begin by finding a comfortable seated position.
Feeling the ground beneath the feet or the sitting bones making contact with the seat.
Spine growing tall,
Closing the eyes if that feels right for you today.
Or simply maintaining a soft gaze.
Making a choice to allow ourselves to be exactly as we are in this moment.
Our intention today is to practice kindness to ourselves,
To the whole of our experience,
And expanding to include more and more people.
Our shared common humanity.
Connecting and noticing the experience of kindness in our body,
Thoughts and emotions.
Knowing that we can offer kindly awareness whether we're feeling kindness,
Sadness or any other way.
Bringing an attitude of kindness,
Curiosity and non judging.
And surrendering the body to stillness.
And as we practice this meditation,
If at any time sensations in the body become too uncomfortable,
Or thoughts or emotions arise that are too difficult.
Remembering that it is possible to simply return to the breath or the grounding of the body.
Tuning in and listening to the sound of my voice when ready.
When ready.
Stage one.
Responding kindly to the whole of our experience.
Settling into a broad experience of the senses.
Awareness of the body,
The breath and the present moment.
Practicing a sense of warmth and kindness in the breath.
Imagining it soothing the body as the breath rolls in and rolls out.
Connecting to ourselves with a sense of kindness,
Or simply breathing with the intention of responding kindly.
From this space of being grounded and in the moment,
Bringing to mind someone that is easy to feel kindness towards.
Someone from the past or the present.
Perhaps a child or a pet.
An easy simple relationship may be best.
Allowing ourselves to hold them in our awareness.
Perhaps practicing seeing them in our minds eye.
Or perhaps feeling a sense of them in the heart.
As best we can,
Feeling a sense of kindness towards them.
Where can you feel this sense of kindness in the body as you hold them in our awareness?
Being mindful of the quality or qualities that are arising in the moment.
Practicing letting go of any judgments.
We may or may not be feeling kindness and that's okay.
It's simply how it is right now.
And if there is any pain or suffering,
Just softening as best we can.
Remembering that the heart has its seasons.
Feelings cannot be forced.
So practicing giving ourselves permission to just be as we are.
Bringing to mind a friend.
Inviting this person into our awareness in whatever way feels most alive and engaged.
Perhaps practicing evoking a sense of our friend and sitting with our experience of them.
Bringing to mind what we share.
Having already reflected on the pleasure and pain in our own experience.
Now practicing that our friend also experiences pleasure and pain in each moment of their life.
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Our friend feels joy and sorrow,
Hope and fear.
And experiences triumphs and regrets just like we do.
They experience the same range of emotions we experience.
And just like us,
They wish to love and to be loved.
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We can also reflect that our friend is breathing in and out just as we are.
Practicing becoming aware of our friend on the in-breath.
And then breathing out kindness and well-wishing towards them on the out-breath.
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Stage 3.
Broadening our awareness to include more and more people.
Coming back to the body and the breath.
And anchoring in the present moment.
Breathing in a breath of kindness.
And breathing out a breath of kindness.
Bringing to mind both ourselves and our good friend.
Practicing connecting with what we share.
Our common human experience.
And noticing what is arising for us as we practice feeling kindness to ourselves and to our friend.
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Awareness of breathing in and breathing out.
And of earthing ourselves through the ground.
Breathing deeply in and breathing deeply out.
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And gently turning your attention towards sounds in the room and the sounds outside of the room.
Perhaps waking up the body with some light movement.
And when you're ready,
Gently opening your eyes and coming back into the room.
This meditation is now complete.
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