This is a meditation to practice letting in the good.
We're going to start by sitting up straight with your feet grounded on the floor or your legs crossed.
Pay attention to your back.
Make sure it's nice and straight.
Shoulders back.
Head lifted.
Make sure there's no tension in the face.
Soften the eyes.
And you can smile a little if you feel comfortable doing so.
And then just start to breathe.
Slow down the breath.
Take a nice deep breath from the stomach.
And take a few minutes to settle in.
Turn the attention inwards.
Away from the distraction and busyness around you.
When you're ready,
I want you to bring to mind someone very close to you that you care about deeply.
And I want you to imagine them in your mind's eye.
Imagine them as vividly as you can.
Just visualising them,
Not thinking too much.
Just picture what they look like.
Their face.
Their features.
What they might be wearing.
How they might be standing or sitting.
Imagine they're right there in front of you.
And now I want you to repeat four mantras to that person.
And I want you to say them as genuinely as you can.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
You can say it out loud or to yourself in your head.
Continue to think of them.
Breathe deeply.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
Notice how you feel.
And then when you're ready,
You're going to turn the attention inwards to yourself.
You can choose to just imagine yourself or pick to yourself in your mind's eye if that works for you.
Or you can just try and focus in your attention inwards.
Now we're going to repeat the mantras to ourselves and wish ourselves happiness.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
Next we're going to turn our attention to someone who we don't know as well.
This could be an acquaintance.
Someone we've seen today.
Or even someone we've never met.
And we're just going to tap into the experience that everyone wants the same things and everyone just wants to feel happy.
Healthy.
Safe.
And to live with ease.
So when you're ready,
Try and imagine this person in your mind's eye.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
Continue to check in with yourself.
Notice how you feel.
Ideally we're trying to generate feelings of wishes of happiness.
But if other emotions come up,
That's completely normal.
You may experience emotions of love,
Or friendliness,
Or calmness.
Just notice these.
Or you might experience feelings of anger,
Or frustration,
Or jealousy.
If that's the case,
We're just going to notice those difficult thoughts.
Breathe into them.
Notice where they reside in the body.
Where you can feel these emotions.
Maybe it's in the tummy,
Or the heart,
Or in the muscle tension in the hands,
Or the back,
Or the face.
Just take a few moments to breathe into any difficult emotions.
Or if no difficult emotions have arise for you,
Then bask in the good emotions that have come up.
Return to the image of the loved one from the start.
Notice any emotions that come up there.
Return to the person you love.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
And then take that love and that wishing of happiness and expand that to think of everyone.
It could be everyone in your community,
It could be everyone in your country,
Or everyone in the world,
But expand that love from your loved one outwards.
And notice that everyone has the same wishes towards other people.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
May you be safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
Notice how you feel.
It's okay if we experience negative emotions.
And it's good that we're aware of those and we spend time breathing into those.
But it's also important that when we do notice the positive emotions,
That we savour those and we notice them and we experience them fully.
We're going to end the meditation now by bringing to mind three things that we're grateful for.
These could be little things that happen today.
These could be ongoing things in your life.
Or these could be things that you're grateful for around the people who you brought to mind today during this loving kindness meditation.
Try not to think about them too much,
Just try and feel them.
Feel the three things that bring you a sense of gratitude today.
Notice them and just notice how the feeling of gratitude feels for you.
When you're ready you can start to wiggle your fingers.
Wiggle your toes.
Think about how you bring with you those feelings of love and gratitude that we generated today into your day to day life.
When you're ready you can open your eyes.
