Welcome to week three of our A Space To Be Mindful series.
This week we'll be exploring kindness.
This meditation will help you cultivate more kindness towards yourself and those that you come into in your life.
It's commonly referred to as loving kindness meditation or metta.
It's a practice of kindness and compassion for yourself or someone in your life.
To begin this meditation,
You can be seated,
Or if you prefer to be lying down,
You can be lying down.
As you make your way into your spot,
Just start to relax your shoulders,
Relax your hands,
Find a nice straight spine and a gentle lift with the crown of your head.
You can close your eyes and allow yourself to relax deeply,
Dropping any expectations you might have,
Especially dropping any ideas you might have of meditation or yourself.
And take a long breath in through your nose,
Open your mouth and let it go,
Bringing your attention to your body and starting off at your stomach,
Just notice your stomach.
You might notice the gentle rise and fall of the breath,
Or you might notice some sounds,
Some movement.
It's important you don't judge this experience,
Instead stay really open and curious and move from the stomach to the center of your chest,
The heart,
And see if you can feel the heart beat to the rhythm of your breath.
Notice the sensations of the heart,
The feeling,
The imagery,
And then as you look deeply into the heart,
I want you to see an image of yourself,
An image of yourself that you can see really clearly.
Notice the sensations in your heart,
And as you see the image of yourself,
I want you to gently,
Mentally repeat after me,
May I be happy,
May I be well,
May I be free of all forms of suffering,
May I live my life with ease.
Notice how those words touch you,
Notice how those words make you feel,
And as you look deeper into the center of your heart,
I want you to see the image of someone that you care about,
And that could be the first one that comes into your mind,
I want you to see their face clearly in the center of your heart,
And repeat after me,
May you be happy,
May you be well,
May you be free of all forms of suffering,
May you live your life with ease.
Notice how those words resonate,
Notice the swelling up of your heart,
And then gently draw your attention back,
Now at the center of your heart,
I want you to see someone that has perhaps challenged you,
Perhaps you've had some difficulties with them,
Some arguments,
I want you to see their face really clearly now,
And maybe notice how your body feels when you see this person,
May you be happy,
May you be well,
May you be free of all forms of suffering,
May you live your life with ease,
And then notice your body,
Notice your heart,
Notice the space that you're creating in your heart for those that challenge you and for those that you love,
And gently bring your attention back to your body,
You might like to take a long breath in through your nose,
And then gently let that go,
In your own time opening your eyes,
Wiggling your fingers,
And returning to the present moment.
This concludes week three of our mindful series,
See you again next week.
