Becoming comfortable in your chair or cushion,
Sitting with a relaxed but straight posture,
With your shoulders relaxed.
Allow your hands to rest comfortably in your lap,
And if it feels safe,
You can gently close your eyes and begin to settle into awareness of your body and your breathing.
Connecting to your breath,
Maybe noticing wave-like movements of your belly,
Rising and falling with each inhale and exhale.
In this practice,
We're going to take some time to cultivate warmth,
Tenderness,
And friendliness to ourselves.
We all have within us this natural capacity for loving kindness.
It's a natural opening of a compassionate heart to ourselves and to others,
And very simply it's a wish that everyone be happy.
In this practice,
We're going to focus in on really touching into developing loving kindness towards ourselves and allowing our hearts to open with tenderness.
So take a few moments now to remember and open up to your basic goodness.
You may remember a time when you've been kind or generous,
And you might recall your natural desire to not suffer.
Now if acknowledging your own goodness is challenging,
Look at yourself through the eyes of someone who loves you,
Of a friend or family member,
Someone that cares about you,
And just reflect for yourself what does that person love about you.
For those of you that have pets or pet lovers,
You may also recall the unconditional love you felt from your beloved pet.
If it feels available for you,
Try and picture yourself as a young child,
Perhaps four or five years of age.
Really bring that image of yourself to mind,
Yourself as a child,
And see if that allows more tender feelings of kindness to flow.
And as you experience this love,
Just notice how you may feel in your body.
You might feel some warmth,
Perhaps a smile is coming to your face,
A sense of more expansiveness.
Now resting with this feeling of open warmth and tenderness for a few moments.
So now we'll begin to wish ourselves well by extending words of loving kindness.
I'll be offering as guidance some phrases that I've chosen to use in my own practice,
And you're invited to alter these phrases and choose whatever words really express your wishes of kindness and tenderness and love towards yourself and others.
So now offering these words in your mind for yourself,
You can silently repeat after me in your mind.
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 just being alive.
So taking some time to really feel this sense of tenderness and love wash all over you.
If it feels available,
Taking a few deep breaths out of your heart space or even giving yourself a hug,
And I invite you to love yourself relentlessly today.
