Mettā Loving Kindness Meditation

This Mettā Loving Kindness meditation will help you with both forgiveness and self-compassion. This simple exercise of sending compassion and love to those around you will change your mindset to one of peace and calm. This meditation is especially good if you are working on healing from heartbreak, trauma recovery, or anger management.

Transcript

Hi,

Welcome to the Metta or loving kindness meditation.

I'd like you to find a comfortable spot,

Either sitting or laying down and bring your attention to your breath.

Feel your chest and belly expand as you breathe in and contract as you breathe out.

Settle into your body and notice any sensations you may be having.

Could be in your face or your hands,

Your feet,

Your legs.

Feel where your body touches the surface of where you're sitting or laying.

For a minute,

Just pause and notice how your body feels.

Good.

Now take a deep breath and relax as you exhale.

Realize that you've given yourself this time to connect with your inner guidance,

Your ability to help your fellow human beings on this planet,

And your true nature as a broadcaster of pure love.

What a lovely gift.

Allow yourself to feel your loving and caring nature.

So you might think about times you've been kind or generous to someone.

Think about your natural desire to see those whom you love be happy.

And as you experience this love,

Notice how it feels in your body.

Maybe you feel some warmth or heat in the face,

A smile,

A sense of expansiveness.

This is loving kindness.

It's a natural feeling that's accessible to all of us always.

Simply experience this feeling of open,

Unconditional love.

Now bring to mind someone you love dearly.

This may be a romantic partner,

A best friend,

A child,

Or even a pet.

I want you to imagine your heart filling with so much love for this person.

It feels like it might burst with joy.

I want you to send a wish from your heart to this person.

May you find happiness and the causes of happiness.

May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May you feel all the love I'm sending you and all the love the universe has for you.

May you know the natural joy of feeling alive.

And may you always feel connected and supported by all the love around you.

Now witness this person blossom and glow from all the love you're sending them.

See their heart,

Body,

And mind fill with true happiness as you transmit pure love to them.

Now picture someone you respect immensely.

This could be someone you know personally,

Or it could be a spiritual leader like Wayne Dyer or Eckhart Tolle,

Or maybe it's a celebrity like Oprah or Ellen Degeneres.

Picture them standing right in front of you.

Now fill your heart up again with love and send them this message.

May you find happiness and the causes of happiness.

May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May you feel all the love I'm sending you and all the love the universe has for you.

May you know the natural joy of feeling alive.

And may you always feel connected and supported by all the love around you.

Now think of an acquaintance who you like a lot.

Maybe a coworker or your child's teacher,

Maybe your yoga instructor,

Or a friend of a friend that you'd like to get to know better.

Bring this person to mind.

Picture them in front of you and send them the prayer.

May you find happiness and the causes of happiness.

May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May you feel all the love I'm sending you and all the love the universe has for you.

May you know the natural joy of being alive.

And may you always feel connected and supported by all the love around you.

Now picture someone who you see around but don't know very well.

Maybe a neighbor or your mail carrier.

Maybe someone who works at the supermarket or at your local coffee house where you hang out.

Picture them standing in front of you.

This person too has hopes and dreams.

They have people and activities that bring them joy.

They've also had hard times and difficult challenges to face just like you.

Maybe they're lonely or in a bad relationship.

Whatever the case,

They've experienced joy just like you and they've experienced sadness just like you.

Invite them into the warmth from your heart and send them this message.

May you find happiness and the causes of happiness.

May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May you feel all the love I'm sending you and all the love the universe has for you.

May you know the natural joy of feeling alive.

And may you always feel connected and supported by all the love around you.

Now imagine a stranger.

You haven't met this person and you may never meet them.

They could be in your town or maybe they're halfway around the world.

Bring an image of them to your mind.

Just like everyone else,

They've had good times and bad.

They've felt love but also rejection and loneliness.

They've felt confidence and pride in their success and also guilt,

Sadness,

And shame at their failures.

They are just like you.

Also they deserve happiness just like you.

Send them your prayer.

May you find happiness and the causes of happiness.

May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May you feel all the love I'm sending you and all the love that the universe has for you.

May you know the natural joy of feeling alive.

And may you always feel connected and supported by all the love around you.

Now picture someone who has wronged you.

Someone who has hurt you or made you feel mad or treated you badly.

Bring this person to mind.

Can you see that they too have good times and bad?

They too have felt times of great love and times of rejection.

Their actions towards you may have been unjust or spiteful,

But they are still a human being having a messy human experience just like you.

Send them the message.

May you find happiness and the causes of happiness.

May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May you feel all the love I'm sending you and all the love the universe has for you.

May you know the natural joy of feeling alive.

And may you always feel connected and supported by all the love around you.

Finally,

I want you to picture yourself.

I want you to remember a time when you had a real connection with someone.

You were doing something you love and you just felt really close to someone.

See how happy you are,

Smiling and laughing.

Notice the connection you felt to the person you're with and notice the moment.

Take that version of you and I want you to imagine you're standing right in front of yourself.

Open your heart and send yourself this prayer.

May you find happiness and the causes of happiness.

May you be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May you feel all the love I'm sending you and all the love the universe has for you.

May you know the natural joy of being alive.

And may you always feel connected and supported by all the love around you.

You deserve love.

You deserve kindness.

You deserve forgiveness.

You deserve these things whether you're happy,

Sad,

Cranky or mean.

Whether you try and succeed or try and fail.

It's all part of the learning process and you deserve to be loved,

Supported and cared for all the way through.

Now send this message to your body,

Mind and spirit and then broadcast it out to the world.

May I find happiness and the causes of happiness.

May I be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May I feel all the love the universe has for me.

May I know the natural joy of feeling alive.

And may I always feel connected and supported by all the love around me.

Thank you for listening and for opening your heart here for a few minutes.

Your love and compassion is the greatest gift you have to give both to others and yourself.

May the time you spent today giving that gift come back to you a thousand fold.