Find yourself in a comfortable position and close your eyes.
You can do this meditation seated in a chair or against the wall,
Or you can do this meditation lying down.
Whatever will help you arrive here in this moment.
Breathe in and out through the nose,
Following the direction of your breath as it fills up the chest and empties from the chest.
Continue breathing in this way,
Maybe lengthening and slowing down your inhales and exhales.
Continue breathing as I talk you through the type of meditation we'll be practicing today.
Meta meditation or loving kindness meditation comes from Buddhism,
But you don't have to be Buddhist to practice this type of meditation.
It's also known as compassion meditation.
Throughout this loving kindness meditation,
We'll be directing compassion to others and ourselves in three different parts.
And we'll do this through linking our breath to wishes or intentions of peace,
Happiness and safety.
The first part of loving kindness meditation may be directed toward yourself or someone you love.
It can be hard to direct compassion towards ourselves.
So if you're new to this practice,
Just visualize someone that you love.
Take three deep breaths and see that person.
Feel what you feel and let any well wishes come to mind.
Sometimes these meditations can bring up negative emotions.
That's okay.
We often have to face these emotions to open ourselves up and feel a deeper love and connection towards others or ourselves.
Feel what you feel without judgment.
Continue to breathe and conjure up your well wishes.
If you're stuck,
You can use any one of these wishes that resonates with you the most.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be safe.
May you be happy and at ease.
Take three more rounds of breath and send those well wishes to the person of your choice or yourself.
Take your breath to these well wishes.
The next part of this meditation,
We'll use the same process,
But we'll send our wishes to someone else.
Maybe you choose to send loving kindness to yourself this round.
Maybe you choose a person who is far away.
Maybe it's someone you haven't seen in a while.
Take some time to visualize that person and observe your feelings.
Now choose one to three well wishes.
They can be the same ones you used before or different ones.
Take your breath to your movement and send loving kindness their way.
The last part of this meditation will follow the same process,
But with a new person.
Maybe this time you choose yourself.
Maybe you choose someone else that you love.
Maybe you choose someone who you want to love.
This could be a person who doesn't make you feel so warm and fuzzy.
They annoy you,
They hurt you,
Or you've hurt them.
Take just a few moments and see if you can send them some loving kindness,
Even if it means observing some negative feelings first that come your way.
Three rounds of breath,
Observing how you feel and moving toward loving kindness.
Now send some well wishes their way or your way.
The same wishes as before or something new.
As we close out this practice,
Observe how you are feeling in your body.
Observe any differences that occurred over the course of this meditation.
Observe your breath as it fills your chest and empties from your chest.
I thank you for joining me in this loving kindness meditation.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be safe.
May you be happy and at ease.
