Welcome to this guided meditation for befriending yourself with loving-kindness.
Loving-kindness is a formal meditation practice that cultivates the quality of loving acceptance.
At its heart,
Loving-kindness is the simple desire for happiness and well-being for ourselves and for others.
It's not dependent on performance,
Worthiness,
Or conditions being just right.
It's an unconditional gesture of the heart.
In this practice,
We're not trying to force a particular feeling.
Instead,
We set an intention to nurture the loving-kindness that already exists within us,
While gently allowing whatever is present—sensations in the body,
Thoughts in the mind,
Emotions in the heart—to be here just as they are.
Traditionally,
Loving-kindness meditation is offered to ourselves and then gradually extended to others—someone we dearly love,
A respected benefactor,
A neutral person,
And even someone with whom we experience difficulty.
But the practice begins with ourselves.
We begin by strengthening the foundation of kindness towards our own body,
Heart,
And mind.
As the poet Rupi Kaur writes,
It was when I stopped searching for home within others and lifted the foundations of home within myself,
I found there were no roots more intimate than those between a mind and a body that have decided to be whole.
In this meditation,
We are gently lifting those foundations,
Cultivating a sense of inner homecoming,
And tending the roots of loving-kindness within ourselves.
So when you're ready,
Closing your eyes if that's comfortable for you,
Or perhaps just softening your gaze and establishing yourself in a comfortable but alert position—perhaps sitting on a chair or a cushion,
Or even laying down—feeling sensations of points of contact that the body makes with the surface beneath you,
Perhaps noticing warmth or sensations of pressure,
Noticing how the body is supported and held,
And becoming aware of the breath moving through the body,
Breathing in,
Knowing you're breathing in,
And breathing out,
Knowing you're breathing out,
Feeling into the waves of in-breath and out-breath,
Allowing the breath to nourish your body.
And as you're ready,
We'll begin expressing some phrases of loving-kindness silently towards ourselves as we breathe in and breathe out,
Following along as best you can,
Offering these words of loving-kindness as you breathe.
May I be safe and protected.
Breathing in and breathing out.
May I be safe and protected.
Allowing these words to move through you as you breathe.
Safe and protected.
May I be kind towards my suffering.
May I be kind towards my suffering.
Breathing in and breathing out.
May I be kind towards my suffering.
Just noticing how it feels to offer yourself these words.
May I be kind towards my suffering.
May I be well in body and mind.
May I be well in body and mind.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Sensing how you respond to this phrase as you continue to breathe.
May I be well in body and mind.
And allowing things to be exactly as they are.
May I be well in body and mind.
May I be at ease and happy.
May I be at ease and happy.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Ease and happiness.
May I be at ease and happy.
And doing your best to just allow yourself to sit in stillness with whatever arises.
May I be at ease and happy.
Allowing these words to nurture you as best you can.
As you're ready to,
Bringing your awareness back to the sensations of the body as you sit or lie here.
Feeling the weight of the body.
Noticing the waves of breath moving through you.
And allowing yourself to be exactly as you are in this moment.
Which is in and of itself an act of loving kindness.
