Hello,
I'm Michael Morphos and really glad to be here with you for this five-minute mindfulness meditation,
Loving-kindness and gratitude practice.
Sit or recline or stand in a way that will allow you to be relaxed and yet fully attentive and awake.
Tap into your innate abilities to be curious,
To pay attention and to notice.
Take a moment to set your intention for your practice,
Either today or in general,
And paying attention to the noticing part of the mind,
Using the mind to watch the mind,
Become curious.
What is the mind knowing?
Continuing to pay mindful attention to your experience as you recite the loving-kindness and metta recitations to yourself,
Feel,
Notice,
Pay attention to how they are resonating in the body,
In the moment,
In the mind,
In the heart,
Repeating to yourself,
May I be safe,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
And may I be content.
May I know compassion,
Empathetic joy,
And equanimity.
Get a sense,
Does this feel helpful?
Does it feel neutral?
Does it feel challenging to offer these things to yourself?
And give yourself permission to be honest with what your experience is.
What are you grateful for today?
What do you appreciate?
What can you feel gratitude about?
Sometimes it's hard to be grateful.
We're having a tough time.
All the more reason to practice and to get curious about finding that sense of appreciation,
Not forcing it,
Not faking it,
But going through the process of feeling around,
Is there anything that you can feel actual gratitude for in a wholesome way?
And hopefully there are many wonderful things that you can be grateful for.
These three practices,
Mindfulness,
Loving-kindness,
And gratitude are three of the main threads that can create the fabric of your practice and of your life.
Knowing what is being known consciously,
Creating a sphere of caring for yourself and others,
And appreciating and being grateful for anything that you can be genuinely appreciative of.
May your day be filled with peace and well-being.
