Welcome to today's meditation.
In today's session,
I'm gonna guide you through an adaptation of the Buddhist Metta prayer for love and kindness.
Go ahead and find a comfortable seated position.
You can have your legs crossed or out in front of you.
If you prefer to be lying down,
You can also lie down with your knees bent,
Allowing your hands to rest gently by your side,
Feeling the connection of the sit bones into the earth beneath.
Take a few moments here just to drop out of the mind and into the body,
Taking three slow breaths in through the nose,
Filling up in the belly,
Exhaling through the mouth to release any tension that sits on the tops of your shoulders.
Two more times,
Inhale through the nose,
Exhale through the mouth.
One more time in and out.
For today's meditation,
I want you to bring your focus,
Your mind's eye to the space of your heart,
Just noticing initially how the heart feels,
Whether it is open or closed,
Maybe noticing if you can hear the heart or feel the rhythm of the heart as it pumps energy through your body,
As it pumps life through your body.
It is from the space of the heart that we give and receive love.
Sometimes this space can become hurt,
Heartbroken.
Sometimes we create walls so high that nobody else can get in.
When we operate with an open heart,
We are able to give and receive love easily.
We're able to let go of the heaviness and the weight,
Which bitterness and grudges and anger and grief can cause us if we carry it for too long.
Bring your shoulders all the way out to your ears,
Roll them down your back,
Opening the front of the chest.
Do that two more times.
Inhale up,
Exhale back down.
One more time,
Inhale and exhale to open,
Settling the shoulder blades down onto the back.
I want you to bring someone or something that you care about really deeply into your mind's eye.
This could be a family member,
A child,
A favorite teacher,
A best friend,
A pet,
Something or someone which you love unconditionally.
As you see them standing in front of you,
Notice how the space of your heart feels.
Is it warm,
Does it radiate light and love and energy?
I want you to say to this person or being in front of you,
May you be safe,
May you be healthy,
May you be free from harm,
May you be at peace.
Reach out and give them a cuddle and allow them to go on their way.
I now invite you to bring someone that you don't know that well,
But someone who has made a positive impact on your life.
It could be someone you passed at the grocery store who smiled at you this morning.
It could be a previous university lecturer.
It could be a colleague from work.
Bring them into your mind's eye now and offer them a warm smile.
Notice that they,
Like you,
Are just human too and that just like you are receiving of love.
With an open heart,
Say to them,
May you be safe,
May you be healthy,
May you be free from harm,
May you be at peace.
Reach out and give them a hug and allow them to be on their way.
I now invite you to zoom out a little bit more and see your community,
The people you know,
The people you love,
The people you don't know at all.
Noticing that everyone is on their own journey,
Noticing that everyone is deserving of love and kindness.
As you look down over this community,
Placing your hands on your heart,
Say to them as a collective,
May you be safe,
May you be healthy,
May you be free from harm,
May you be at peace.
Zoom out even more as if you are just your consciousness out in space,
Observing the earth in which we live.
Notice all beings on earth,
Animals,
Humans,
Insects,
Reptiles,
Everything,
The trees,
The flowers,
The land which makes this space our home.
With a full heart,
Repeat,
May you be safe,
May you be healthy,
May you be free from harm,
May you be at peace.
Notice the warmth,
The energy,
How beautiful it feels to offer love and kindness.
I now want you to take this attention to someone who perhaps has done wrong by you,
Someone who it may be difficult to forgive,
Someone who has impacted you in a way which causes you to carry heaviness.
Take a deep breath into the heart space,
Recognizing that this person is also human and regardless of their mistakes is also deserving of love and kindness.
Say to them,
May you be safe,
May you be healthy,
May you be free from harm,
May you be at peace.
Allow them to go and as the final part of today's meditation,
I want you to turn your attention to yourself.
Stand in front of yourself and see yourself in all your glory,
In all your beauty,
In all of your perfect imperfections,
Noticing who you are and as you do so,
Hold your own hand and say to yourself,
May you be safe,
May you be healthy,
May you be free from harm,
May you be at peace.
Reach both hands out wide,
Fingertips spreading to either side of the room,
Pull the arms back to open the heart one final time and as you exhale,
Wrap your hands around yourself,
Holding yourself in a cuddle.
Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
Release your hands into your lap.
Take a moment,
Gently open your eyes.
Your meditation practice is now complete.
