Hi there,
My name is Nina Grünewald and today's Metta meditation is about trust and receiving and this is a pretty big practice.
So be really kind with yourself as you go through this meditation,
Always go gentle and if you find yourself challenged,
Just take a moment to rest and just see how present you can be,
How much love you can channel to yourself and step back into the meditation whenever you feel ready.
So let's get started,
Let's relax and open your heart,
Get settled into meditation position that feels comfortable for you,
Really comfortable.
That is very important for this heart practice,
So you take your moment to settle in.
Now that you have found your seat,
Notice where your body is in contact with the mat,
Notice that you are being held in this moment and that you don't need to do anything.
And you are going to take three nourishing breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth,
Taking a deep breath in through your nose into your chest,
Letting the chest and the rib cage expand and out through the mouth.
Now another breath into your heart space,
Connecting to your beautiful heart as it gives you life and love.
And notice what's here today and let go of the breath,
Breathing out through the mouth and a last deep breath in into your belly,
Sending your dear belly some love and sweet kindness and breathing out through the mouth.
Now let your breath come back to its natural rhythm and notice that your body breathes itself,
That you don't need to do anything,
That you can fully surrender to the magic of your body,
That you can fully trust that it is doing the work for you and always has.
Notice if there's any obvious tension in your body and letting that go on the next exhale,
Relaxing your forehead,
Your brows,
Your entire face,
Traveling down and relaxing your shoulders,
Your arms and hands,
Letting go of any tension in your belly,
Just letting it go to its natural shape of relaxation and letting go of any judgments you may hold here,
Relaxing your legs,
Your thighs and your feet,
Finding a whole body relaxation,
Noticing that you are being held,
Finding safety in this moment,
Security,
Certainty of yourself,
Your physical form and your breath.
Now let yourself think of a person that you love a lot,
Someone where the love is natural and easy,
It may be a lover,
A sibling,
A friend,
A partner,
A parent,
A pet and as you think of someone where you love them and it's not too complicated,
Picture them in your mind's eye,
Hold them in your heart and envision them as if they were in front of you right now and as you think of and remember and picture them,
Feel the natural love you have for them,
The care that is there,
The sweetness when the heart opens,
Connection of love,
Appreciation and as you picture them now,
Let yourself also become aware of the measure of sorrows they carry,
Like all human beings they have a measure of joy and a measure of hurt and as you see their happiness and their struggles,
Their joy and their fears,
Notice how naturally the heart of compassion opens within you,
A tenderness and let yourself send them quietly inside your mind,
These good wishes.
May you be held in compassion,
May you live in peace,
May you trust yourself and see your greatness,
May you feel safe,
May you be free from sorrows and let your compassionate gaze surround them and feeling this natural care and compassion for them and now let yourself sense that they are looking back at you with the same gaze of compassion and care and they gaze at you and they see your level of joy,
Your level of fear,
Of love and sorrows and they wish the same to you.
May you too be held in compassion,
They say,
Receive it from them,
Does love just receive?
Picture them saying this and receive.
May you too be held in compassion,
May you live in peace,
May you trust yourself and see your greatness,
May you feel safe,
May you be free from sorrows.
Now take one hand and take it on your heart and take these words in for yourself.
Take in what you wished your loved one and what your loved one wished for you,
Take this now in for yourself.
May I hold myself in compassion,
May I trust myself and see my own greatness,
May I live in peace,
May I feel safe,
May I be free from sorrows.
You may wish to take your other hand now and place it on your belly or on whatever part of your body is calling for compassion and tenderness in this moment.
Only you know.
Hold it in compassion.
What part of your heart and mind,
The loneliness or longing,
Tears or worry,
Pain is calling to be held in compassion?
Hold yourself in mercy.
May I hold myself and all parts of me in compassion,
May I trust myself and all parts of me and see my own greatness.
May I in this part of me live in peace,
May I feel safe,
May I in my wholeness be free from sorrows.
Extending that love to all of you,
It's your birthright.
Hold yourself in this compassion and loving kindness.
Now getting ready to come out of the meditation,
You might want to wiggle your toes and wiggle your fingers.
Taking another deep breath into your chest and sighing it out with a noise through your mouth.
And another breath just like that and through the nose.
And sighing it out,
Trusting yourself and letting go.
And whenever you're ready,
Starting to crack open your eyes,
Coming back to the room and taking this energy of inner self-connection into your day.
