Hello beautiful soul.
My name is Chantal Dye-Sheena and today I will be guiding you through a Metta meditation.
This practice follows a tradition of offering compassionate messages to several different people,
Including yourself.
I invite you to sit comfortably,
Whether that's cross-legged or sitting in a chair with your feet flat on the floor,
Spine straight,
Hands resting on the thighs,
Palms down,
Or if you wish,
You can bring the palms facing up,
Even into Chin Mudra if that's part of your practice.
We first begin by connecting with breath,
Just noticing breath as it is.
Noticing the inhale breath as it enters in through the nose and comes back out again as the exhale.
And just noticing the sensations of the inhale and exhale breath as you keep awareness right there at the nostrils.
Noticing the subtle differences between the sensations of the inhale breath versus the exhale breath.
One may be cooler,
One may be more pronounced,
One may be warmer,
More subtle.
And now we're going to bring the breath deeper into the lungs so that as you inhale,
The belly expands like a balloon,
And as you exhale,
The belly contracts toward the spine.
Feeling the body settle more and more into the place where you are sitting,
Continuing to take slow,
Steady,
Deep breaths.
And as you're breathing deeply,
I invite you to bring to the mind's eye the vision of a familiar face that is a part of your daily,
Weekly,
Or monthly routines.
It can be the barista as you get your morning coffee.
It could be the clerk when you get your groceries.
Someone maybe you're familiar enough to say hi and exchange smiles with.
You may not even know their name.
Once you have this person in the mind's eye,
I invite you to offer them these three intentions,
Along with the feelings of goodwill,
Sincerity,
And compassion to go with them.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you feel safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you feel safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
And may you feel safe.
Continue to offer these three intentions to this familiar person,
Along with the feelings of goodwill,
Sincerity,
And compassion.
And now,
Allowing that vision of the familiar person to fade away and bringing your attention back to the breath,
Ensuring the breath is still flowing deeply,
Slowly,
And steadily.
And now,
I invite you to bring to the mind's eye someone you see on a daily basis,
But don't have an intimate relationship with,
But are still on good terms with.
This could be a neighbor.
It could be a colleague at work.
Someone who you have a deeper familiarity with,
But still at arm's length.
And once you have the vision of this familiar person,
Who you are on neutral terms,
Or even friendly terms with,
I invite you to offer these three intentions to them,
Along with the feelings of goodwill,
Sincerity,
And compassion.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you feel safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you feel safe.
And continue to offer those three wishes to this familiar person,
Along with the feelings of goodwill,
Sincerity,
And compassion.
And allowing this familiar person to fade away from the mind's eye and bring your attention back to the breath,
Ensuring that you're breathing deeply,
Slowly,
And steadily.
And now,
I invite you to bring to the mind's eye someone you care very deeply about.
Who's an integral part of your day-to-day existence.
Someone you love deeply.
This can be a partner,
A best friend,
A family member.
So whomever this is,
We're going to send them the intentions.
Along with the feelings of sincerity,
Goodwill,
And compassion.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you feel safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
And may you feel safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you feel safe.
Continuing to offer those three intentions along with the feelings of sincerity,
Goodwill,
And compassion.
And now,
I invite you to allow that image of your loved one to fade away from the mind's eye and to bring your attention back to the breath,
Ensuring that the breath is still deep,
Slow,
And steady.
Now,
I invite you to bring to the mind's eye someone you may be in conflict with or you just find difficult to be around.
There may be unresolved conflict.
They just may have a challenging personality or your personalities may clash.
Bring this person to the mind's eye and offer them these three intentions along with the feelings of goodwill,
Sincerity,
And compassion.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you feel safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you feel safe.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you feel safe.
Continue offering these three intentions to this person you find challenging to be around along with the feelings of goodwill,
Sincerity,
And compassion.
Now,
Allowing that vision of the person you find challenging to be around to fade away,
Returning attention back to the breath,
Ensuring the breath remains slow,
Deep,
And steady.
Lastly,
I invite you to bring to the mind's eye the image of yourself standing before a mirror,
Staring into your own eyes as you offer these three intentions to yourself along with the feelings of goodwill,
Sincerity,
And compassion.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I feel safe.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I feel safe.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I feel safe.
Continue to offer these three intentions to yourself along with the feelings of goodwill,
Sincerity,
And compassion.
And now,
Allowing that image of yourself standing before the mirror to fade away,
Bringing your attention back to the breath,
Ensuring that it's continuing to be slow,
Steady,
And deep.
We're going to bring awareness back to the room you are sitting in,
Back to the surface you are sitting on,
Wiggling the fingers and toes,
And keeping your gaze cast downward past your nose as you open your eyes,
Keeping the eyes relaxed and soft,
And then lifting your gaze toward the horizon line in the room,
And looking around,
Grounding yourself in the present moment,
In the space you are in,
In the here and now.
Namaste.
I invite you to take a moment to reflect on this practice,
Whether that's with a journal or just mentally,
Or you can even record it on your phone,
Your thoughts,
And just noticing how you felt with each of those different individuals that you were to offer intentions to and compassion to.
Did you find some easier than others?
And those ones that seemed challenging,
Those are the ones that are asking you to lean into,
To explore further with curiosity,
And still even more compassion.
My name is Chantelle Dayashina.
Thank you for joining me today.
Stay close to your peace.
Namaste.
