Settling into a posture that feels supportive,
Knowing that we're going to spend the next 15 minutes trying to cultivate kindness and care in our heart.
So we begin by bringing kindness to how we position our body so that we feel supported and cared for.
And as you settle in,
Dropping all of your attention to the felt sense of breathing at the chest,
Feeling the lungs expand on the inhale,
Contract on the exhale,
Feeling the sternum rise and fall.
You may want to imagine that you're breathing in and out of your heart.
Getting the intention as you breathe to cultivate metta,
This quality of kind friendliness.
Knowing that as you do this practice,
You may feel metta,
You may not feel it at all,
Or you might feel the opposite,
That's okay,
You're not doing it wrong.
Training our heart-mind to a place of kindness is a practice.
As you breathe and hold this intention in your mind and your heart,
It may be useful to visualize a place where you feel supported,
Cared for.
Could be a location,
Maybe where you are right now,
A place in nature that you love.
It could be with a certain group of people or animals.
Finding what is your gateway to this feeling of metta,
Of kind friendliness,
This movement of the heart.
We may begin with the tiniest spark of metta,
A little memory or a little feeling of this unconditional friendliness.
And the more we bring our attention to that,
The more it can grow and radiate.
As you allow this feeling to build in your heart,
You may choose to bring to mind beings,
Locations,
Memories that help to remind you of this feeling of metta,
Of kindness,
Times that you've received metta from others,
Times where you feel like you've offered it.
Sometimes it can be as simple as imagining a pet,
A child,
A loved one,
And noticing the movement of the heart.
You can feel this feeling of metta at the heart center and perhaps feel it filling more and more of your body.
Allowing your own internal desire to be treated with metta,
The desire that all beings share,
And allowing this kindness to fill your body.
You may choose to spend the entire practice period bathing in this metta,
Bringing up images,
Thoughts,
Memories that help this feeling to grow and to stay with it within yourself.
Or you may begin to radiate it outward and that may happen just naturally.
Beginning to imagine this kindness spilling out of you,
Shining forth,
Spreading out to the front,
To the back,
To the sides,
Above and below,
Sharing this light.
This feeling of metta may ebb and flow,
That's normal.
It can be useful to imagine yourself like a lamp.
The flame flickers,
It gets affected by the wind,
But it keeps burning,
It keeps shining.
Noticing if you're able to stay with the feeling or if you're bringing up images to help feed this flame of kindness,
Or if you're lost in other thoughts.
Can you stay here at your heart center?
Can you stay here with this intention to radiate kindness?
Bringing forth this unconditional friendliness.
Imagine it touching beings,
Wild animals,
Other humans,
The earth,
The air,
All that's in front of you,
All that's behind,
All to the left and to the right and above and below.
Bringing forth this kindness.
Knowing it doesn't need to be a bright flame,
It doesn't need to feel intense,
It can be as gentle as twinkling stars.
Can you stay here at your heart center?
Can you stay here with this intention to radiate kindness?
This feels difficult,
Getting curious about the difficulty,
But not judging yourself,
Just being interested.
And if it feels easy,
The same thing.
Why in this moment does cultivating kindness feel so natural and authentic?
How can we connect with this more regularly?
Making sure as you're sharing this metta,
This kindness,
That you are keeping it for yourself as well.
As the meditation starts to come to a close,
Letting go of any radiation of the kindness and feeling it at your heart center.
Feeling this kindness and friendliness you have towards yourself.
And when you feel ready,
Open your eyes.
