Hello and welcome to day 28 of Insight Timers Building Healthy Habits Challenge.
Let's take a moment to get settled.
Close your eyes,
Take a deep breath in and exhale out.
Let's dive into today's healthy habit.
Hello my name is Ruth King and I'd like to introduce you to the meditation practice of Metta.
Metta is a Pali word translated as loving kindness and Metta is a mental offering and it is the antidote to ill will.
The truth of the heart is that it is not afraid to care.
We are primed for kindness and it takes tremendous energy and effort to be otherwise.
When our mind is not cloudy or saddled by ill will,
We naturally experience warmth and open heartedness.
Metta practice is a superpower in three ways.
In practice we're creating a light mind by inviting the mind and the body to rest in the heart of kindness.
Secondly,
We are learning how to calm the parts of ourselves that feel shaky when we are embracing the truth of how things are.
And thirdly,
We are remembering and reminding ourselves of our innate capacity to care.
Today we practice Metta to free ourselves from the grip of grudges,
Grudges toward others and grudges toward ourselves.
So we begin by offering Metta to ourselves.
We do this by settling in body and mind.
I invite you to turn your attention inward and slowly move your awareness through your body.
Softening in our bodies is an offering of Metta to ourselves.
Imagine moving through the body with your awareness from the head,
The facial muscles,
The neck.
You might want to soften the muscles in your throat by taking a swallow here.
Connecting with your breath as you continue to move through the body,
Shoulders and arms,
Hands and fingers.
And feeling the aliveness that's inside the arms.
Taking a moment to bring your awareness to your chest and upper back,
Belly and lower back.
And notice the aliveness inside the torso.
Relaxing muscles if you can just through invitation.
Feeling a sense of openness and perhaps spaciousness in the torso.
Just taking your time to move your awareness through the pelvic region,
The hips.
Inviting softness here.
And down your legs,
Upper legs.
Lower legs.
Your feet and toes.
Feeling the volume of your legs,
The aliveness inside your legs.
Bringing kind awareness to the full body,
Sitting or standing,
Connecting with the earth.
Allowing the full body to breathe.
Taking your time to savor this time of gentling,
This time of easing into presence,
Into this moment,
This breath,
This stillness.
This is metta.
Pausing,
Dropping your awareness into the body.
Taking your time to feel your aliveness in this present moment.
And as you continue to settle and soften in your seat or in whatever posture you're in,
Just quietly offer the following phrases to yourself.
You can consider these affirmations or prayers.
But it's your mind talking to your body and your heart.
May I be safe from inner and outer harm.
May I be safe.
May I be happy and content.
May I be healthy and strong in mind and body.
May I live with ease.
Breathing in ease.
Breathing out ease.
Just taking your time here to notice how it feels in your body,
In your heart,
In your mind,
To offer these prayers to yourself.
Take a couple more breaths here to sit and savor.
Just noticing in the silence and then whatever gladness or solace that is here and now.
And next,
Feeling this sense of inner ease and perhaps stability,
Gladness of heart,
Maybe warmth and a sense of openness.
Bring to mind someone you are habitually critical of or disappointed in or angry with.
See this person at a safe distance in your mind.
And as you look at them,
Imagine both their ignorance and innocence.
You can imagine their losses and longings.
Maybe you can imagine them loving their mother and father,
Their child.
You may see them as just like you.
You might recognize yourself in them,
If only a little.
You might also imagine the many ways they have been challenged and changed throughout their lives,
Just like you.
Continue to look through the eyes of your heart,
Breathing in ease,
Breathing out ease.
And when you're ready,
And only when you're ready,
You may offer these metaphrases as you continue to be present with this person in your mind.
You might say,
I see you.
I see you.
I release you from my fear,
Resentment,
Harshness and hardness.
I free you from my preconceived ideas and limited views of you and all of my effort to control you.
I release you from my demands and judgments and expectations.
I honor your humanity and I wish you well.
I see you.
I release you.
I honor you.
I wish you well.
May you be safe and protected from inner and outer harm.
May you be happy and content.
May you be healthy,
Strong,
Able to meet what life offers.
May you live with ease.
Continuing to breathe in ease and breathe out ease.
Being connected with the body and the breath,
The stillness of the body and the movement of the breath.
You can begin to release your image of this person,
Allow it to fade and then savor whatever stillness,
Solace and ease you may be experiencing right now.
All beings need our metta,
Especially ourselves.
May all beings be safe and protected from inner and outer harm.
May all beings be happy and content.
All beings without exception.
May all beings be healthy in heart and mind.
May all beings live with ease and well-being.
And when you're ready,
With your next inhale,
Feel free to gently come back to us.
How did you feel during this exercise?
Did you find it difficult to extend metta to yourself?
Or did it come naturally?
Did you find it difficult to extend metta to the challenging person in your mind?
Or was that easier?
And what relief are you experiencing as a result of this practice?
And finally,
Can you envision this being a regular practice,
A daily practice for you?
I invite you to consider forgiveness a gateway to love,
A gateway to metta,
A way to experience the natural capacity of our heart and mind.
Metta is a practice of remembering,
Of returning.
It's a simple call to care,
To care for ourselves and to care for others.
And forgiveness is a gesture of metta,
Of loving kindness.
So I wish you well and hope you enjoy the full breath and bounty of this beautiful challenge with Insight Timer.
Thank you.
