Sending Loving-Kindness To Yourself & Others
by Sandy Barry
Our world needs more love! This gentle loving-kindness meditation allows you to hold space for love and acceptance in your heart. Take the time today to cultivate the ability to focus thoughts of loving-kindness towards yourself and others.
Transcript
Thank you for joining me.
This is a loving kindness meditation.
Preliminary studies of loving kindness meditations tells us that by cultivating the ability to focus love on ourselves and on others helps to increase our capacity for forgiveness and self-acceptance.
Research has even suggested that loving kindness meditation can activate the part of the brain that regulates emotional processing and empathy,
Promoting sensations of peace while reducing negativity.
For this meditation,
We'll be sending out four mantras of loving kindness repeated three times for each intention.
The first intention will be for yourself.
You'll then have the opportunity to expand your loving kindness outwardly to a loved one,
A stranger,
And even someone that you don't like.
At the end of our meditation,
You'll have the option to send loving kindness out further into the world.
Please know that like anything else,
A loving kindness meditation is a skill to be developed and it may feel a little awkward as you first start.
Some people find themselves feeling resistance to the mantras and then end up feeling frustrated.
And if you have a similar experience to that,
Please know that it's completely okay.
It's just important for you to be patient and kind with yourself,
Maybe allowing whatever might come up for you during the meditation to be what it is and with any meditation,
Just taking what serves you and leaving behind anything that does not.
If there is a rule to practicing loving kindness,
It would be to practice acceptance for yourself,
Following whatever mantra or meditation that helps you best open your heart.
As we get ready to begin,
Please take some time to get comfortable and know that if you don't like to be still,
Then don't be still.
Maybe you would prefer to rock back and forth as you meditate or maybe you would like to listen to this meditation as you take a walk.
Whatever you choose,
Just get as comfortable as you can.
And then if you like,
You can pause to notice how you feel today.
Maybe check in with your body.
Know that you don't automatically have to attach a label to how you feel.
There is no need to judge.
Maybe you can just notice.
Maybe give yourself permission to welcome however you are feeling today and honor what is present by not needing to fix or change anything.
And then if you like,
You can maybe notice how you are being physically supported.
If you are seated or laying down or if you're walking or standing,
Just sensing your connection to the earth beneath you.
Perhaps also noticing the parts of you that are open to the air around you.
And then as you feel ready,
You can bring your attention to your breath.
Just noticing how you're breathing right now.
Maybe for the first time today consciously paying attention to your breath.
You can notice where you sense your breath most.
Maybe you feel the air coming into your body through your nose or your mouth.
Or maybe you feel your breath most in the lift and fall of your chest.
Just pausing for a moment here to notice your breath and how it feels for you today.
And as you're ready,
If it feels safe and comfortable for you to do so,
You can shift your awareness to your chest.
Maybe beginning to feel into the space around your heart.
Maybe sensing the vastness of the energy that exists there.
Resting here for a few breaths.
Maybe inviting in some softness.
Or maybe just witnessing what is present for you today in the space around your heart.
As I mentioned,
We'll begin this practice by sending loving kindness to ourself.
I will start by repeating our four mantras three times.
And each time we send out an intention,
I will pause after the third round to give you the opportunity to repeat the mantras on your own.
Some people like to link the mantras to their breath and others just say the words to themselves mentally at their own pace.
So for our first round,
Directing loving kindness towards yourself,
You can picture yourself as you are now or maybe imagine your favorite snapshot.
And if you find it's hard for you to send yourself loving kindness today,
Maybe try picturing yourself when you were little.
Doing your best to hold whatever image you choose in your heart with love and acceptance.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be safe from inner and outer danger.
May I be healed in body and in mind.
May I experience joy and happiness.
As you say each mantra in your mind,
You can if you like add a visualization of maybe imagining you are inhaling kindness and love into the space around your heart.
And then as you exhale picturing the loving kindness flow through you,
Allowing the sensations of loving kindness to extend throughout your body.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be safe from inner and outer danger.
May I be healed in body and in mind.
May I experience joy and happiness.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May I be healed in body and in mind.
And may I experience joy and happiness.
You can continue on with these mantras in a loving kindness meditation for yourself for the rest of our meditation today if you like.
Or if you want you can extend your meditation now to include other people.
Starting with somebody that you love.
Taking a few breaths now to maybe picture a loved one in your mind.
Letting all of the feelings that you have for this person support your intentions and your meditation.
And know that you don't have to have a perfectly clear mental image of someone to send them loving kindness.
Your intention is what counts.
You can choose to send all of your love and warmth out to this person.
This person and you are alike.
Just like you,
Your loved one wants to have a good life.
They want to be loved and happy.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May you be healed in body and in mind.
And may you experience joy and happiness.
Just like before you can add a visualization if it serves you.
Maybe picturing as you breathe in your heart being filled with love.
And then on your exhale imagining you could see your kind wishes flowing out from your heart to your loved one.
Encircling them and holding them in your love.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May you be healed in body and in mind.
May you experience joy and happiness.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May you be healed in body and in mind.
May you experience joy and happiness.
You can continue on sending loving kindness to either yourself or your loved ones.
Or if you like you can now send loving kindness to someone in your life that you don't have strong feelings about.
Maybe think of an acquaintance or somebody you don't know very well.
Maybe a cashier at the grocery store.
A bus driver on your route.
Maybe your mailman.
Taking a moment to picture your person in your mind and remembering that you and this person are alike.
You both wish to have a good life.
To be loved and to be happy.
You can now send all your wishes for well-being to this person repeating your loving kindness mantras while continuing to breathe warmth and compassion from your heart space.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May you be healed in body and in mind.
May you experience joy and happiness.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May you be healed in body and in mind.
May you experience joy and happiness.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May you be healed in body and mind.
May you experience joy and happiness.
You can continue to send loving kindness to yourself,
To a loved one,
Or to your neutral person.
Or if you like,
You can choose to direct loving kindness now towards somebody in your life that you are struggling with.
It could be someone you disagree with or someone that you may even consider to be an enemy.
And even though you might not like this person,
You can still send them loving kindness.
Because you and this person are alike,
You both wish to have a good life,
To be loved and to be happy.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May you be healed in body and mind.
May you experience joy and happiness.
And if the visualization helps you,
You can once again visualize your wishes for this person flowing from your heart,
Maybe even seeing their face often into a surprised smile when your kind intentions reach them.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May you be healed in body and mind.
May you experience joy and happiness.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May you be healed in body and mind.
May you experience joy and happiness.
And now if you like,
You can continue on with any one of these loving kindness mantra intentions.
Or if it serves you today,
You can continue building on your practice,
Sending out more and more love into the world.
Picturing anybody you like,
Anybody you think could use some loving kindness in their life right now.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May you be healed in body and mind.
May you experience joy and happiness.
May all who are frightened be filled with loving kindness.
May all who are frightened be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May all who are frightened be healed in body and mind.
May all who are frightened experience joy and happiness.
May all who are angry be filled with loving kindness.
May all who are angry be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May all who are angry be healed in body and mind.
May all who are angry experience joy and happiness.
May all who feel helpless be filled with loving kindness.
May all who feel helpless be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May all who feel helpless be healed in body and mind.
May all who feel helpless experience joy and happiness.
May all who are in pain be filled with loving kindness.
May all who are in pain be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May all who are in pain be healed in body and mind.
May all who are in pain experience joy and happiness.
May all who are suffering be filled with loving kindness.
May all who are suffering be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May all who are suffering be healed in body and in mind.
And may all who are suffering experience joy and happiness.
May all beings everywhere be filled with loving kindness.
May all beings everywhere be safe from inner and outer dangers.
May all beings everywhere be healed in body and mind.
May all beings everywhere experience joy and happiness.
Loka samasta suki no bhavantu.
May all beings everywhere be happy and free.
And may the thoughts,
Words,
And actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.
Thank you for meditating with me today.
I wish you peace.
May you stay in the light.
4.8 (42)
Recent Reviews
Kristal
February 4, 2022
Fantastic loving-kindness meditation. I will be saving this one.
Chance
December 27, 2021
May you be safe, live with ease Namaste 🙏🏼
Emily
July 18, 2020
So wonderful to hear your voice again! This one will be a new favorite as I send so much love and kindness to my fellow ED warriors!
Susanna
June 11, 2020
Thank you- this meditation spoke precisely to my needs today, gives me strength and directs my thoughts towards comfort and healing for all