Welcome to this Metta Meditation or Loving-Kindness Meditation.
The practice of Metta Meditation is a beautiful support to other awareness practices.
You will recite specific words and phrases evoking a boundless warm-hearted feeling.
We begin with ourself and we gradually extend the wish for well-being and happiness to all beings.
To practice Loving-Kindness Meditation,
Sit in a comfortable and relaxed manner.
Take two or deep breaths with slow,
Long,
And complete exhalations.
Find a straight spine and take your first deep breath in,
Filling up your belly,
Your chest,
Your shoulders,
Back,
Your cheekbones.
Feeling your heart expand,
Glowing with green energy.
And exhale for 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Beautiful.
Take one more deep breath in,
Filling up the belly,
The chest,
Sipping in a little bit more air and letting that go for 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Keep breathing here,
Making your exhales long,
Slow,
And intentional,
Releasing sound if it feels good for you today.
Letting go of any thoughts,
Concerns,
Or preoccupations,
Knowing that they'll be there for you when you return from this practice.
For a few minutes,
Feel and imagine your breath moving through the center of your chest in the area of your heart.
See your heart chakra glowing a bright green.
Notice,
Is it small today?
Is the fire barely glimmering?
Or is it bright and bolsterous,
Ready to be shared with the world?
Just check in without judgment for the way that your heart is showing up today.
Acceptance and presence with what is,
Just an awareness.
Metta meditation is first practice towards oneself.
We will first practice this meditation towards ourselves.
Since we often have difficulty loving others truly without first loving ourselves.
Sitting quietly and breathing still,
Mentally repeat the following phrases after me inside your mind.
May I be happy.
May I be well.
May I be safe.
May I be peaceful and at ease.
While you say these phrases,
Allow yourself to sink into the intentions they express.
Loving kindness primarily connects to the intention of wishing yourself and others happiness.
If feelings of warmth,
Friendliness,
Love arise in your body or mind,
Connect to those too.
Allowing them to grow as you repeat these phrases.
You might also hold an image of yourself in your mind's eye to reinforce the intentions expressed.
Let's repeat the phrases two more times together.
May I be happy.
May I be well.
May I be safe.
May I be peaceful and at ease.
May I be happy.
May I be well.
May I be safe.
May I be peaceful and at ease.
Now slowly bring to mind a friend or someone in your life who is deeply cared for you.
Slowly repeat these phrases of loving kindness towards this person.
Visualizing them seated in front of you.
May you be happy.
May you be well.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful and at ease.
As you say these phrases again,
Sink into their intention and heartfelt meaning.
If any feelings of loving kindness arise,
Connect the feelings with these phrases so that they may become stronger as you repeat these words.
May you be happy.
May you be well.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful and at ease.
As you continue over the next few phrases,
You can bring to mind other friends,
Neighbors,
Acquaintances,
Strangers,
Animals,
And people with whom you might have difficulty.
You can either use the same phrases,
Repeating them again and again,
Or make up better phrases that represent the loving kindness you feel towards these beings.
There are so many different ways that you can channel this and make it your creative and unique expression.
If any feelings of anger,
Grief,
Or sadness arise,
Take these to be signs that your heart is softening.
Revealing what has been held there and inviting you to heal with patience,
Acceptance,
And kindness.
Direct loving kindness for these feelings of anger,
Of hurt,
Of grief.
Above all,
Remind yourself that there is no need to judge yourself for having these feelings.
Bring loving kindness even to them.
We'll now repeat these phrases towards our friends and our loved ones a few more times.
May you be happy.
May you be well.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful and at ease.
If any feelings are coming up,
You can direct these phrases towards those feelings or towards yourself.
Take what you need.
This is your time.
May you be happy.
May you be well.
May you be safe.
May you be peaceful and at ease.
Stay here for as long as you wish,
Maintaining your connection with your heart and your breath.
And as you channel your loving kindness towards yourself and towards the people around you,
Maybe you bring a smile to your face or give yourself a hug for showing up for yourself,
For inviting gratitude,
Loving kindness,
And joy into your heart.
I'm so proud of you.
My name is Sasha Andriyanova,
And I thank you for your time and your energy and your practice.
I hope to see you very soon.
Be well.
