Hi,
This is Sharon Rosen with Sacred Harmonies.
We've spent time developing mindful awareness and practicing how not to engage with the self-talk that challenges and upsets us.
Now it's time to nurture and feed our innate compassion.
We do this by inclining the mind towards the good with the practice of metta or loving kindness.
Metta practice comes from the Buddhist lineage and while generally translated as loving kindness,
The original Pali language more accurately translates as kind friendliness.
This is a practice of being unconditionally loving and accepting of ourselves and of others.
When we really tune into our self-talk,
It's easy to realize that much of it is not friendly or kind.
Because we're more hardwired for negativity than positivity,
That old fight or flight response that's hardwired in our neurological system,
It takes consistent conscious effort to wire new pathways.
The good news is that it is possible and metta or loving kindness is a beautiful way to do it.
Loving kindness meditation is a natural extension of mindfulness.
After becoming present to our breath and our seat,
We repeat a series of phrases silently to ourselves.
These phrases are designed to bring our awareness into the heart,
Watering and cultivating the seeds of kindness and compassion that naturally exist within us but often get covered over.
I will talk you through the phrases and then leave space for you to find your own rhythm.
We begin by offering loving kindness to ourselves because compassion for oneself is both elusive and necessary.
If you want to truly be more loving and compassionate towards others,
You need to develop and learn to take in feelings of compassion for yourself.
So let's begin.
And as always,
We start by taking a solid,
Upright,
Comfortable seat.
If you're in a chair,
Feeling your feet firmly planted on the floor and if you're sitting cross-legged,
You might want to be on a cushion so that your hips are a little bit elevated and that makes it easier for your spine to stay nice and straight and upright.
You can let your hands rest comfortably on your thighs,
Palms down.
Just start noticing the movement of your breath as it flows in and out of your body.
You always start with the baseline of the breath,
Tuning in to our bodies and tuning out from the outside world.
So just follow your breath as it moves naturally,
Your abdomen rising and falling,
Breathing in and out through your nose,
Becoming present and aware in this moment.
You may want to tune in to bodily sensations,
Noticing areas of holding,
Allowing yourself to either release a little bit or just be with the fact that there are some tight spots right now.
Slowly be present.
Good.
And now I'll slowly repeat the phrases of loving kindness and just repeat them quietly to yourself.
This is a practice that you do silently within your heart and mind.
May I dwell in the heart.
May I be free from suffering.
May I be healed.
May I be at peace.
May I dwell in the heart.
May I be free from suffering.
May I be healed.
May I be at peace.
Tune in to find a rhythm that feels comfortable for you.
You may want to say one phrase on the in-breath and the next phrase on the out-breath or use one full breath cycle for each phrase or simply find whatever rhythm feels right for you.
May I dwell in the heart.
May I be free from suffering.
May I be healed.
May I be at peace.
May I dwell in the heart.
Be free from suffering.
Be healed.
Be at peace.
Don't worry if you're having trouble remembering the words exactly as I'm saying them.
There's no wrong way to do this practice,
So stick with your intention to offer yourself loving kindness and continue with the practice.
May I dwell in the heart.
May I be free from suffering.
May I be healed.
May I be at peace.
Simply keep repeating the phrases.
And even in this,
You may find your mind wandering and thoughts coming in.
Simply notice thinking and come back to the phrases.
And even in this,
You may find your mind wandering and thoughts coming in.
Simply notice thinking and come back to the phrases.
And even in this,
You may find your mind wandering and thoughts coming in.
Moving back into an awareness of your body in the room around you.
Noticing how you feel.
And moving gently back into the rest of your day.
