Welcome to Loving Kindness Meditation with Lori Keag Morrell.
Loving kindness,
Or Metta,
Creates feelings of love and kindness and cultivates compassion in our hearts.
In this meditation we repeat a series of phrases of well wishes that we send first to our self then to a neutral party,
Then a friend or mentor,
To someone we love,
To someone in our life that is difficult and finally back to ourselves.
During the meditation the phrases or words may get jumbled.
That's okay,
Simply use words or phrases that resonate with you.
Now let's meditate.
Finding your comfortable meditation position,
Perhaps seated in a chair or on a cushion on the floor,
Or laying down,
Arms resting on your lap or by your side,
Eyes closed,
I invite you to bring your attention to your breath.
Noticing your inhale and your exhale,
And taking a few moments to gently scan your body.
As you scan,
Notice any areas of tension or discomfort,
Simply breathe into the area or make an adjustment in your seated or laying position.
And during meditation,
Should your mind wander to thoughts or sounds or sensations,
You can always return to your breath.
Now beginning the loving kindness,
Bringing yourself to mind and silently repeating,
May I be well and happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be peaceful.
May I be well and happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be peaceful.
And perhaps noticing how this makes you feel,
Sending thoughts of loving kindness to yourself.
Now letting go of yourself and bring to mind a neutral party,
Someone that perhaps you see in your neighborhood or your market or at work,
Someone that you have no strong attachment to,
Perhaps don't know their name.
And keeping this person in mind,
Sending them wishes of loving kindness.
May they be well and happy.
May they be healthy.
May they have peace.
May they be well and happy.
May they be healthy.
May they have peace.
And perhaps noticing how this feels,
Sending loving kindness to this neutral party.
And letting go of this neutral party,
I invite you to bring to mind a friend or perhaps a mentor,
Someone that you like.
And keeping this person in mind,
Sending them thoughts of loving kindness.
May they be well and happy.
May they be healthy.
May they have peace.
And noticing how this feels.
Sending loving kindness to your friend.
And letting go of this friend and bringing to mind someone that you love or care very deeply for.
May they be well and happy.
May they be healthy.
May they have peace.
And as you send thoughts of loving kindness to this loved one,
Noticing how this feels.
This makes you feel.
Now,
Letting go of this loved one,
I invite you to bring to mind someone in your life that is difficult or perhaps that you are having a difficult relationship with.
This can be someone you know or someone you've heard about or know of.
And keeping this difficult person in mind,
Sending them thoughts of loving kindness.
May they be well and happy.
May they be healthy.
May they have peace.
May they be well and happy.
And as you send loving kindness thoughts to this difficult person,
Noticing how this makes you feel.
And letting go of this difficult person,
Coming back to you,
Keeping yourself in mind.
Once again,
Sending loving kindness to yourself.
May I be well and happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be peaceful.
May I be well and happy.
And letting go of yourself.
Bring your attention back to your breath and continue sitting for a few more moments,
Focusing on your breath and perhaps noticing how this loving kindness meditation has made you feel.
And when you hear the sound of the bell signaling the end of meditation,
Take your time to slowly come out of meditation.
