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We're going to practice a mantra meditation and in fact I feel like it's time for a Metta practice.
So Metta is a practice of loving kindness and there are a billion different versions of a Metta prayer.
So I've written out a version that suits me today and if you like writing things down so that you've got something to check,
If you've got the same kind of mind as mine where I immediately doubt my capacity to remember anything then by all means grab a piece of paper and a pen and write this down and also be free to alter it.
So like I say this is my version for today.
There's every version under the stars that you can choose to do and the process is very simple with a Metta prayer.
We begin with the statement may I and and list the few things that perhaps you're working with and then that becomes may you and we repeat the same list offering it up to others and then may we collectively.
So the version that I created last night is may I be happy,
May I be healthy,
May I be safe and free from harm,
May I love and be loved and may I live in peace and ease.
May you be happy,
May you be healthy,
May you be safe and free from harm,
May you love and be loved,
May you live in peace and ease.
May we be happy,
May we be healthy,
May we be safe and free from harm,
May we love and be loved,
May we live in peace and ease.
So my suggestion for our practice today is that you find yourself in a comfortable position and with mantras sometimes we like using Mahler beads so if you've got your beads handy you're welcome to use them they just give you something to do with your hands and there is you know hands are very powerful tools so there's something about this connecting to a rhythm of passing that one bead to the next as you repeat silently the prayer.
I don't have my beads today so I'm not going to be doing that but you are welcome to and it's just a question of silently repeating that prayer over and over again we will be doing it for 20 minutes and I will say it out loud for three rounds and then let you continue so most of our practice will be silent today.
I might come in and repeat the practice a couple of times during the 20 minutes I don't know we'll see but don't get tangled in the logistics of it sometimes as you practice the words start to take their own form and change shape and we can allow that to happen it is there's nothing strict about this container it's a prayer from your heart and if your heart wants to change the words let your heart change the words.
So there's a big dose of allowing,
Allowing what is and as we know with a meditation practice there's three clear stages the beginning stage where you're on track you know what you're doing you're repeating the mantra and you're just acing it and then the second stage is where you notice that you've started thinking about other things you've gone off into the rabbit holes of the mind at which case you smile because that's the second stage of a meditation practice and then the third stage is coming back okay here's the mantra this is what I'm doing today so there's no none of those three stages are higher than the other they're not bigger or better they're all part of it so even if you spend your entire practice veering off down rabbit holes you've still completely aced your practice today so now that we know we can't get it wrong maybe we can soften into a bit of a smile you're allowed to be comfortable sitting in a chair is fine lying on your back is fine I'm sitting cross-legged we'll take a moment to drop into the practice first dropping into the body with some conscious breath breathing through the nose the tongue may naturally just rest up on the roof of the mouth and allow some softness to spread through the jaw the tongue is soft and broad teeth are very slightly apart they might even be the faintest trace of a smile on your lips you're breathing in and out through the nose if that's possible you might sense and feel the breath moving in through the nostrils and out through the nostrils get curious about if there's a difference in the sensation in the temperature and the eyelids may be closed or perhaps you're glancing down at the floor you choose but whether eyelids are closed or not let the gaze soften as if you were looking out at a broad landscape noticing the space around your ears the space down deep within the ears listening out for the sounds you can hear noticing the further sound you can hear and the closest perhaps you can hear the sound of your breath and your heartbeat noticing how it feels as you start to gently and slowly circle your head there may be sounds there may be sensations trying to come up and over rather than dropping the head back behind you and changing directions so and then circling your shoulders slowly giving yourself the time and space to notice all that is occurring as you circle allowing the elbows to circle and if you have space and it's comfortable maybe full arm extensions very deliberate breath threaded through movement so the two are allies they're not accidental and then coming to rest your hands in your lap as you circle the heart again moving slowly bringing some tenderness to the start of your day the gift of time and awareness so and then switching directions and coming back to center dropping awareness down into the pelvis noticing the sense of relationship between the pelvis and the earth now the pelvis is held by the floor beneath you beneath that the soil beneath that the rock and right in the center of our planet the fire so noticing how it feels to be present connected and i'll read the metta prayer three times and then you can allow that just to start to repeat in your own pace with your breath 20 minutes may i be happy may i be healthy may i be safe and free from harm may i love and be loved may i live in peace and ease may you be happy may you be healthy may you be safe and free from harm may you love and be loved may you live in peace and ease may you live in peace and ease may we be happy may we be healthy may we be safe and free from harm may we love and be loved may we live in peace and ease may i be happy may i be healthy may i be safe and free from harm may i love and be loved may i live in peace and ease may you be happy may you be healthy may you be safe and free from harm may you love and be loved may you live in peace and ease may we be happy may we be healthy may we be safe and free from harm may we love and be loved may we live in peace and ease may i be happy may i be healthy may i be safe and free from harm may i love and be loved may i live in peace and ease may you be happy may you be healthy may you be safe and free from harm may you love and be loved may you live in peace and ease may we be happy may we be healthy may we be safe and free from harm may we love and be loved and may we live in peace and ease may we be happy may we be safe and free from harm may we be happy may we be safe from harm you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you last round you may I be happy may I be healthy may I be safe and free from harm may I love and be loved may I live in peace and ease may you be happy may you be healthy may you be safe and free from harm may you love and be loved may you live in peace and ease may we be happy may we be healthy may we be safe and free from harm may we love and be loved may we live in peace and ease placing your hands on your heart dropping your chin to your chest and being aware of how that feels how the process felt any shifts or changes in sensation or experience in your heart or elsewhere any shifts or changes in sensation or experience in your heart or elsewhere the people that came to mind the way that it feels to be connected right now to your inner realms offering up our thanks to all the teachers that came to mind to all the teachers that came before us that shared this practice and offering the fruits of this practice and all our practices to all sentient beings Namaste
