Their own language.
Beginning this practice by bringing your awareness to your posture,
Making yourself comfortable in whatever position you've chosen.
Noticing the contact between your body and the surfaces supporting you.
Allowing yourself to feel supported.
And noticing what's going on in the mind and body right now.
Turning towards our experience with friendliness and curiosity.
Finding thoughts in the mind.
Feelings or emotions that are present just now.
And sensations throughout the body.
Turning towards our experience with kindness.
Embodying a mindful attitude to whatever arises.
And as we turn towards our experience in this way.
Allowing a kind wish towards ourself to emerge.
It may be a wish that arises out of our experience right now.
Or it may be one of the traditional wishes,
The deep needs of all of us.
May I be safe.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I feel at ease.
Repeating these wishes,
Perhaps allowing them to flow with the breath.
Sending them throughout the body.
And if it helps,
Offering the wishes with a gentle smile on the lips.
And perhaps placing a hand over the heart as we receive these good wishes for ourself.
Bringing to mind a person who is dear to you.
A good friend,
A partner,
A parent or a grandparent,
Child or grandchild.
A dear colleague or other person who brings a smile on your face and opens your heart.
Imagining that the person you chose sits or stands in front of you.
And you meet their face and eyes.
Being aware of how this affects you physically and emotionally.
And allowing a wish of kindness towards this good friend coming up from your heart.
And then gently repeating this wish on the soothing rhythm of the breath.
Perhaps in the words that spontaneously came up.
Or in the words of the four traditional wishes.
May you be safe.
May you feel healthy.
May you feel happy.
May you feel at ease.
Imagine the person you chose sitting or standing in front of you.
Meeting their face and their eyes.
Being aware of how this affects you physically and emotionally.
And repeating kind wishes.
Allowing them to flow with the breath.
Looking in front of you.
And you can extend the practice with others in the same category of good friends or persons who are dear to you,
Alive or deceased.
You can also choose an animal,
Your favourite pet.
Repeating similar or other wishes which you feel connect well when you imagine this dear one positioned in front of you and you are tuned to their deeper needs.
May you be safe.
May you feel healthy.
May you feel happy.
May you be at ease.
You may also use a wish in the we form that may feel very connecting.
May we be free from suffering.
May we feel peaceful.
May we share happiness.
Remembering that this is not about striving to include all dear persons and wishing them every goodness you can think of.
Neither it is about achieving results or magic effects.
Whether the other person will be affected by your good wishes can remain an open question.
This practice is simply about cultivating an inner attitude of kindness towards somebody dear to you.
May we be free from suffering.
May we feel peaceful.
May we share happiness.
Mindfully observing what happens moment by moment.
Sometimes you may wish to leave the phrases just repeating one or two core words or simply being present with the atmosphere of kindness and goodwill.
May we be free from suffering.
And if you're noticing an emotional heaviness or worrying thoughts,
Holding them in the cradle of kind awareness,
Allowing a soothing breathing rhythm to return.
You may offer yourself a kind or compassionate wish and only return to the other person when you feel there is space to do so.
May you be safe.
May you feel healthy.
May you feel happy.
May you be at ease.
May you be free.
And now letting go of imagining the person or people in front of you.
Giving the attention back to the body,
To your posture,
The points of contact between your body and the surfaces supporting you.
Giving the awareness back to the breath,
The flow of air as it enters and leaves your body.
Opening yourself to feel grounded and supported.
And opening the awareness to the sounds in the room and outside the room.
And when you're ready,
Opening the eyes.
Here.
Thank you.
