Hi,
Thank you for practicing with me today.
Let's take a moment to settle in.
Tune into your body.
If you listen to your body closely,
What is your body telling you about what would make you more comfortable right now?
Adjust your seat or position to increase your comfort.
If your body is thirsty or tired,
Let it know that soon,
Very soon,
You will get a drink of water,
Take a nap,
Feed your body,
Stretch your body.
For the moment though,
We're going to try to sit quietly and take care of our heart.
Let's start by taking a deep breath together with a loud sighing exhale.
Let's do that again.
Breathing in,
That sighing exhale helps your body release the feel good hormones.
Let's do it again.
Breathing in and a loud exhale.
One last time,
Breathing in and a loud sighing exhale.
Now turn your attention to your heart,
Your beautiful,
Loving heart.
What's your heart longing for right now?
Is it longing for tenderness?
Is it aching for a kindness?
Is it yearning for attention?
Just noticing what is it that your heart is crying out for?
Acknowledging it,
Validating it.
Of course,
Of course you want tenderness.
Of course you want kindness.
And who doesn't want attention?
All of that makes sense.
And then noticing what's happening with your heart.
Is your heart constricted?
Is it defended?
Is it aching?
Or is it open?
Is it even radiant,
Ready to give and receive?
We're just going to notice what's happening without judgment.
Seeing if you can feel in to the state of your heart right now.
And now as you breathe,
Imagine your breath being drawn into that tender place in your heart.
So breathing into the heart and letting your heart receive your breath as loving attention.
Just practice that for a moment.
Breathing in loving attention to your heart and just a casual,
Relaxed exhale.
Nothing to do,
No work to be done.
And then breathing in,
Letting your heart receive loving attention from the breath drawn right into the heart.
And then exhale,
Nothing to do,
Nowhere to be,
Just a breath.
Now let's add a little something.
As you breathe in,
Let your heart receive the breath as loving attention.
And as you exhale,
Allow your heart to settle into a sense of peace and calm.
So we're bringing in a response to the longing,
A response of attention and tenderness and kindness.
And we're breathing out a release that lets your heart settle into peace and calm,
Releasing from the longing.
Breathing in what your heart is longing for,
Breathing out,
Releasing.
Releasing from the longing,
Releasing from the yearning because you've received what you need.
Now let's try speaking these words out loud.
We're going to give ourselves a wish or a prayer of loving kindness for yourself.
That's L-O-V-I-N-G,
Kindness.
So two separate words,
Loving kindness.
So the idea is that this kind of kindness is like kindness,
But with a little extra.
The extra is in the love that is infusing this kindness.
And you're going to extend that to yourself.
This beautiful wish to summon loving kindness so that your heart is full.
So place your hand on your heart and let's say this aloud together.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
And as you speak the words,
Imagine your heart literally filling and swelling with loving kindness.
Try to feel your heart expanding because your heart is so full.
It may help to imagine someone you love dearly,
Someone who's not complicated.
When you imagine that person in front of you,
How does your heart sing when you think of them?
Let that fullness happen as we repeat the phrase.
Let's say it again out loud.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
Let's take a moment and reflect.
What does it mean to be filled with loving kindness?
What does it mean to have a kindness inside of you that's welling over,
That also has that quality of loving attention?
Just drop into that sensation in your body for a moment,
Feeling it out,
Feeling where there's a stuckness,
Feeling where there's an openness,
Where there's a willingness or a willfulness around loving kindness.
And now let's take a deep breath in,
Breathing in,
And a sighing exhale.
And let's say it aloud one last time together.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
And just sit with a sense of loving kindness for a moment while you breathe with your attention on your heart.
Just noticing what's arising.
You don't have to do anything about it.
Just noticing.
I hope that a little bit of practice tuning into your heart today is going to allow you to move through the rest of your day with that quality of loving kindness and attention to it as a response internally to anything that comes your way that's painful.
That it comes in from the outside world or it comes in from your thoughts.
And then speaking the words aloud if you can or privately,
May I be filled with loving kindness and coming back to the practice of letting your heart grow,
Giving your heart the attention that your heart is yearning for.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
