Loving-kindness meditation.
Please don't do this meditation if you're driving in your car or you're operating heavy machinery or you're doing anything that requires your absolute focus.
So just begin to get ready for our meditation by allowing your body to settle into the space in which you're sat or you lie,
Allowing your body to support your practice,
Not hinder you,
In a gentle,
Open and receptive way.
And when you're ready,
Gently close your eyes or lower your gaze.
Whatever feels right for you in this moment,
As I invite you now to invite a wonderful golden stream of love to pour into your heart.
This is a beautiful flowing stream of love and it's pouring into your heart and it's filling your heart with love.
This is a beautiful,
Beautiful sensation,
Feeding your heart to grow and flourish in the love that is there.
You might want to imagine your heart as a flower and as more and more love pours into your heart,
The petals of your flower just gently open up.
As more and more love pours into your heart,
The petals of your flower open,
The flower flourishes and blossoms in this nurturing,
Loving presence coming into your heart.
Feel yourself awash,
Bathed in love and as you do so,
I invite you now to gently place an image of yourself into the center of your heart,
The center of your flower and simply hold yourself there with love and kindness.
Be tender in your hold,
Give yourself the nurture and the love that you so deserve,
Holding yourself in your heart and bathing yourself in love.
And as you hold yourself here,
Silently repeat these words,
May I be well,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
May I live in peace,
May I be well,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
May I live in peace,
May I be well,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
May I live in peace.
Just holding yourself in your own love,
In your open and receptive heart and allowing these words to wash over you,
Infuse your very essence and your being with love and tenderness and kindness.
We are more often than not our own worst enemies,
Our biggest critics,
Our harshest judges.
So today,
In this moment and this space,
Decide to be your biggest bestest friend.
Love yourself holy and completely for who and what you are.
Just hold yourself here,
Bathe yourself in your own love,
And mess yourself in loving kindness.
May I be well,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
May I live in peace.
Just hold yourself here for a few moments,
Bathe yourself in your own love.
May I be well,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
May I live in peace.
And now allow the image of yourself to fade from your mind's eye and your presence to gently dissolve into your heart.
Because I'm inviting you now to bring to mind those who are nearest and dearest to you,
Your family,
Your friends,
Your loved ones,
And one by one in turn,
Just bring to mind an image of this person and place them into the center of your heart,
The center of your flower.
And simply hold them there with love and kindness,
With tenderness and affection.
With all your loved ones in your heart,
Just silently repeat these words.
May you be well,
May you be happy,
May you be healthy,
May you live your life in peace.
May you be well,
May you be happy,
May you be healthy,
May you live your life in peace.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live your life in peace.
Holding your loved ones with love and kindness.
The tenderness of the words bathing those who you love the most,
Those who are nearest within your inner sanctum.
And just letting go any difficulties or any disagreements.
Just allow them to pass as best you can.
We're all doing the best with what we have,
Ourselves included.
So feeling your loved ones in your heart and holding them with love and kindness and tenderness.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live in peace.
And now allow the imagery of your loved ones to gently fade from your mind's eye and dissolve into your heart.
As I invite you now to bring to mind a stranger,
Which may seem a strange thing to do because it's somebody you don't know,
But I'm asking you to visualize somebody that you know by sight,
But you don't know them.
You know of them.
It can be anybody.
Somebody on the street,
At work,
In a shop.
It doesn't matter.
We're just bringing to mind somebody we don't know and we're going to place them into the center of our heart,
The center of our flower.
And this stranger we're going to hold with love and kindness and tenderness in our heart.
As we silently say these words,
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live in peace.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live in peace.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live in peace.
By holding somebody we don't really know in tenderness and love and kindness,
It brings us closer together,
Recognizing our own humanity and those of those around us,
Sharing a sense of love and space and tenderness.
Because we're all connected,
We could say this stranger represents the vast mass of humanity,
Distance,
Bringing them closer,
Holding it in tenderness.
We are all connected in one way or another.
As we wish our stranger love and kindness and compassion.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live in peace.
May you be healthy.
May you live in peace.
And now allow the image of the stranger to gently fade from your mind and dissolve into your heart.
Because now I am inviting you to bring to mind somebody with whom you've had a disagreement with of late.
Don't choose a big argument or a huge life-changing decision to disconnect from another human being.
Particularly when we're new to this practice,
It's somebody that we've had a fragmented time with.
We're just a bit upset with one another.
They're not happy with us or we're not happy with them,
But there's nothing huge,
There's nothing earth-shattering.
It's just a disagreement.
And see if you can place an image of this person into the center of your heart,
The center of your flower,
And try and hold them there with love and kindness and tenderness.
And just repeat these words silently to yourself.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live in peace.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live in peace.
May you live in peace.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live in peace.
And in seeing if we can hold somebody with whom we have a disagreement with in love and kindness,
Transcends the irritation that had once occurred.
And just hold them there in tenderness and kindness.
Because for all that happens we all want to love and be loved.
We all have sadness and sorrow.
We all have joy and happiness.
The stories are different.
The reality is not the same.
But the premise,
The underlying nature,
It's there in all of us in one way or another.
So just hold this person with tenderness as best you can.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live in peace.
Now just allow this person to fade from your mind's eye.
Just notice this sense of connection,
This interconnectivity between yourself and your fellow human being.
We're all connected in one way or another.
All humans,
All beings,
Everywhere.
And through living kindness the world is a far more loving and kinder place.
May we be well.
May we be happy.
May we be healthy.
May we live in peace.
May we be well.
May we be happy.
May we be healthy.
May we live in peace.
Because we're all connected in one way or another.
And through loving kindness the world is a far more loving and kinder place.
May we be well.
May we be happy.
May we be healthy.
May we live in peace.
Thank you.
