We begin by adopting a suitable meditation posture,
Either sitting or lying down.
We can sit on a chair,
Cross together on the floor,
Or lie down on our back.
Allow our spine to be in its natural and comfortable position.
Rest our hands and arms on some physical support.
To allow our shoulders to be relaxed.
Feel free to close our eyes or lift them open.
Let's begin by returning our attention to our own body,
To be in touch with the simple sensations here,
In order to settle our body into meditation.
We can start at the face,
Checking on the sensations at our own face.
Are we tensing up any of the facial muscles?
Muscles at the forehead,
Those around the eyes,
Or those at the jaw.
Can we gently relax these muscles and let in a different feeling,
A feeling of softness,
Ease and comfort into our own face.
We can allow any feeling of softness and relaxation to spread on its own to the rest of our body.
Helping our body to settle into meditation in its own time.
Moving on to the meditation on loving kindness towards our loved ones,
We bring to mind members of our family and friends,
One at a time.
See if we can actually picture them individually in our mind's eye.
Or simply say their names.
We express our love and appreciation of them with a few simple phrases.
You can start with these stock phrases,
Change them as you go along.
We can wish them,
May you live in safety.
Wishing them to feel safe and to have security in life,
May you live in safety.
May you be happy.
Wishing them to feel joy,
Cheerfulness and happiness in their mind and heart,
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
Wishing them to enjoy physical health and well-being,
May you be healthy.
And may you live with ease.
Wishing that their daily life and work flows smoothly and easily,
May you live with ease.
May you live in safety.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
Repeat these phrases slowly and mindfully.
Pause between repetitions.
And direct these phrases towards your loved ones as standing loving-kindness.
May you live in safety.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
Coming back to the meditation.
Repeat the phrases slowly,
Mindfully and sincerely at our own pace.
Try to stay connected to the loving intentions behind the words.
Understand loving-kindness towards our loved ones,
One at a time.
May you live in safety.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
Coming back to the meditation,
Feel free to switch to other loved ones.
Say goodbye to the current one,
Release their image and bring forth another.
And for each of them,
We rely on the words to guide our heart to extend loving-kindness.
May you live in safety.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
Coming back to the meditation,
Do not worry if our mind wanders off,
Or if ourselves feeling drowsy and sleepy.
Come back to the meditation,
Refocus your attention on your loved ones.
Sometimes it helps to say their names as if we are calling out to catch their attention.
Then we genuinely wish from the bottom of our hearts for them to be happy.
May you live in safety.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
Coming back to the meditation,
Do not worry if you are not feeling particularly loving.
Allow the words to stand in for the loving feelings.
And see if you can offer them sincerely from your heart.
May you live in safety.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
Coming back to the meditation,
Occasionally when the warm feelings we associate with love arise in our meditation,
See if you can entwine the feelings among the words and offer them to your loved ones.
May you live in safety.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you live with ease.
Coming to the end of the meditation,
See if you can say goodbye to your loved ones,
Put aside the images,
Let go of the words.
Take a few moments to gather up the positive momentum you have created here and dedicate it towards the fulfillment of whatever wishes or aspirations you may have for yourself and for others.
