We begin by adopting a suitable meditation posture,
Either sitting or lying down.
We can sit on a chair,
Cross-legged on the floor,
Or lie down on our back.
Allow our spine to be in a 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.
Let's start at the face,
Checking on the sensations at our own face.
Are we tensing up any of the facial muscles?
Those at the forehead,
Around the eyes,
Or 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 softening and relaxing at the face to spread on its own to the rest of our body,
Helping our body to settle down into meditation in its own time.
Moving on to the meditation on loving-kindness towards ourselves,
We start by choosing a few simple phrases that best express our understanding of what it means to love,
To care,
And to show concern.
You can start with these stock phrases,
Change them as you go along.
We can say to ourselves,
May I live in safety,
Wishing ourselves to feel safe and have security in life,
May I live in safety,
May I be happy,
Wishing ourselves to feel joy,
Cheerfulness,
And happiness in the mind and heart,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
Wishing ourselves to enjoy physical health and well-being,
May I be healthy,
And lastly,
May I live with ease,
Wishing one's daily life and work flow smoothly and easily,
May I live with ease,
May I live in safety,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
And may I live with ease.
Repeat the phrases slowly and mindfully at our own pace,
Stay connected to the intentions behind the words and extend loving-kindness towards ourselves,
May I live in safety,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
May I live with ease,
May I live in safety,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
May I live with ease.
Coming back to the phrases,
See if we can say these words with sincerity and genuinely wishing from the bottom of our heart for ourselves to be happy,
May I live in safety,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
May I live with ease.
Coming back to the phrases,
Not to worry if we do get distracted along the way,
Finding our mind drifting through thoughts or feeling sleepy,
Drowsy,
See if we can remember to be kind to ourselves in our meditation and simply return our attention to the phrases of loving-kindness,
May I live in safety,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
May I live with ease.
Coming back to the phrases,
We don't have to worry if we are not feeling particularly loving,
We can allow our heart plenty of time to respond in its own way,
We can rely on the words in the meantime to guide our heart towards loving-kindness,
May I live in safety,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
May I live with ease.
Coming back to the phrases of loving-kindness,
When on occasions a nice warm feeling of love and kindness arise,
See if we can entwine those feelings among the phrases and offer them back to ourselves,
May I live in safety,
May I be happy,
May I be healthy,
May I live with ease.
Coming to the end of the meditation,
We set aside the words and see if we can gather up the positive momentum we have created through such a meditation and dedicate it towards the fulfillment of whatever wishes or aspirations we may have,
Both for ourselves and for others.
