Hello there,
This is Moira Hutchison.
I've always loved the loving kindness practice and I know that there's many different types out there so I thought I would try my hand at creating one for you to try.
And so I invite you to take your favourite position for meditation.
You can be sitting or lying down.
I encourage you to have a blanket or just whatever you need to be warm and comfortable.
So taking a deep breath,
Deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth.
Deep breath in through your nose,
Out through your mouth with a sigh.
Once more,
Deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth with a sigh.
And then just let go of that pattern.
Let your breathing go to its right rhythm,
Whatever is right for you.
Feeling your body where it touches with the support beneath you,
Settling in.
You can move your body any time you need just to stay as comfortable as possible.
You can centre yourself now by making your own breathing the focus of your attention.
Feeling your breath moving in and out of the body.
And as you do you can drop into a sense of spaciousness,
Of relaxation.
Letting go of the busyness of the everyday world for a few moments.
So continuing to relax and let go.
When you're ready bring to mind someone or something,
It could be a person or a pet or an animal,
Someone or something that is easy to feel loving and kindness toward.
It can be someone or something from the past or present.
Maybe a child,
A loved one,
A pet.
An easy simple relationship might be the best one to choose.
So just allowing yourself to hold them in your awareness,
Maybe seeing them in your mind's eye,
Maybe even just having a sense of them in your heart.
Just allowing yourself to feel that sense of loving kindness.
Feeling the love that you feel toward them.
And as you hold them in your awareness just start to send wishes of loving kindness to them.
And silently in your mind with me simply repeating these phrases.
May you be peaceful and happy.
May you be safe from harm.
May you be as healthy and strong as possible.
May you live with the ease of well-being.
When you're ready allow the image or that felt sense of the chosen loved one to fade.
And now it's time for you to be the one who receives the loving kindness.
Resting here in your own loving compassion.
Sending yourself these well wishes and allowing yourself to take this in,
Breathe it in and to silently say them for yourself.
May I be peaceful and happy.
May I be safe from all inner and outer harm.
May I be as healthy and strong as possible.
May I live with ease of well-being.
Sometimes it can feel a little bit forced or artificial to say these kind of things to ourselves.
And that's okay.
Maybe you're not feeling that kind of loving kindness for you at the moment.
And that's okay.
This is about just holding the intention of loving kindness.
Offering it from wherever you are,
Wherever you find yourself and however you are now.
And so practicing this once more.
Just noticing.
Noticing if you feel drawn to doing this or pushed away from it.
There's no right or wrong here.
It's just being willing to experience this.
So again,
In your mind,
May I be peaceful and happy.
May I be safe from harm.
May I be as healthy and strong as possible.
May I live with the ease of well-being.
And now we're going to explore the experience of moving loving kindness outward again.
So bringing into your heart and your mind someone to whom you'd like to send loving kindness.
So with the same intention we started with,
The same intention that you've been directing towards yourself,
Offering these wishes,
These statements.
May you be peaceful and happy.
May you be safe from harm.
May you be as healthy and strong as possible.
May you live with the ease of well-being.
Just holding them in your awareness and sending loving kindness with these phrases or you can come up with phrases of your own.
At times I like to use my own.
You might even just send out wishes.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be happy.
May you be peaceful and happy.
May you be safe from harm.
May you be as healthy and strong as possible.
May you live with the ease of well-being.
Thank you for joining me for this exercise today.
May you be filled with loving kindness as you start to become aware of your breathing again.
Becoming aware of where you are.
Maybe moving your fingers and toes a little.
If you've had your eyes closed you can slowly open them.
Take a big stretch and get ready to rejoin your day.
