Namaste.
Welcome to this meditation on the breath,
On oneness,
And on loving kindness.
Come find your seat,
A comfortable seat either on your chair,
On your cushion,
Or on the floor.
Sit up tall with your spine long and bring your chin parallel to the ground.
Relax your shoulders.
Allow the hips to root down to the floor or to your seat and rest your feet flat on the earth.
Gently close your eyes.
Bring your attention to your breath.
For now you don't have to control it,
Just observe.
Allow yourself to feel the breath,
Noticing where it goes and where it flows in the body.
Curious as to where it reaches.
Can you feel your breath in your shoulders,
In your fingers,
In your toes?
Observe how it helps to soothe away your tension,
Ease your worries,
And calm your heart.
The rhythm of your breath comes in and out to nourish you with new life and release old and stagnant energy from within you.
As you begin to relax,
You may also start to ponder all the wonders of your breath,
How magical and nourishing it is.
This breath is so amazing because it is not just yours.
It is the whole world's being recycled over and over again.
Take a long breath in and as you exhale,
Settle more deeply in your seat.
This breath that you're taking in came from the breaths of the people and animals in your surroundings.
You are breathing the exhales of the trees.
You take in a part of the life force of all that is here.
And you leave your exhales for others to take in.
A part of yourself integrating with the rest of the world.
It is amazing how this breath is renewed over and over again over all of time.
This breath has traveled the world through the Sahara Desert,
The pyramids,
The Arctic,
Across oceans,
Passed on through people,
Plants,
Animals,
Minerals,
And all living beings.
This breath and all of your breaths combined with the rest of the world's will live on far longer than any of us living right now.
Touching all of life throughout all time while taking a part of each of us with them.
And together as we breathe,
As we contemplate on each breath,
We begin to realize that the breath does not choose.
It simply is.
It is available for all.
Man,
Woman,
Animal,
Plant,
Mineral.
It goes through all beings.
Our friends,
Family,
Neighbors,
Colleagues,
Countrymen,
Even strangers or those we think are our enemies.
Our breath anchors us to the reality that everything is intricately interconnected.
We can never separate ourselves from each other,
For we are all one.
One person's pain is our pain.
Another person's joy is our joy.
We are no different from each other.
We are responsible for each other and we are capable of lifting each other up.
Let us take another breath in and slowly breathe out,
Taking some time in silence to continue your contemplations on your breath.
You you you you you you you you you you you you keeping your eyes closed we begin now our meta or loving kindness practice establish yourself in your seat once more lengthening the spine relaxing the shoulders unclenching the jaws ready to receive loving kindness from ourselves and ready to give to others bring to mind a picture of yourself and repeat these words silently may I be filled with loving kindness may I be safe and protected from all harm may I be healthy and well may I be at ease happy and free allow yourself to truly feel and receive these blessings you are worthy of all of them and now bring to mind someone or something that brings you joy and love any relationship that makes you genuinely happy and to this person send your blessings may you be filled with loving kindness may you be safe and protected from all harm may you be healthy and well may you be at ease happy and free and really feel the love that you're sending to this being picture them receiving your blessings and being filled with much joy and now bring to mind someone or something that is neutral it could be a stranger or a stray animal or even a tree that you always pass by may you be filled with loving kindness may you be safe and protected from all harm may you be healthy and well may you be at ease happy and free picture this being receiving your love and how it might make them feel to know that someone in this world cares for them and finally bring to mind someone or something that you feel causes you pain or suffering send them your well wishes knowing that they too are a part of you no matter how difficult they may be and to this being may you be filled with loving kindness may you be safe and protected from harm may you be healthy and well may you be at ease happy and free imagine how someone's kindness can change another life and know that even if it's just in your thoughts your breath brings these blessings out into the world and it will reach these beings you thought of today may all beings everywhere be happy and free may the thoughts words and actions of my own life contribute in some way to the happiness and freedom of all samasta suki no pavantu samasta suki no pavantu bring your attention back into this body into this moment gently bring a smile on your face as you start to wiggle your fingers start to wiggle the toes maybe you can begin to blink the eyes open and welcome the visions of this world that are available to you right now thank you so much for spending some time to sit and meditate to bring awareness to the intricate interconnectedness of this life and to send out your blessings to all beings namaste
