Hello and welcome to this loving-kindness or metta meditation.
Let's start by finding a comfortable upright seated position.
We can relax the eyes,
The face,
The jaw,
And the shoulders.
Consciously relax the chest,
The abdomen,
The arms,
The hands.
Letting go of any and all tension in the hips,
The buttocks,
The legs,
And the feet.
Giving yourself permission here to let go of all unnecessary tension from the body.
Now bring to mind someone whom you love immensely.
Someone that you love without condition.
Who upon seeing or thinking of them your heart smiles.
This could be a friend,
A family member,
A pet,
A child,
Or otherwise.
Someone that you have no complicated feelings towards.
Bring this person to mind as clearly as possible.
And once you have this person in mind we're going to send loving-kindness to them from your heart field to theirs.
The feelings here are more important than the words themselves.
Sending these feelings out from your heart inwardly repeat after me.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be free.
Taking a moment here to sense how it feels to wish these messages of goodwill towards another expecting nothing in return.
Imagining this person receiving these messages and how it uplifts them.
Can you feel that in your heart?
Bring that person to mind again and repeat after me.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be free.
Just dwelling here for a little bit.
Gently noticing anything that may be arising.
Now bring yourself to mind.
Drawing upon the same loving-kindness we just generated for this person you love.
And just like them you deserve to feel this loving-kindness too.
We all do.
And so with yourself in mind repeat the following.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I be free.
Perhaps feeling the glow of loving-kindness again repeat after me.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I be free.
You too are deserving of happiness,
Health,
Safety,
And freedom.
Resting here for just a little bit.
Now bring to mind someone that perhaps you don't know very well but have no complicated feelings towards.
Maybe this is a person working at your local coffee shop or a work colleague or someone in your neighborhood that you see every once in a while.
Bring this person to mind as clearly as possible and repeat after me.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be free.
Consider that even though you may not know this person very well they have a family,
Hopes and dreams,
Difficulties and sadness,
Struggles they may be going through just like you and I.
Once more think of this person and repeat after me.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be free.
You're doing so well.
Just resting here in the space for a moment.
And finally bring to mind someone for whom it is difficult to feel immediate loving-kindness towards.
Someone perhaps with whom you've had some difficulty.
Maybe an ex or former spouse.
A parent.
A sibling.
A challenging boss or co-worker.
Someone who has hurt or insulted you.
Someone that brings up emotional distress in you.
And while you may have every reason to feel resistance in your heart towards this person consider for a moment that just like you this person is capable of feeling pain,
Sadness,
Heartbreak,
Fear,
Confusion,
Terror,
Doubt and all the other human emotions.
In fact they may be feeling some of these right now.
And just like you and I this person wishes to be happy,
Healthy,
Safe and free from suffering.
So with these thoughts in this person in mind please repeat after me.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
And may you be free.
Consider also that surely at some point in this person's life they have done something to make someone else happy.
To help them.
To relieve someone's suffering.
With this in mind once more repeat after me.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
And may you be free.
Wonderful.
That may or may not have come easy to you but know that with practice we can cultivate an ever widening capacity for this loving kindness.
And I would encourage you to return to this meditation as much as you'd like if it would help.
This is something we can train just like any other skill.
Love is perhaps the one thing in life that grows in magnitude the more we give it away.
Thank you so much for being here.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be free.
Take care my friend.
