09:37

Trauma-Sensitive Loving-Kindness / Metta Meditation

by Hōgen Mark Cluney

Rated
3.7
Type
guided
Activity
Meditation
Suitable for
Everyone
Plays
21

This short loving-kindness / metta meditation guides listeners into a state of relaxed focus, cultivating feelings of universal loving-kindness, and then directing those feelings--toward ourselves, toward our loved ones, toward those we struggle with, and toward all beings. Giving the listener the ability to choose who these feelings are directed toward takes trauma and its potential impact on metta practice into account.

MeditationLoving KindnessMettaRelaxationFocusCompassionSelf LoveEnergy SharingCompassion CultivationBreathing AwarenessHeart VisualizationsLoving Kindness MeditationsPosturesSelf AffirmationsTrauma SensitivityVisualizations

Transcript

Sit comfortably in a quiet place where you can be free from distractions.

Hold your spine straight,

Neutral and tall.

Whether you're sitting,

Standing,

Lying down,

Let your hands rest comfortably,

Whether that be in your lap or by your sides.

Close your eyes or gaze softly at the earth ahead of you.

As you breathe slowly in and out through your nose,

Spend some time with attention on breath.

Without forcing,

Gently nudge your way into a longer inhale breath and a much longer exhale breath.

Let the breath get quieter as your body softens a bit and your mind too gets quieter.

And now the center of your heart,

Imagine a source of radiant,

Soft,

Warm,

White light.

That light is alive,

It's vibrating,

It's pulsing.

Feel the light with your body,

It's warmth,

It's movement,

It's energy.

This light is the source of limitless love,

Positivity,

And well being within you.

And because it's limitless,

You can share.

So invite before you someone with whom you'd like to share this light.

Someone you know,

Someone you care for,

Someone you love.

And once you have them in your mind,

Sit them directly across from you.

They're sitting just as you are.

Their spine tall and neutral their hands in their lap or by their sides.

You can see them breathing,

You can sense the rise and fall of their chest.

And now because you love this person so much,

You decide to send them four wishes.

As you send them your light,

You may say silently to yourself.

May this person have happiness and all the causes of future happiness.

As you said in this wish,

You also imagine light traveling across all space and time from your body to theirs,

Filling them up with light.

And then you say to yourself,

May this person be free from their pain and suffering,

And all the causes of their pain and suffering.

And as you send them this wish,

You equally send them more light,

The light now filling their entire torso with well being.

And then you say to yourself,

And this person never be separated from joy.

May they always be immersed in joy,

Never touched by pain.

Again,

Imagining more light sent over with this wish.

The light has now filled up their arms and their legs.

And now you say to yourself,

May this person live in a state of contentment,

Free from all their grasping and free from aversion.

And as you send this,

Send more light over with this wish,

It fills up their neck,

It fills up their head,

Their entire body is now a glow with your light.

Because of all the well wishes you've sent your loved one,

Your friend,

They're glowing.

You see them having received your wishes.

You understand that they're happy,

Free from pain,

Joyful and content.

Their light is so bright that it bounces back to you.

Your own light now even brighter.

So rest now in the presence of this light.

And rest in the sensation in your body.

How does it feel to see your friend so happy and so free?

Recognize that it's by sharing with others that we experience fullness.

Recognize that you are whole,

You are perfect,

And you have everything that you need.

Meet your Teacher

Hōgen Mark CluneyDes Moines, IA, USA

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© 2026 Hōgen Mark Cluney. All rights reserved. All copyright in this work remains with the original creator. No part of this material may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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