Hello sweet human.
Welcome to Mind Your Mindful.
My name is Brianna and I'm so honored that you are here to practice with me today.
This Metta meditation will be a short journey into the exploration of loving kindness and compassion.
May you honor yourself with kindness and compassion and may you honor others the same way that you would want to be treated.
Metta is first practice towards oneself.
When we feel full and abundant of love and kindness,
It overflows and we're able to share it out into the world.
Could you begin by taking a comfortable shape?
This comfortable shape will look unique to you.
It may be sitting down,
Laying down.
Just find the space of comfort that best suits you for the next few minutes.
Finding the breath,
Noticing the rise and fall,
The natural inhalation and exhalation moving through the body.
And as your breath begins to deepen and lengthen,
Take a deep breath in through the nose,
Exhaling out through the mouth,
Welcoming the body to relax and allowing your awareness to be present on the breath.
Could you begin by setting an intention for this Metta meditation?
You may have a specific intention that you'd like to work with today or you could say to yourself,
May I cultivate love and kindness within me and extend it to all beings.
May I cultivate love and kindness within me and extend it to all beings.
And as you notice the breath moving in and through the body,
You may wish to think of how you can cultivate kindness in this current moment.
Something as simple as taking these few moments for yourself.
As you envision this kindness,
Could you place it at the space of your heart?
The space born of love and simply bring awareness to the kindness in this space.
Now,
Could you send that kindness to the top of your head?
Slowly moving the awareness down through the body.
Noticing what you notice.
Are there any sensations?
Are there any spaces of tension that you could allow to soften and release?
Notice the space of the forehead and temples.
The kindness melting down into the jaw,
Giving it permission to unclench.
Massaging the shoulders with kindness.
Moving the awareness down through the neck,
The shoulders,
And allowing them to drop away from the ears.
Moving this kindness and compassion down into the arms,
The hands,
And fingers.
Noticing the abdomen.
Filling that space with compassion and kindness.
Guiding this love down through the hips and pelvis.
Welcoming the muscles to relax.
Sensing the space in the thighs,
Moving down through the legs.
Welcoming tenderness into the knees,
The calves,
And massaging your feet and toes with this kindness,
This embrace.
Noticing the breath and the natural rhythm.
Could you inhale,
Sensing calm?
And as you exhale,
Releasing any stagnation or tension.
And as you continue with the breath,
Could you imagine yourself,
The shape of your face,
The reflection of yourself in the mirror?
And as you stare at yourself back in the mirror,
Could you repeat the following phrases silently?
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I live with ease.
Acknowledging the duality in the nature of life and knowing that things aren't always simple.
Could you welcome the dichotomy into your awareness?
The dichotomy of happiness and sorrow.
Ease and difficulty.
Knowing that each situation beckons kindness towards yourself and towards all other beings.
Knowing that in the face of challenges,
Love and kindness can be the guiding lights.
Could you now bring to mind someone that you love deeply?
Allowing their picture to come clearly into the space of your mind.
Repeating silently.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you live with ease.
Could you extend this loving kindness that you hold for yourself and your dear ones to all beings?
Acknowledging the dichotomy is present.
Acknowledging the intersectionality and the burdens that many have to carry.
Silently repeating.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be healthy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings live with ease.
Welcoming the attention and awareness back to the breath.
Take a few deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Welcoming the sense of love and kindness that you carry within you.
That you carry out into the world to make it a better place.
And you may begin to notice the presence of the physical space around you.
Sensations in the fingers and toes.
And welcoming gentle movement into the body.
Opening the eyes whenever you're feeling very ready.
Taking a moment to place the hands at heart center.
And presencing a moment of gratitude to oneself for making this time and space to welcome in kindness into your heart.
To understand the dichotomy and intersectionality of life with compassion and understanding.
I wish you such a beautiful day and week ahead.
And if you'd like this meditation,
I welcome you to subscribe to Mind Your Mindful.
And please leave a little comment or a heart to let me know how you're feeling today.
