Welcoming you to our Lake of Loving Kindness meditation.
If you haven't already,
Finding a comfortable position,
One that supports you in being awake,
One that represents perhaps a bit more kindness.
Softening the gaze or closing the eyes if that's comfortable for you.
Performing a quick body scan just to get a felt sense of any and all sensations in the body in the moment now.
If you'd like,
Keeping some attention on the body and or your anchor point as we begin to enter this guided visualization meditation.
Therefore,
I invite you to begin to imagine a beautiful landscape of your choice with a small body of water,
A pond at its center.
May this pond be of your choosing,
A temperature,
A look and feel that feels safe and comfortable and kind.
Imagining the flora and the fauna in this landscape and shifting more attention now to the body just to get a sense of how this is,
This is all making you feel what's alive in the body as you visualize all this.
And the ask now is to enter the water as deeply or shallowly as you prefer,
Either being on the bank or already swimming and diving into it.
This pond representing goodwill,
Kindness,
Love,
Compassion.
And you're just soaking it in.
And now you may begin to imagine a being,
Two or three,
Someone that you are close with,
That you love dearly,
That you care for,
Coming to join you in this pond of love and kindness and goodwill.
And imagining the interaction,
Maybe there's conversation or you're swimming,
Floating,
Bathing,
Resting,
Whatever it is.
Taking some time to imagine what this would all be like together.
And shifting more attention to the body,
Recognizing and acknowledging how this is being echoed or reflected on here.
The sensations,
The emotions that may have arisen.
And now if you'd like,
Beginning to expand the body of water,
The pond,
To the size of a small lake.
Extending your goodwill,
Your love,
Your kindness,
Your compassion.
And beginning to imagine more of your loved ones,
Your friends,
Your family,
People you hold dearly,
To enjoy the water,
To come and rest,
Play,
Swim,
Bathe,
Float,
Sharing in this loving kindness you're cultivating,
Creating here and now.
Noticing not only what's happening in the mind,
But what also is unfolding in the body,
The felt experience,
As we imagine all of this.
Intellectually and experientially experiencing this practice.
If you wish to,
We can expand the size of the lake.
Extending the goodwill,
The kindness,
The love,
The compassion.
Knowing there's room for everyone.
And if you'd like,
Extending the invitation to strangers,
Colleagues,
People from the past,
People you don't know personally,
But maybe have heard of or seen or read about.
Allowing everyone to share these waters,
To rest,
To float,
To play,
To swim in this goodwill,
This love,
This kindness,
This compassion you're nurturing and cultivating.
And alternating or fluctuating between the visual mental experience and the felt experiential physical experience.
And now last but not least,
Expanding the lake to its greatest size.
A great lake.
A lake the size of a sea.
Space and room for everyone.
And if you'd wish to,
Maybe beginning to invite some of the individuals,
Some of the creatures or some of the beings you have more difficulty with,
More hardship or pain with.
Knowing they don't have to be as close to you.
There can be a corner or two where they may experience also the benefits of the goodwill,
The kindness,
The compassion,
The love,
The unconditional love you've been cultivating and nurturing in this lake,
In this body of water.
Taking these last few moments to experience,
To notice and acknowledge what's happening in the mind,
What's happening in the body.
May this lake be an analogy,
A metaphor to your heart.
This heart of goodwill,
Of love,
Of kindness,
Of compassion.
And in your own time and in your own way,
Maybe with a deeper breath in and a deeper breath out.
Letting this lake of loving kindness meditation go.
Beginning to transition to whatever's next in your day.
And may your lake and your heart be open to the beings you encounter.
May you share your goodwill,
Your love,
Your kindness and compassion.
Thank you.
