So the practice of metta,
Or loving kindness,
Or compassion,
It can help you to respond to your own mind with friendliness,
As well as that to others too.
Unfortunately,
Our thoughts,
They don't always do what we want them to do.
And the body,
As a result of this,
May have discomfort.
And this meditation,
It encourages us to meet those experiences with a caring and gentle heart.
This helps us to see more clearly in our practice and also daily life.
So loving kindness,
Metta,
It's a practice where you are not inviting in something from outside yourself.
What you are doing is tuning in to the capacity for care and love that is already present in your heart.
So what we can also do with this practice is extend it out to other people and other beings,
Which we'll be doing throughout this practice.
So let's first sit in a comfortable posture and gently allow your eyes to close or just slightly lower your gaze.
And let's start by taking a deep breath,
Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
As we return our breath to the normal practice,
Just try to bring kindness into your present environment.
Just think of the body with friendliness.
Just listen to it and see if you can move if you need to,
To get any more comfortable.
Now within this practice,
You don't want to fall asleep,
But you can allow yourself to be more at ease during this exercise by just playing around with your posture.
Just begin by recognizing your own desire to be happy.
Try not to dig into stories about what might make you happy.
Just find this natural wish for ease and comfort for yourself.
Try saying to yourself,
Yes,
I want to be happy.
And with this intention in mind,
Begin offering yourself phrases of kindness.
As you offer the phrases in your head,
Just say them slowly.
Connecting with the intention behind the words,
Even if you don't feel them entirely at this moment in time.
Say,
Yes,
I want to be happy.
So now let's use some specific phrasing.
Just repeat these words to yourself.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I be at ease.
Just finding a rhythm with the phrases.
You may try offering one phrase with each exhale or with every other exhale.
As you offer the phrases,
Use them as the object of your concentration.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I be at ease.
Just resting your awareness fully on the phrases and the deeper intention behind them.
If the mind wanders,
Just come back to the phrases in your head.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I be at ease.
Just noticing any feelings or thoughts of self-judgement or resistance to self-care.
Just stay with the phrases for as long as you feel comfortable.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe.
May I be at ease.
So we're just going to pause on this for 30 seconds or so.
So just reflect on those phrases.
So now we're going to shift gears a little bit with this practice.
We're going to look outwards towards other people.
So I just want you to bring to mind somebody that you deeply care about.
It could be a friend.
It could be a loved one.
It could be a pet.
Just bring them to mind and see them sat just in front of you,
Smiling back at you.
And now I just want you to use these phrases and pass them over to them.
So in your head just repeat after me.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be at ease.
Just once again finding a rhythm with the phrases and just repeating them one after another.
You may choose to offer one phrase with each exhale or with every other exhale or all at once.
Whatever works for you.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be at ease.
So let's pause on that for another 30 seconds or so.
So now I just want you to bring to mind someone who you have a different kind of relationship with.
So this isn't a relationship of love.
It's maybe one of friendship.
So just bring the person to mind and just once again just see them sat in front of you,
Smiling back at you.
And once again let's just repeat the phrases.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be at ease.
And for 30 seconds or so once again just finding a rhythm with those phrases.
Keeping this person in mind.
So next I'd like to bring someone to mind who you don't necessarily know.
So this could be somebody who you saw at the shop.
Could be a cashier.
Could be a barista at a local coffee shop.
Could be somebody who was walking outside your house.
Just bring somebody to mind who you don't necessarily know.
And just visualize them again just sat in front of you,
Smiling back at you.
And now let's offer them some kindness.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe.
May you be at ease.
So once again finding a rhythm with the phrases.
Just focusing on the deeper intention behind them.
If the mind wanders then just come back to the phrases in your head.
Just following them for 30 seconds or so.
So as one final exploration we're going to open the practice up to the whole world.
And in this we mean every being,
Every animal,
Just everything throughout the entire world.
So let's use these phrases.
Be at ease.
Just once again just focusing on the deeper intention behind you offering this kindness.
So let's practice for 30 seconds or so.
So just to finish this practice we just begin by taking a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
As you just begin to bring your attention back into the room and open your eyes.
