Loving Kindness Meditation - Relationships (30 Mins) 4.1.25

Hey,

How's it going?

Thank you so much for joining me here this week for our weekly loving kindness meditation.

We do this type of meditation in order to make the world a better place.

And I haven't done one of these in a while.

And unfortunately,

I think we need it now more than ever.

And so I'm really glad to be jumping back in today with this idea of beginning again.

As I learn and hear many times in my meditation practice,

We can always begin again,

No matter how many times we need to do this.

And I myself have had some shifts in my life.

And so I will be beginning again with you here today with this week's loving kindness meditation.

And so over the next 30 minutes,

We will complete our meditation from start to finish,

No prior experience necessary,

I will walk you through all of the steps.

And I'll describe them briefly here as we get settled into our practice.

Our loving kindness meditation,

We will spend five minutes on five individual unique groups or relationships as I call them in our lives.

First,

We start with a loving relationship.

And so we think or bring to mind somebody in which we have a easy loving relationship with,

And we send them our loving kindness phrases.

We use these phrases to focus our attention.

And so we will shift our phrases from group to group as we deepen our practice and hopefully find more compassion for these many groups or relationships in our lives.

So starting with our loving relationship,

We then move on to we do our mentor second,

Or I was going to call it a teacher,

Trying to think what best word to use on top of this.

So we have a loving relationship,

And then we have a friend,

Somebody in which we look up to,

Right,

I put my meditations here often in our second slot of our loving kindness meditation today.

As third is our neutral relationship.

So to me,

This means somebody within my community,

I picture and send my loving kindness phrases to as fourth is a difficult relationship.

We send our phrases fourth to somebody who that's maybe not our most mortal enemy,

But in which we may have some difficulty right now within our relationship.

And so we send our phrases to try to change what that might be.

Fifth,

And finally,

We close our loving kindness meditation with all beings everywhere.

And so we really remind ourselves that we're connected to all we are not alone on this journey,

No matter how difficult it might feel in the moment.

But we are connected to all beings everywhere throughout all time.

And so we will send our phrases to all beings everywhere last in our meditation today.

I have alluded to these phrases,

Which is the primary function of our loving kindness meditation,

We repeat a set of phrases silently to ourselves,

Directing towards those groups in which I've just described.

And we use this focus or mantra in order to move the energy throughout our bodies and minds.

So if you were feeling stuck,

This will definitely shift your perspective as my loving kindness meditation is not a relaxing,

I guess,

Meditation.

If you were looking for a relaxation,

Maybe switch to a Nidra or something of that nature.

While our loving kindness meditation is actually kind of meant to nettle us to realize that maybe we were the problem,

Or to shift our perspective when we do not have control over a particular relationship.

And so our loving kindness meditation will move us but maybe not fully relax us today.

So it's just one part of my meditation practice.

So the phrases I will be using today as our practice will be,

May you be happy,

May you be healthy,

May you be safe,

May you live with ease.

These are just the sample traditional phrases that I like to use.

But you can use whatever phrases feel right to you.

I've definitely experimented with many over my time,

As well as I've never nailed down a full list of traditional phrases.

Each teacher's books that I read have different phrases within them.

And so I'm just using a sample set while you get the gist of these short,

Specific phrases that hopefully channel our intention into more compassionate place.

But those are all the instructions I have for you today.

So I hope you found your way to a comfortable seat.

And it is time to begin our now 25 minutes of loving kindness meditation.

Or as I mentioned,

We start with a loving relationship.

So what loving relationship comes to mind first,

I think is best today.

I definitely have one top of mind.

And so I bring this person or being into my heart.

And I start to slowly bring my phrases to mind,

May you be happy,

May you be healthy,

May you be safe,

May you live with ease.

And so we repeat our phrases silently to ourself,

Finding our own rhythm,

I will repeat the first few,

And then you will dive in on your own.

And so to our loving relationship,

May you be happy,

May you be healthy,

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease and continue on your own.

As I think of my loving relationship this week,

I'm reminded that it's just important,

The love this person feels for me,

As it is the love that I feel for this person.

And we are no better than anyone else.

And anyone else is no better than me.

And so this loving relationship is just as crucial for both within the pair.

May you be happy,

May you be healthy,

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

Bringing a soft smile to our face helps our minds embody this compassionate loving feeling that we're channeling through the repetitions of our phrases.

As a time friends to move to our second relationship this week,

Our teacher or our mentor,

Somebody I respect who has earned my respect.

Right,

This mutual respect that I maybe not find necessarily in my loving relationship.

I've had some wonderful relationships within my work community,

My professional community that have meant so much to me.

And so we take this short five minutes to send our phrases to our teacher or a mentor.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

There is no special breath that comes along with this meditation practice.

We simply breathe with ease in and out as our phrases go by in our minds.

This rhythmic movement is something we can take off our mat as we think about our mentors and how they've had our back.

This breath and this practice is how we have our own backs.

Be proud of yourself for practicing.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

The rubber is hitting the road now as we take our final moments to finish our set of phrases to our mentors and teachers.

And the reason I love this practice so much is we transition into our neutral relationship for this week or as I view it my community.

Those who live on my street,

In my neighborhood,

Who I see at the grocery store,

Who I drive next to every day.

My community impacts my life more deeply than I ever acknowledge.

And so I take these short five minutes to be grateful and hopefully make my community a better place for the future for all of us.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease and continue on your own.

Do you think about how you affect your community?

As I walk my dog each and every day I find it very interesting those few houses in which use their front yards like a trash bin.

When the whole street is nice and clean and then you're the house in which the trash accumulates.

Have you looked in your front yard recently?

I know it's not a big thing but picking up your trash is a great way in which to contribute to your community even in a small way.

Keeping that standard of living for all of us.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

We may not think of our community often but when I sit here in my own home I do feel the life around me and I hope one day my neighbors may feel the community that I bring as well.

As we transition to my least favorite part of the practice and the juiciest for sure our weekly difficult relationship.

I say pick the first person who comes to mind even if it is your most difficult relationship.

We may not solve things in one session but after a hundred sessions your perspective does begin to shift at least in my experience.

And so today no matter what difficult relationship your mind has settled on we will send our phrases to find a new perspective more compassion for ourselves and the other.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

I do not tell you who my relationships are that I think about during these practices because it doesn't matter.

Our loving kindness meditation is a way in which we practice in our own lives and so it is most important about you and your relationship to these relationships in your life and how you react to sending your phrases.

That reaction is the most pivotal part.

What will it tell you?

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

I worry so often that I am other people's difficult relationships.

Between you and I there's nothing you can't say that I don't say nasty enough to myself and so really it's about me being my own difficult relationship.

My inner monologue and its negativity.

And so I'm so proud of you for spending these short five minutes to flip that script and find more positivity on top of these more natural negative emotions that come to us.

We're only human after all.

As it is now time to think about all beings everywhere I'd like to think that this is a light and airy and expansive part of our practice that we finish within our last five minutes together.

And so I think of all people everywhere I'm a 90s baby so that's hand in hand around the world as I visualize it.

While I do hope that we may all have a chance for happiness.

So may you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

I want to remind you that there are things that are so big our mind cannot comprehend them.

Like how big the universe is.

How small an atom is.

Given an electron.

How many people there are in this world.

Eight billion.

I've only ever written 30 million on a piece of paper when I was in banking and that felt like a lot let alone eight billion other people.

And so if I have to divide my harshness amongst it all it's a pretty small percentage isn't it.

And so each and every week we remind ourselves that it's only this very small percentage and I can overcome it.

And this practice is one way.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

And that's that my dear friends.

30 minutes of meditation here and gone.

I'm so grateful that you take this time to meditate with me.

I'm just one humble teacher on the list of hundreds you can pick from.

I'd like to think I study pretty good so I feel like here's a pretty reliable place to start but I understand I'm not everybody's cup of tea but you're my cup of tea.

As we together make the world a better place each and every week we come and we let go a little bit more.

Find more compassion through our loving kindness meditation.

With love,

Namaste my friends.