Loving Kindness Meditation - Relationships (30 Mins) 7.11.22

Hello and welcome.

Thank you so much for joining me here today.

My name is Abby and I'm a yogi,

Salesforce engineer,

And creator of Consider Volunteering,

My personal brand of community empowerment.

And today I'm back with my next loving kindness meditation.

So I greatly appreciate you joining me for this 30-minute loving kindness or Metta meditation.

I learned this style of meditation from Sharon Salzberg and I greatly encourage you to check her out.

Go study from the master.

Learning from many teachers has been one of my favorite parts about my mindfulness journey.

But today we will be doing a 30-minute loving kindness meditation.

So to start us off,

We will be finding our way into a comfortable seat.

I will walk us through the entire process and then we will jump right in on our first group of phrases.

So my comfortable seat,

I'm sit here in my office on my meditation cushion,

But I do often really enjoy lying down as well as long as we can stay awake.

But sometimes nap is also the best option.

And so our loving kindness meditation consists of first repeating a set of phrases.

So please feel free to select your personal phrases that work and feel best for you.

But for our practice today,

I'm going to be leveraging may you be happy,

May you be healthy,

May you be safe,

May you live with ease.

So these are the phrases I will be using.

The rhythm comes in time and I do expect I will change my phrases in due time,

But these are the ones that I feel most comfortable with using today.

And so we will repeat our phrases to five different groups of people.

So the aspect of this practice is to hold these different groups of people in our heart or in our minds,

Right?

This intention of sending me,

Sending these groups of people our loving kindness phrases.

So the first group of people we start with is ourselves.

So we will send first and foremost,

Loving kindness phrases to myself.

And then our second group of people will be our loving relationship.

So our teacher,

Our family member,

Oftentimes this is my dog,

That person in your life where you have a loving,

Easy,

Beautiful,

Endearing relationship with.

Our third group of individuals will be kind of this unnamed public person.

So maybe a particular face comes to mind.

I often imagine somebody at the grocery store,

Somebody I'm driving next to on the road,

Maybe a neighbor,

Somebody on the train.

So this member of the public is our third group that we will send our loving kindness phrases to.

Fourth will be a more challenging relationship,

Right?

That difficult relationship in our life.

So in order to gladden the mind and bring in some more love and compassion into our balance that we seek,

We will send our loving kindness phrases to a more difficult relationship.

Granted,

I don't recommend taking on the most difficult relationship you have,

But sometimes I really can't get over that.

So it won't be solved in one session.

Nothing ever is.

But we try.

And I believe coming back to those difficult relationships time and time again really does make the world of difference.

So that was our fourth group of people.

So last but not least,

We have our fifth group of all beings everywhere.

So we will open up our loving kindness to this last group of all beings everywhere,

Mother Earth,

Insects,

Animals,

All of those beautiful creatures.

And there are many forms that live on this one shared planet.

So I hope in this time you've maybe been able to find a way to a comfortable seat as we will jump into our loving kindness practice.

I myself will be softening my gaze throughout this time together today.

And if you feel so comfortable,

I would encourage you to do that also.

So again,

Our first group is ourself.

So we will queue up our loving kindness phrases,

And we will begin holding ourselves in our hearts and minds and starting to repeat our phrases.

May I be happy.

May I be healthy.

May I be safe.

May I live with ease.

May I be happy.

May I be healthy.

May I be safe.

May I live with ease.

May I be happy.

May I be healthy.

May I be safe.

May I live with ease.

Today I'm feeling like I don't deserve these loving kindness phrases.

Why am I good enough to be loved?

But in these times of self doubt,

I must work even harder to continue sending my loving kindness phrases to myself.

Because without loving me first,

How could I possibly love all beings around me?

So with this perseverance and determination,

Keep working to no longer take it out on me and to truly love the flawed,

Beautiful being that I am.

May I be happy.

May I be healthy.

May I be safe.

May I live with ease.

May I be happy.

May I be healthy.

May I be safe.

May I live with ease.

May I be happy.

May I be healthy.

May I be safe.

May I live with ease.

And with a small act of self-love and perseverance,

I found more space in my heart.

I feel my future self supporting me in the decisions I make today.

And so I continue.

May I be happy.

May I be healthy.

May I be safe.

May I live with ease.

And with that,

My friends,

We switch to our second group of people,

A loving relationship.

We will lean into this love more for when times get tough and we need to call on this loving relationship to remind us that we are connected to all.

So shifting our focus to that loving relationship in our life.

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.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

As with many times in my loving relationship,

I find that it's the absence that I sit in.

This loving relationship is in the past,

But for me,

It so strongly lives on.

So I go back to it time and time again,

Years in the making on this journey.

But yet I find them no less impactful.

No matter what,

Those loving relationships keep me going,

And I don't think I'm alone in missing this loving relationship in my life.

I cherish it for the rest of my life.

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.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

I found these loving relationships change over time.

Sometimes more loving,

Sometimes more deeply connected.

But I find that ever-changing just as beautiful and something that I should cherish,

Because we can't hold on to it forever.

And so I cherish it in all of its forms.

And I send,

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

And from our loving relationship,

We now shift to our unknown,

Our public member.

We will send our loving kindness phrases to this person you normally don't think much about,

But yet we are all connected on this planet,

On this earth,

In our communities.

We may not always agree,

We may not always agree,

But we're all beautiful,

Complex human beings.

And so we shift our loving kindness phrases to this member of the public.

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.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

My member of the public today is a woman I had an interaction with while shopping over the weekend.

One of lovely short conversation that we had seeing each other as people.

And it just strikes me as significant because I've been away from people for such a long time in my home office here.

And so connecting with a member of the public,

It's a beautiful reminder of the small gestures make a big difference.

One connection,

One smile you can share could change somebody's world.

And 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.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

I'm so grateful for the compassion that this loving kindness practice brings into my heart so that I can be that member of the public in which we can share a small moment of human connection with.

So may you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

Please know that I am one member of the public who truly sees you in the light that shines from within.

And with that,

My least favorite part of the practice,

But please it is totally worth it.

We will send our loving kindness phrases to that difficult relationship in our lives.

For me,

These relationships are also with some of the people who are closest to me.

These relationships are complex and multifaceted,

Right?

They change drastically over time.

I've changed drastically over time,

But yet with pain often comes from love.

And so even though this relationship may be difficult,

I still cultivate this sense of compassion because you could never know everything about the other person's side of the coin,

How they view the world.

I'm sure they have a lot of fears too.

So in my attempt to bring a little bit more compassion to those difficult relationships,

I say,

May you be happy.

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.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

In these difficult relationships,

I find boundaries very important.

We must define and hopefully keep ourselves safe,

You know,

And keep our hearts whole because how else do I approach a difficult relationship without right first loving myself fully?

And so even if a boundary has kept you physically away from this difficult relationship,

I find it no less important the way in which I hold it in my heart.

I got to learn who I didn't want to be.

I got to learn how I don't want to act.

And so I continue to hold that difficult relationship in my heart by trying to find those lessons to learn and grow,

Maybe preventing this difficult relationship in the future.

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.

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 be healthy.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you be healthy.

Your pain may persist from this difficult relationship,

But as we keep addressing it,

Bringing more compassion,

Opening more space to the pain,

We can find a new relationship,

A new perspective to learn those lessons and extend our ability to find compassion for all.

And with that,

We shift on to an easier topic,

At least for me.

We will send our loving kindness phrases to all beings everywhere,

Because without all those beings,

We don't have this one magnificent earth to call home.

And so may all beings everywhere be happy.

May all beings be healthy.

May all beings be happy.

May all beings live with ease.

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.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

We don't have to know everything in this world to hold compassion for it.

We can weather all of the suffering,

Because in that weathering,

Right,

Sitting through the storm,

It allows me to see the beauty that is inherently there.

The good,

The light,

The life force that brings us all together as one.

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.

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 happy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.

And with that,

My friends,

We are at the end of our practice today.

30 minutes always fly by.

I've really enjoyed coming back each week to share this practice with you,

Because I know I need it so much in my life,

And I hope you can see the benefits for yours as well.

Until next time,

With love,

Namaste.

May you be happy.

May you be healthy.

May you be safe.

May you live with ease.