As the name may suggest,
In this meditation,
We will be focused on strengthening feelings of connection,
Love and kindness towards ourselves and towards others.
And this will help us to further develop our skills of empathy and compassion.
Without expectation of anything in return,
We learn to extend kindness towards ourselves and others.
Spoiler alert,
This meditation may create emotional reactions.
This is normal and expected even.
During the meditation,
Try to greet any unexpected emotions with a relaxed warmth and curiosity.
Some may experience anger,
Irritation,
Sadness,
Tearfulness,
Joy.
None of these emotions are right or wrong.
Simply notice what you're feeling and try and stay with it.
Notice how it might shift and change with time as you continue with the meditation.
Without giving too much away,
Let's get started.
Allowing yourself to become comfortable,
Sitting with a relaxed but straight posture.
Shoulders are relaxed.
Allowing the hands to rest comfortably in the lap.
Closing the eyes.
Taddling into awareness of the body.
Awareness of the breath.
Getting a sense for how the body is feeling right now.
Noticing what's here.
Open to whatever is being experienced without trying to change anything.
Just noticing the body in this moment.
Connecting to the breath.
Noticing the wave-like movements of the belly.
As the breath moves in and out,
Like waves crashing to the shore and receding back again.
Within this practice,
We will be cultivating loving kindness.
We all have this ability within us naturally to varying degrees.
This natural capacity for loving kindness.
Another way to think of it,
Friendship that is unconditional,
Open,
Gentle,
Supportive.
Loving kindness is a natural opening of a compassionate heart to ourselves and to others.
It is a wish that everyone be happy.
We begin with developing loving kindness towards ourselves.
Allowing the heart to open with tenderness.
Allow yourself to remember and to open up to your basic goodness.
You may remember times that you've been kind or generous.
You might recall your natural desire to be happy and not to suffer.
If acknowledging your own goodness feels difficult,
Look at yourself through the eyes of someone who loves you.
What does that person love about you?
Perhaps you may recall the unconditional love that you felt from a pet.
It may help to use your imagination and picture yourself as a very young child standing before you,
Tender,
Innocent.
See if that helps develop feelings of kindness towards yourself.
And as you start to experience this feeling of love and tenderness,
Notice how you feel in your body.
Perhaps you feel some warmth in the chest,
In the face,
A gentle smile at the mouth and the eyes,
A sense of expansiveness.
This is loving kindness,
A natural feeling that is accessible to all of us,
Always.
Fasting with this feeling of open,
Unconditional love for a few moments here.
Letting yourself bask in the energy of loving kindness,
Breathing it in,
Breathing it out.
Inviting and welcoming feelings of peace and acceptance.
Beginning now to wish yourself well by extending words of loving kindness to yourself.
And now offering these words in your mind for yourself.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be held in loving kindness.
May I feel connected and calm.
May I accept myself just as I am.
May I be happy.
May I know the natural joys of being alive.
And now repeating in the mind these words of friendship and kindness to yourself once again.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be held in loving kindness.
May I feel connected and calm.
May I accept myself just as I am.
May I be happy.
May I know the natural joys of being alive.
Now opening up the circle of loving kindness by bringing to mind someone who is dear to you,
Someone who you care about deeply,
Who brings feelings of love quite easily to the heart.
This can be a person,
A child,
A pet.
Whoever comes to mind first and allows those feelings of love to flow quite easily.
Reflecting on this person's basic goodness,
Sensing what it is in particular that you love about him or her.
In your heart,
Feel your appreciation for this dear one.
And begin your simple offering.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be held in loving kindness.
May you feel my love now.
May you accept yourself just as you are.
May you be happy.
May you know the natural joys of being alive.
Realizing the feelings that are brought up.
And now bringing to mind a neutral person.
This is someone that you might see regularly but don't know very well.
Perhaps a neighbor,
Grocery store clerk,
Somebody you work with.
Bring this person to mind now and repeat the words of loving kindness.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be held in loving kindness.
May you feel my love now.
May you accept yourself just as you are.
May you be happy.
May you know the natural joys of being alive.
See how this feels.
And now bring to mind somebody that you've had a difficult relationship with.
We don't want to choose somebody who's been particularly traumatic to us,
But somebody who perhaps we've butted heads with,
Had difficult conversations with,
Who's just brought some difficulty to our life in one way or another.
And see if it's possible in this moment to let go of any feelings of resentment or dislike that you may have for this person.
Reminding yourself to see this person as a whole being,
Deserving of love and kindness.
As someone who also feels pain,
Anxiety,
Sadness.
As someone who also suffers.
See if it's possible to extend to this person the words of loving kindness in your mind.
May you be filled with loving kindness.
May you be held in loving kindness.
May you feel my love now.
May you accept yourself just as you are.
May you be happy.
May you know the natural joys of being alive.
Taking a moment to sit.
Notice how this feels.
And now allowing your awareness to open out in all directions to include yourself,
Your loved ones,
Neutral people,
Difficult people,
To all beings,
Human and animals,
Living everywhere.
Living in richness,
In poverty,
War,
Peace,
Hunger,
And abundance.
Aware of all the joys and sorrows that all beings experience everywhere.
May all beings be filled with loving kindness.
May all beings be held in loving kindness.
May all beings feel my love now.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings know the natural joys of being alive.
See what this feels like.
And now bringing this practice to a close by coming back to extend kindness to yourself once more.
Feeling a sense of gratitude for having spent time today in this practice,
For developing and cultivating your experience of empathy and compassion for yourself and others.
Sitting here for a few more moments,
Basking in the energy of loving kindness that may have been generated here today.
