Loving-kindness meditation.
Become comfortable in your chair or cushion,
Sitting with a relaxed but straight posture.
Allow your hands to rest comfortably in your lap and gently close your eyes.
Settling into awareness of the body and the breath,
Feeling into your body right now,
Noticing what's there.
Open to whatever is to be experienced in this very moment.
Notice your breath and the movements in your chest or your belly.
In this practice we'll be cultivating loving-kindness.
We all have within us this natural capacity for loving-kindness that is unconditional and open,
Gentle and supportive.
Loving-kindness is a natural opening of a compassionate heart to ourselves and to others.
It's a wish that everyone be happy.
We begin with developing loving-kindness towards ourselves,
Allowing our hearts to open with tenderness.
Now allow yourself to remember and open up to your basic goodness.
You might remember times you have been kind or generous.
You might recall your natural desire to be happy and not to suffer.
If acknowledging your own goodness is difficult,
Look at yourself through the eyes of someone who loves you.
What does that person love about you?
Maybe you can recall the unconditional love you felt from your beloved pet.
And as you experience this love,
Notice how you feel in your body.
Maybe you feel some warmth or heat in the face,
A smile,
A sense of expansiveness,
Resting with this feeling of open,
Unconditional,
Spacious love for a couple of breaths.
So beginning now to wish yourself well by extending words of loving-kindness to yourself.
You may repeat the phrases or you may come up with the statements of your own,
Repeating three times the statements of well-wishing for yourself.
May I be well.
May I be free from suffering.
May I be happy.
May I be well.
May I be free from suffering.
May I be happy.
And now repeating in the mind these words of friendship and kindness to yourself once again.
May I be well.
May I be happy.
May I be free from suffering.
Now you can open the circle of loving-kindness by bringing to mind someone who is dear to you.
Someone who you care about and who has always been supportive.
Reflect on this person's basic goodness,
Sensing what is in particular that you love about them.
In your heart feel your appreciation and begin your simple offering of well-wishing.
May you be well.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be happy.
May you be well.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be happy.
And repeat once again.
May you be well.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be happy.
Now bring to mind a neutral person.
This is someone you might see regularly but don't know well.
It might be a neighbour,
A grocery store clerk or a postman.
Bring this person to mind now.
And repeat the words of loving-kindness.
May you be well.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be happy.
May you be well.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be happy.
And now if it is possible for you,
Bring to mind someone with whom you've had a difficult relationship.
Perhaps it's someone you don't like to feel sympathy or compassion for.
Seeing if it's possible to let go of feelings of resentment and dislike for this person.
Finding yourself to see this person as a whole being deserving of love and kindness.
As someone who feels pain and anxiety.
As someone who also suffers.
Seeing if it's possible to extend to this person the words of loving-kindness in your mind.
May you be well.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be happy.
May you be well.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be happy.
May you be well.
May you be free from suffering.
May you be happy.
Now allow your awareness to open out in all directions – yourself,
A dear one,
A neutral person and a difficult person,
And of all beings,
Humans and animals living everywhere,
Living in richness,
Poverty,
War,
Peace,
Hunger,
Abundance,
Aware of all the joys and sorrows that all beings experience.
May all beings be well.
My all beings be free of suffering.
My all beings be happy.
My all beings be well.
My all beings be free of suffering.
My all beings be happy.
And repeat once again.
My all beings be well.
My all beings be free of suffering.
May all beings be happy.
And now bringing this practice to a close by coming back to extend kindness to yourself,
Sitting for a while and basking in the energy of loving-kindness that may have been generated here.
