Welcome to your 20-minute loving-kindness meditation.
You can start this meditation by finding a comfortable posture where it's comfortable and you can find a sense of ease but not so comfortable that you'll fall asleep.
Whenever you find this posture,
Whether it's sitting,
Lying down,
Or standing,
Allowing yourself to settle into this right now moment and take a moment to just be present with yourself and notice what's happening with you.
Perhaps for the first time today really checking in with yourself.
And we're gonna start by imagining a loved other and this other figure can be a person either real or imagined.
Someone from your past or present or it can be a pet or an animal.
Just something where when you picture this other figure,
A sense of warmth comes over you and it's really easy to offer them well wishes,
Love,
And kindness.
There are no mixed feelings or blocks or barriers.
So when you think of this figure,
Imagine them standing in front of you and you lock eyes with them and a soft smile comes on both of your faces as you can feel the warmth and care between you.
Both are so glad to see each other.
And from a place of deep authenticity,
See if you can repeat silently these following words and send them to this other figure from your heart space.
May you be free of pain and suffering.
May you experience love and joy.
May you be free from hardship.
May you experience ease and a deep sense of peace.
May you be happy.
Picturing the receivers face as you offer them these kind words and also noticing any changes that happen within yourself.
If you notice any changes in the feel in your body or the quality of your heart space,
Can you feel your heart a little more than when you started?
Maybe you can feel a sense of warmth growing inside of you.
And if not,
That's okay too.
And now you're gonna send some warm wishes to yourself.
And so if you imagine this would be hard for you,
You can either imagine these wishes coming from your loved other to you or you can imagine a younger version of yourself if that feels easier.
Or if it feels okay,
You can imagine saying these words to yourself just as you are.
When you repeat these words silently to yourself,
There should be a sense of ease around it and it shouldn't feel like there are too many barriers or it's inauthentic.
And if that's the case,
You can adjust to whatever words feel true for you.
But maybe starting with these as a suggestion.
May I be free from pain and suffering.
May I be truly happy.
May I know unconditional love from others and myself.
May I feel a sense of peace and ease.
May I be happy.
Noticing what it's like for you to offer these words to yourself and trying not to have a sense of judgment around how easy or difficult these words were to offer yourself.
And if it doesn't feel genuine yet,
Imagining these words being planted like little seeds on your heart,
Simply noting the wish that one day they'll be able to sprout and grow and letting that be enough for today.
And now imagining a neutral other,
Someone you don't have a strong connection to.
Maybe it is somebody that you walked by on the street today or a cashier or your barista.
Just another person in the world and offering well wishes to them.
May you be free of pain.
May you know happiness and love.
May you be at ease and have a sense of contentment.
Recognizing that each person we encounter throughout the day has their own story,
Their own struggles,
People who love them,
People who they've hurt,
That they are human just like you.
They have hopes and dreams just like you.
They've dealt with hardships and pains in the past just like you.
Dropping into awareness of your own body as you offer loving kindness towards a neutral person.
What sensations are coming up in your body as you sit with these words?
Simply noticing and redirecting your mind back to the present moment if it happens to wander.
And the next time that you happen to see a person out in the world just holding space for their very human story and seeing if you can send that person a warm wish with or without their knowledge and just noticing how that feels.
Noticing if that changes the quality of your own experience and in what ways.
Seeing if you can expand your awareness to include the whole world,
All of humanity,
All living things and creatures including nature,
Animals,
And all living sentient beings.
First starting with a warming quality in your heart.
Seeing how much you can really open your heart space in this moment and if it can't open anymore if that's okay.
Just being accepting of whatever is present for you.
Opening your heart and warming it to the degree that's possible for you today and sending out some wishes to the world knowing that the quality of your offering and the quality of your heart space and sending these wishes out to the world is putting something very real out there and is having an impact.
So again using these following words as suggestions or starting points that feel free to change or add as necessary.
May the world be free from pain and suffering.
May the world know peace,
Ease,
And harmony.
May all living beings know happiness and joy.
May we all know contentment.
Now allowing yourself to continue to offer whatever wishes feel heartfelt and genuine in this present moment and silently repeating those in your mind as a gift to the world.
And notice as you're sending these gifts into the world that it can also feel like a gift to yourself.
And just noticing the quality of how your body and experience can change as you offer these kind words and thoughts.
It's like we are just simply noticing whatever is in our own space and then with some intention seeing if we can warm it up as if we were rubbing our hands together to create more.
Intentionally looking for and putting our attention on those warm and soft loving places in ourselves and allowing them to grow and expand and to really feel the depth of them in this moment really inviting those spaces to be seen and to grow.
Noticing how that feels in the body and allowing the sensations to be exactly how they are and just noticing them.
Noticing how they change with each passing moment and noticing what there is to be grateful for in this exact moment.
And it can be anything ranging from big like the love of another person to something small like being grateful that there's breath in your body or warmth in your home.
Allowing yourself to access that gratitude to whatever extent is possible for you right now.
Allowing it in and encouraging it to grow.
Taking another loving breath in and out through the nose and carrying these feelings and qualities with you throughout the rest of your day.
