Post COVID-19: Loving Kindness For Self Love

And welcome so let's take our time to get comfortable and get settled get grounded and if we're in a seat in a chair or on the floor or on a cushion let's allow our hips to set back and allow something to support our spines if we're lying down I lie down with a straight spine and a little support for the head and something to cover us so we don't get cold allow your shoulder blades to rise up in towards the ears take an inhale here shoulders back and down as we exhale out little things small shifts to create a little openness so we can come into our heart we want to cultivate some positive emotions here this is a loving kindness meditation and it's a loving kindness meditation for ourselves and for self-love so gently soften our eyes and using your breath to anchor us inwards so there's no distractions outside of ourselves and here you'll hear my voice with periods of silence here and there and inside of this silence we can continue to say phrases of loving kindness silently to ourselves and so we'll begin with awareness of a meditation Bell taking a few deep breaths to bring our awareness right into the heart space right into the center of our chest and here we will visualize how each in breath affects this subtle heart space and breathing normally slow smooth easy breaths and so there's no special effort here to breathe in any particular way and we want to continue to come back to the anchoring of the awareness inside of our heart and so let's consider how each in breath nourishes our heart as it soaks up and drinks in the precious oxygen and we fill our lungs and then come to the awareness of our beating heart our physical heart listening to it feeling it and as we breathe this very simple act of conscious breathing is what knits together all that is within you with all that lies beyond your skin and each new breath creates a unity of life as all people share the nourishment that the Earth's atmosphere freely offers and so check in now how your body is feeling make any final adjustments that you need to settle more deeply are we feeling any sensations any nagging pains any worries any areas of tension are we eager with anticipation are we excited are we in dis-ease whatever the feeling there's no need to push it aside pleasant or not let that feeling in acceptance so accept the feeling as part of what it means to be with you at this moment and then meet the feeling with curiosity and openness and so we'll note how it registers inside of our body and how these sensations change softly and subtlety from one moment to the next and whether our current experience is pleasant or unpleasant just witness and accept it whether events in our life are presenting you with good or bad fortune these days just witness and accept these events see them as part of the inevitable ups and downs that all people experience just as surely as all people face good and bad fortunes all people on the global landscape we yearn to feel good to feel safe to have that peaceful harmony inside of us and that healthy awareness and alongside our awareness of suffering and the fundamental sameness of all people you can choose to wish yourself well we all deserve this kindness as much as anyone and so begin by lightly calling to mind your own good qualities and let these qualities remind you of what's good in you what touches and reaches your heart about you so yourself and then gently offer the classic wishes of loving kindness to yourself choosing phrasings that best speak to your heart taken in here a soft gentle exhale may I feel safe and protected may I feel happy and peaceful may I feel healthy and strong may I live with ease and see yourself as being a dear friend unto yourself it might help to first imagine the warmth the tenderness you might feel towards an infant or a kitten as innocence as these small creatures can be experience how your face softens and your heart expands expanding inside of their presence and now imagine directing these same feelings of warmth and tenderness to yourself may I feel safe may I feel happy may I feel healthy may I live with ease between each phrase pause for a moment and drop our awareness down into the body down into that energetic heart space in the middle of our chests and note and accept whatever sensations arise there and knowing that with this practice it's more than the repetition of phrases the phrase is simply open a door to a chance for you to condition the heart to be more open more accepting and kinder and so bring our attention our awareness into that energetic heart space and repeating to yourself again may I feel safe may I feel happy may I feel healthy may I live with ease and at times you'll feel your attention has strayed from the phrases this may happen or it may not don't worry it is very normal simply begin again by gently bringing your awareness back to the phrases there's no need to beat ourselves up if we lose focus each new moment of beginning again prevents another chance to experiment with the spirit of loving-kindness you can acknowledge your laps well at the same time gently returning to the phrases what would it take to set aside all harshness and begin again what a kind and loving attitude towards yourself with these phrases may I feel safe may I feel happy may I feel healthy may I live with ease and as you end this practice know that is completely natural for you to treat yourself kindly with this essence of compassion even if we forget to do so and know that you can generate this tenderness you can generate this loving attitude towards yourself anytime just by reminding yourself that this dance exists and how at ease it makes you feel the difficulties and obstacles in life will arise suffering happens but we don't need to add that suffering by treating ourselves harshly instead we can come back to the wishes of loving-kindness towards ourselves may I feel safe may I feel happy may I feel healthy may I live with ease you