Hi,
My name's Emmeline and I'm going to guide you through a Metta loving-kindness meditation practice to promote inner joy.
So find yourself a comfortable seat.
You can close your eyes or soften your gaze if you're comfortable to do so.
And bring your attention to where you feel connected,
Where you feel grounded with what's underneath you.
Let's take a few moments to feel into this solidness,
Into this support.
And we'll draw it up as length and strength.
Finding length in your spine,
Breadth in your shoulders.
And then notice if there's any way you might be holding tension that you don't need.
And see if you can gently release it.
Allow your shoulders to be a little softer.
Allow your jaw to be relaxed and your forehead unwrinkled.
I'm going to take a moment to check in with yourself and notice how you feel.
So just notice how you feel,
Allowing whatever comes to come up.
If you have a reaction to what comes up,
That's okay.
Let's see if you can just notice.
Just notice.
Drawing your attention now to your breath.
Noticing where you find your breath,
Where it's most noticeable.
And then just spend a few moments watching the breath rising and falling.
So now we will begin our metta,
Or loving kindness meditation.
We will kindle our feelings of love,
Joy,
Kindness and good intentions.
And send them out into the world.
This type of meditation is practiced by Buddhists and others.
All around the world.
So consider that at any moment you might be receiving the light of metta,
Or loving kindness,
From someone else's practice.
You may find some parts of the practice easy.
You may find other parts more difficult.
So just see if you can approach each part with sincerity,
Curiosity and an open heart.
Now bring to mind someone that you love dearly.
Picture them sitting in front of you.
Concentrate.
And see them in full detail.
Feel the affection that you have for them.
Notice your feelings of joy,
Love and kindness.
And from this feeling deep inside of you,
Imagine a golden light starting to glow out of your heart.
And as you face this person,
This glow starts to grow stronger.
The golden light starts to reach out from your heart to touch theirs.
As the light touches their heart,
Repeat silently to this person,
May you be well,
May you be happy,
May you have peace.
May you be well,
May you be happy,
May you have peace.
And see both of you together bathed in this golden light of love,
Joy,
Kind intentions.
Now imagine a friend or acquaintance sitting in front of you.
Concentrate.
And see them in detail.
Notice any feelings of kindness and good intentions stirring in your heart.
And find once more that golden light starting to shine inside of you.
And take a minute to really feel the warmth and joy.
Notice the expansion of this feeling.
And see the light from your heart begin to reach out towards this friend or acquaintance in front of you.
The light begins to reach their heart.
As it does so,
It lights them up.
And repeat silently to them,
May you be well,
May you be happy,
May you have peace.
May you be well,
May you be happy,
May you have peace.
And see the both of you sat facing one another,
Filled with a loving golden light.
Now imagine someone that you do not know.
So for example,
Someone you see in passing at work,
On the bus,
In the street,
In the barista,
In the coffee shop.
Imagine this person sitting opposite you.
Concentrate and see them in as much detail as possible.
Now notice the golden light arising in your heart.
Spend a moment enjoying its warmth and joy,
Feeling them expand through you.
Feel the kindness,
Feel the good intentions.
As this light fills your heart,
It begins to reach out from your heart to this stranger's heart.
As the light begins to light up their heart,
Silently repeat to them,
May you be well,
May you be happy,
May you have peace.
May you find peace.
May you be well,
May you be happy,
May you find peace.
And see the both of you filled and surrounded with this joyful golden light of kindness,
Love and good intentions.
Now imagine yourself sitting in front of you.
Concentrate,
See yourself in detail.
And once again,
Find that golden light arising in your own heart.
Watch it grow with intensity and fill your body with warmth and joy.
Warmth,
Joy,
Kindness,
Good intentions,
Feel it filling you.
And as you look across at yourself,
The golden light that starts in your heart also fills theirs.
Silently say to yourself,
May you be happy,
May you be well,
May you have peace.
May you be happy,
May you be well,
May you have peace.
Spend a minute here filling yourself up with love.
Now imagine all the other people,
Someone you love dearly,
A friend or acquaintance and a stranger standing with you in a circle.
The golden light of kindness,
Love and good intentions arises in your heart.
And you recognize the feelings of warmth,
Joy and love spreading through you.
As you look at the others,
You see the golden light arising and spreading through them as well.
A thread of golden light begins to connect your heart with their hearts.
The golden light of love,
Joy,
Peace,
Kindness,
Good intentions begins to go through and all around you.
As you bathe in this wonderful golden light,
Recognize the feelings that flow out from each of your hearts,
Beginning to radiate out into the universe.
Repeat to your circle,
May we be well,
May we be happy,
May we find peace.
May we be well,
May we be happy,
May we find peace.
Send the golden light out to connect with the hearts of beings everywhere.
See them light up with joy,
Love,
Peace,
Kindness and good intentions.
Repeat to them,
Repeat to beings everywhere,
May all beings be well,
May all beings be happy,
May all beings find peace.
And spend a few moments enjoying the connection and power of sharing this golden light of joy,
Love,
Peace,
Kindness and good intentions.
See how this connects you,
See the connections all around.
And when you are ready,
Return your attention to your breath.
And watch your breath rising and falling.
Notice how you feel,
Just notice.
And if your eyes were still closed,
You can gently begin to open them.
Bring our palms together and thumbs in towards the heart.
And just thank ourselves for taking this practice today.
And the practice is now complete.
