Kindness For Self & Others

Taking some time now to make your way into a comfortable supportive position for your body.

Perhaps sitting or lying down.

And make any necessary adjustments to your clothing,

Your hair,

Your position.

So that you can really be in a position of comfort and support for the next 45 minutes.

This may include something under your knees,

Something to support your head.

Maybe a blanket to keep your body warm and cosy.

While we move through this kindness meditation,

Kindness for ourselves and kindness for others.

And you may like to soften or close your eyes as you begin to turn your attention inward.

Inward to what is contacting with your body?

Your feet or legs.

What is contacting perhaps your bottom or your back.

Your head.

Noticing your hand position.

And beginning to take some fuller and deeper breaths here.

And when ready,

Allow the breath to simply breathe itself.

Softening and resting a little more wherever you are.

And with this practice,

We'll be cultivating the intention of kindness.

And we can think of this practice just like planting seeds,

Planting seeds in a garden.

And those seeds can be seeds of kindness,

Friendliness,

Planting seeds of compassion,

Warmth and maybe tenderness.

And each time you practice this kindness meditation,

It's like you're tending to this garden.

Tending to the seeds.

Noticing how those words,

How those seeds of kindness and friendliness,

Seeds of warmth and compassion.

How do they connect with you right now?

They may connect with you strongly or maybe not at all.

And that's okay.

With this garden,

We're cultivating these seeds and it may take time to grow.

So there's no need to force anything or make anything different.

We're allowing these seeds to naturally grow and develop as we cultivate these qualities,

These intentions to grow over time at the right time.

And sometimes with this practice,

This kindness practice,

You may feel some resistance arising.

There may be some fear,

Anger or other difficult emotions arising.

Difficult thoughts,

Feelings.

And you also may feel open and a sense of expansiveness to some of the parts of the practice.

And can we welcome,

Can we welcome all these thoughts and feelings?

Can we welcome it all?

Along with the sensations,

The pleasant thoughts,

The unpleasant and the neutral.

Can we welcome it as best we can,

Knowing that we're planting seeds and allowing them to grow in their own time?

Returning to the breath again,

Bringing your attention to feeling the breath,

Feeling the breath in the body.

Can you allow the breath to come and go from the body without wanting to change it?

Letting the breath come and go on its own.

And you may like to imagine the waves of an ocean.

Imagining the waves of an ocean,

The waves coming to shore and then going back out to the ocean.

The waves coming in,

Being with the breath,

The incoming breath and imagining the waves going back out to the ocean as the breath leaves your body and breathing out.

Waves coming in,

Breathing in and waves going out,

Breath going out.

And this might be a hopeful metaphor for today.

And at any time you can return to the breath as an anchor to support you.

Noticing where you feel the breath the easiest in the body,

Where it feels right for you.

And you can rest.

Rest into the breath here,

Knowing this breath is a steady and constant friend.

You can anchor yourself like a home base,

Returning to it And perhaps you can feel a little bit more into the breath,

Like watching those waves coming and going.

Perhaps some softening and tenderness,

Allowing the heart to soften a little bit more.

This process of breathing,

This opening and softening towards kindness,

Little by little,

As best we can.

And at times throughout your life,

You may have been able to feel directly the tenderness and the openness of the heart.

And maybe other times in your life you've noticed there was tightness and more of a closed heart.

And this occurs in all of us.

Feeling directly the tenderness of the heart at times and at other times the constriction,

The heart being closed off.

Sometimes feeling loved and sometimes feeling disregarded.

Sometimes feeling so tender that it's hardly bearable.

And at other times sad.

And over time it's possible to begin to remain open in this tenderness,

In this rawness and also in this sadness.

And sometimes there's no reason for this sadness,

Or no particular reason for feeling love.

But knowing that sadness is here,

That love is also here.

And tenderness is here.

And this kindness practice enables us to explore these very human experiences.

It enables us to connect more deeply with this essence of who we are as human beings.

So when you feel ready,

Let's begin this kindness practice by turning the kindness towards yourself.

And you may like to put your hand or hands on a part of your body in a way that supports this opening towards kindness,

Caring,

A little bit more open heartedness and warmth towards yourself.

You may like to put your hands on your belly or your heart or perhaps even the touch of your hands together feels like a support feels like it's right for you.

So if it feels right,

Placing the hands in a position that feels like it supports this opening.

And as we be here,

As a human being,

Can we acknowledge what it's like to be in this human body?

Each breath has the qualities of kindness,

Of caring.

Continuing to be with this natural breath.

As you direct the kindness towards yourself,

Direct the kindness to also whatever is arising.

Thoughts,

Body sensations,

Maybe pain or discomfort and any emotions that might be arising.

Perhaps returning to the metaphor of the ocean,

The waves rolling in,

Inhaling,

Waves rolling out,

Exhaling,

Breathing in kindness,

Breathing out kindness,

Creating the space to allow whatever needs to unfold as an act of kindness in itself.

Can we offer this intention of kindness as a wish?

Wishing yourself tenderness,

Wishing yourself care and acceptance.

Wishing yourself courage and strength to live your life with more kindness.

Wishing yourself ease and peace in your body,

Your heart and mind.

Wishing yourself ease and peace.

Can we offer this intention of kindness as a wish?

And as we practice offering this kindness as best we can towards ourself,

Notice anything that's arising.

Perhaps unkind thoughts,

Pleasant thoughts,

Feelings,

Tensions.

Opening to the sensations as best we can,

Allowing it all to arise,

Creating a soft and tender place within us to do that.

Can we offer this intention of kindness as a wish?

And notice what it's like to offer love and kindness to yourself.

To offer this open-heartedness,

Warmth to yourself just as you are.

Not because of anything great that you've done,

But simply because you are.

What's it like to open to this,

To this affection and care for yourself?

Can you breathe in fully and deeply,

Breathing in this kindness,

This love that you're offering to yourself?

PSC.

Now if you feel ready,

Let's begin to take steps towards offering this kindness,

This warmth and caring to someone that you care about,

To a being that you have felt loved from.

And that might be a person,

A spiritual being,

An animal or a pet.

Bring to mind the image or feeling of this being from whom you felt loved and that you care about.

This being that loves you for what you are,

Just as you are.

And allowing yourself to be bathed in that love,

Bathed in that love that they offered you freely.

Allow it to fill you,

To touch your heart.

Knowing what it's like to be loved,

To receive kindness and care,

To receive this love without having to change anything about yourself.

And you may like to place the hands or a hand on your body where you can really touch into a sense that you're feeling this support,

This caring.

Using the breath,

Full deep breaths flowing in and out.

And as you allow that tenderness,

That care to fill you,

Can you acknowledge their measure of difficulty and suffering as a being as well?

That they too get stressed and have difficulties,

That they too feel sad.

Can you wish them warmth?

Wishing them warmth and that they can meet the difficulties in their life with courage and patience.

And also wishing that in their heart,

Their mind and their body,

That they can find ease of being.

Watching this person that you care about in your heart and mind with kindness.

And you may like to place the hands or a hand on your body where you can really touch into a sense of relief.

And taking some time now to bring your attention back to yourself.

Going back to your body sensations,

To what's arising for you,

What thoughts and feelings.

And as best you can,

Can you meet what is here?

Can you be with what is arising and passing?

And using the breath as an anchor to be with your present experience and also to return to the practice if your mind wanders off.

And now let's consider offering kindness to someone that you don't know so well.

Maybe taking a few fuller,

Deeper breaths here.

As you begin to bring to mind a person or a being that you don't know so well,

A neutral person.

And it might be helpful to place your hands on a different part of your body,

If at all,

To support the intention of kindness towards this person that you don't know that well.

Maybe even a stranger or someone that you almost have no acquaintance with,

Like a shop assistant,

Or maybe even a neighbour.

Take a moment here to bring to mind this being.

And as you imagine this person,

This being,

Acknowledging that they too have challenges and difficulties in their life.

That they too get stressed and as a human being,

They suffer.

And if it feels right for you,

You may like to offer them wishes of kindness,

Warmth and caring.

Wishing that this person finds the courage and patience towards themselves.

Understanding that they too find ease and peace in their body,

Mind and heart.

And know that they struggle with offering the same love that was offered to you by another caring person that you've also offered to yourself.

And that you could now offer it to that person or that being.

Finding out love and kindness,

Tenderness towards this being.

And as you bring the focus back to yourself,

Take a few deeper,

Fuller breaths.

As you open to your body,

Your body sensations,

Thoughts and feelings,

Opening your awareness to what's arising for you as we continue to practice kindness and allow things as naturally as possible to unfold.

And you may like to now bring to mind,

If it feels right for you,

Someone with whom you've had a bit more difficulty.

Someone you wouldn't naturally normally send care and attention to.

You wouldn't normally naturally offer them kindness.

And you can keep this person as far away as you like on another planet or on a mountain far away.

You may like to use a hand or your hands on your body to support the intention of offering this difficult person a little bit of kindness.

And taking the time to acknowledge that this difficult person is also human,

That they have also suffered and perhaps in ways that we don't know.

And that this person also needs to breathe.

They also need air to breathe.

And the kindness that we're offering isn't to condone what they've done.

We're recognizing that this person has their own struggles and stress and offering them wishes of kindness,

Wishing them peace and ease in their mind,

Body and heart.

Taking a few deeper breaths here,

Bringing your attention back to yourself and perhaps noticing here what's arising for you in response to offering kindness towards this challenging person in your life.

Breathing in kindness.

Taking out kindness.

And now finally,

If it feels right for you,

Let's extend the kindness,

This wishing of kindness to all beings all around the world.

And to take a few fuller and deeper breaths,

You may choose to place your hands on a different part of your body to support this intention.

And perhaps thinking of a group of beings that you would like to send these wishes of well being,

Of care,

Of love and compassion towards.

Perhaps the young or the old,

The sick or the healthy,

The poor or wealthy.

To this group of beings that have difficulty and suffer at times in their lives,

That they too need warmth,

Friendliness,

Understanding,

Wishing them connection,

Well being,

Wishing them ease and peace in their life.

And as you take a few deeper fuller breaths,

Bringing your attention back to yourself and noticing how this practice,

How this practice has on your thoughts and feelings and the body.

And can we welcome it all as we continue to live this practice?

As we continue to show gratitude towards yourself for the courage that it takes to open our hearts towards ourselves and others with courage and sending warmth and kindness to everyone in the world.

Opening to your heart and feeling what is here to be felt.

Knowing what is here to be known.

Knowing that even if this practice felt difficult or fake or contrived,

Or if it touched you in any way,

That you can continue for many times throughout the day to offer this kindness to yourself and others.

That we can continue to plant these seeds of kindness in our daily life.