Welcome to your summertime meditation.
This meditation is based on the traditional Buddhist practice called metta bhavana.
The name comes from the Pali language where metta means loving,
Friendliness or kindness and bhavana means cultivation or development.
So we are cultivating loving kindness.
So this is the phase in your cycle where this practice might come most naturally to you.
We'll begin with a body scan and then move into the metta bhavana practice.
As we move through the body scan,
Try to keep still,
Resisting the urge to scratch or fidget and instead experiencing the impulses to do so as part of your awareness and choosing instead to be still.
So make your way into a comfortable seat,
Sitting with your spine tall and allowing your shoulders to relax.
Place your hands on your thighs with your palms facing down and allow your elbows to hang directly below your shoulders so your arms are relaxed.
For the first few moments,
Take the time just to experience your breath as it travels in and out through the nose,
Not needing to change or alter anything,
Just feeling how your breath moves for you today.
With your attention at the tip of the nose,
You may notice that the breath feels a little bit cooler on the inhale and a little warmer on the exhale having been inside your body.
Just notice,
Experience your breathing.
Now gently guide your awareness to your toes,
Feeling all ten toes,
Feeling the tips of the toes,
The top and bottom of the toes and the eight small gaps that exist between each toe.
Feel your toes alive beneath your awareness.
Now feeling your feet,
The tops of your feet,
The soles of your feet,
Your heels and your ankles,
Feeling your whole feet alive.
Now continue to guide your awareness up your legs,
Feeling your shins and your calves,
Feeling your knees and feeling your thighs,
Feeling your hips,
Your vagina,
Your bum,
Your whole pelvic bowl,
Feeling your lower torso,
Front and back and sides,
The whole way around,
Your mid torso,
Feeling all the way up to your chest and your shoulders,
Feeling your shoulder blades,
Your upper arms,
Your elbows and your lower arms,
Feeling your wrists,
Your hands,
The palms of your hands and the backs of your hands,
Feeling all ten fingers,
The tip of each finger,
Feeling the gaps between each finger,
Feel your whole hands alive under your awareness.
Now allowing your awareness to travel back up the arms,
Past the elbows,
Past the shoulders,
All the way to your neck,
Feeling the front,
The back and the sides of your neck,
Feeling the space behind your ears,
Your outer ear,
Your inner ear,
Feeling your cheeks,
Your mouth,
Your chin and your nose,
Your eyes and your forehead,
Feeling your whole scalp,
Gathering your attention now at the crown of your head and then in your own time you can spend the next minute or two guiding your attention from the crown of your head down to the tips of your toes and then from the tips of your toes back up to the crown of your head,
Taking your time to feel each part of your body going as fast or as slow as feels right for you.
As you scan through your body,
Noticing the impulses to move,
To scratch or to fidget,
Just allowing them to exist,
Allowing them to be within the realm of your awareness and trusting that like all things they are impermanent and that urge,
That sensation will pass and staying focused on each different part of your body,
Scanning from your head to your feet and from your feet back up to your head and when you're ready you can release the technique and relax yourself to practice metta bhavana so you can adjust your seat if you need,
Keeping your eyes closed or your gaze down with the smallest trace of a smile on your face,
Feel yourself full and alive with love and kindness for every living creature on the planet.
May all beings everywhere be happy,
May all beings everywhere be peaceful,
May all beings everywhere be loved,
Allow these prayers to sit in the center of your heart,
May I be happy,
May I bring happiness,
May I be peaceful,
May I bring peace,
May I be loving and may I love,
Rest in this space,
Breathing it in,
Emanating loving kindness and as you rest here if there is a particular person or scene or situation that you feel needs your love and kindness you can bring that person or scene into your awareness and allow the merit of your practice to permeate benefiting them,
Benefiting all living beings on this planet.
Feeling your love like a force field around you when we give love we receive love.
Take a few more deep breaths here in this space,
Soaking in the essence of your practice,
When you are ready you can bring your hands to your heart center,
May all beings everywhere be happy and free,
Gently bow from my heart to yours,
Thank you.
