Kindness From The Heart

Okay,

So you can start by taking a couple of deep breaths,

Really inhaling as you draw in like stretching up the spine,

Imagining you're being pulled up by the top of your head and that the air is flowing in and sort of oxygenating your body.

And the exhales are kind of downward settling,

It's like a sort of melting a little bit but keeping the spine straight,

Relaxing.

And we're going to actually work with the breath.

So when you inhale,

I want you to imagine that you're breathing that air coming in and it's actually going directly into your heart,

Into your chest area.

So it's like,

It's like your heart is like an ember.

You breathe in that air and it's like warms the ember of your heart.

And then as you breathe out,

The air is a little bit warmer,

Comes out.

So this sense of breathing into our hearts,

Breathing into our chest,

And then breathing out.

And as you're doing this,

Kind of imagine that you're this node in a network,

Sort of a systems view of your life,

That behind you and all around you are all the people who supported you in the past,

Either in the moment itself or supported you by being related to you,

By being around you.

And as you're breathing in,

You're breathing in support from that network.

So I mean you're breathing in support from your friends,

From your relatives,

From your family.

And that you're breathing that support and it goes right into your heart,

It starts to warm your heart.

Because as you're breathing in,

You're feeling,

You're beginning to maybe connect to this sense of like,

Yeah,

Thank you.

And then you breathe out.

And then again,

As you're breathing in,

You're imagining that support.

And really thinking about all the people who've been there for you,

Mentors,

Teachers,

And friends at unexpected moments,

People who've been patient with you.

Just breathing in,

As you breathe in,

Just imagining that all that is kind of radiating in into your heart.

And as you do,

You might want to just sort of say thank you or feel thanks,

Like thank you,

Like drawing in that support.

And then you breathe in that thanks and then you breathe out your respect,

Your care.

Now the ember is warm.

You breathe out your care,

Your respect back into that network,

Showing respect for these people in your life.

We can go back now too.

You can imagine as you breathe in,

You're breathing in from your ancestors.

All the things that your ancestors and all the character they've shown,

The challenges they've showed up for.

And you're going to show them respect,

You breathe in their support and care and you breathe out and you say,

Respect to you,

Send out your respect,

Your care.

So we're using our imaginations here,

But we're concentrated on our breath.

With every breath drawing in that support.

It's almost like energy,

Breathing in energy.

And it's interesting here is because there's a relationship,

Just like Moira said,

The more we're able to receive,

The warmer our heart,

The more we have to give back.

So there's this direct relationship between our capacity to receive and our capacity to give.

Breathing in into your heart,

Say thank you.

As you breathe out,

Sending out your care.

Think about who you want to send your care out to.

Who here would you like to send some friendliness to?

Breathing in your thanks,

Breathing out your care.

And just you can imagine it kind of flowing out to that person,

Different people.

We don't have to even leave it there,

We can recruit in a wider field,

All nature all around us.

The trees,

Plants,

The animals,

Breathing in a sense of connection from them.

Breathing out our care.

So just explore this for a little while,

But be sincere.

Really give it a shot.

Sometimes we don't like things that appear sentimental.

Just doing the experiment.

It's a concentration exercise,

So it means when you lose touch with the imagery,

The instruction,

You just reestablish it.

Notice what happens.

It helps to use a little phrase you can use,

Say thank you as you breathe in.

You can say respect you,

I love you,

I care for you,

Whatever you want.

No matter how breath or how it feels right for you,

It helps.

I'm curious,

What is this feeling like for you?

It might not be remotely sentimental,

It might just feel like patience,

Calm,

Or maybe you just feel you're in reaction,

You're annoyed by it.

That's okay too,

Doing it anyway.

Thinking about who you're grateful for,

What you're grateful for,

What things are there to receive.

We can make this interconnection thing even a little bit more vivid as you breathe in,

Thinking about how you're breathing in this air,

Which is really shared.

We're all breathing in and out of the same air.

Breathe in,

You breathe out,

Someone else breathes in.

There's a sense in which we're immersed in the same medium.

Just gathering in as we breathe,

And then radiating out from our hearts as we exhale,

Just stoking that amber,

That warmth that's there.

Exactly.

So there's a classic way in which meditation is often finished,

But in Buddhism they call it the dedication of merit.

So it's the last sort of act of this,

And that's that you basically give it all away.

So as you're breathing in,

Breathing in your gratitude,

Your thanks,

You deliberately think about who you're going to send that care out to,

And you're going to give it all to them.

Imagine whatever benefits got generated by this practice,

Imagine it as this last act of generosity you're going to hand it over to someone else.

Breathing in your thanks into your heart as you exhale,

Making your dedication.

This last act of generosity.

Moving you away,

One heart,

One nature,

One system.

Nice guys.