Loving Kindness Meditation

Hi,

I'm Jo from Garden of Yoga.

Welcome to my loving kindness meditation.

This is one of my favourite meditation practices.

It's a beautiful practice of cultivating love and peace and harmony in your own life and sending it out into the world.

Before we begin the meditation,

Just take a few moments to get really comfortable and settled.

Make sure you're not going to be disturbed.

Close your door,

Switch off your phone,

Making sure you're going to be comfortable.

You can sit or you can lie down.

And then take a moment just to tune into your breath.

Just noticing the sensation of your inhale flowing in through your nostrils.

Let each breath in draw your awareness into your body and into the present moment.

Each breath out is that chance to let go,

To empty your lungs completely and to let go of any distractions that might drift into your mind.

Making sure that you're in a position that's not going to restrict your breathing so your spine is long and comfortable.

Each inhale flows right down to the bottoms of the lungs,

Into the side ribs,

Into the back of the body.

And as you breathe out,

Let the last of each breath go before you start on the next one.

Feeling the grounded support of the earth beneath you.

Be in a position that's not going to require any effort to hold.

Feel comfortable and steady and supported.

At any time through this meditation,

If you decide not to continue,

You can always return to your own breath flowing in and out.

And your body resting comfortably on the earth.

We'll begin our loving kindness meditation by visualizing someone who you truly love and care about.

Don't put too much intellectual thought into this choice,

Just let it come to you.

And it may be that it is someone who needs a bit of extra nurturing right now.

Visualize the face of this person who you love and you care about and think of channeling that beautiful energy of loving kindness to this person.

I usually visualize them with a big happy smile as they receive that energy of loving kindness from you.

Feel within your body where that sensation of loving kindness flows from.

Maybe bubbling up like laughter from your belly.

Or like a warm glow from your harsh.

Maybe you think the words loving kindness and send those words out to this person.

Or feel a clear beam of light shine from your mind.

However this energy of loving kindness feels for you,

Tune into it.

Feel this energy of loving kindness flow from you to the person in your visualization.

This person where it's easy to find loving kindness.

And you may notice that the more loving kindness that you send out to this person,

The more you have to draw from.

Like that act of sending out loving kindness generates more and more within you.

Continue your visualization of this person that you love and you care about.

And that energy of loving kindness flowing from you to them.

Feel within your body where that feeling of loving kindness flows from.

Feel this energy of loving kindness flow from you to them.

Feel this energy of loving kindness flow from you to them.

The next part of this practice gets a little bit more challenging.

Visualize a neutral person in your life.

Maybe it's just someone who sat opposite you on the tram this morning.

Maybe it's your neighbor from down the street.

Visualize the face of this person who you haven't really interacted with.

And find some loving kindness for this person.

Like before,

It's however that energy feels for you.

The warm glow or the beam of light or the words loving kindness.

And like the person who's very close to your heart,

Visualize this neutral person with a beautiful big happy smile as they receive that loving kindness energy from you.

You may feel something open up within you as you find this loving kindness energy for this person who you barely know.

Feel that energy of loving kindness flowing ash.

Feel this energy of loving kindness flowing from you to them.

Feel this energy of loving kindness flowing from you to them.

Feel this energy of loving kindness flowing from you to them.

The next person who you're going to send loving kindness to is a bit more challenging.

Choose a hostile person.

It could be somebody who is causing you problems at the moment or someone who you have unresolved issues from in your past.

If no one in your personal life comes to mind,

A politician is often a good choice.

Visualize this person and send some loving kindness to them.

Feel that same sensation of loving kindness flowing from you.

And it might be more challenging to find loving kindness for this person.

Don't judge any of the thoughts that come up.

Just continue to send out loving kindness.

It doesn't mean that you're accepting everything that this person does or even that this person should be in your life right now.

But there's a fantastic Buddhist saying which is holding on to hatred and anger in your heart towards someone is like holding a hot coal in your hand intending to throw it at them.

It's always going to burn you more than it does them.

See how things shift within you when instead of holding on to bitter energy you find loving kindness instead and send it out.

And now from here we're going to expand this practice.

Sending out loving kindness energy to the person who you do truly love and care about,

The person who is neutral and the hostile person and sending it out to your whole city feeling that energy of loving kindness radiate out from you expanding more and more to the whole of your country.

And then from there feel that energy of loving kindness just flow out to your entire world.

Take it even further expanding that energy of loving kindness out to the entire universe.

Coming back to that sense of how loving kindness feels for you.

The warm glow,

Maybe the beam of light.

With each inhale feel that energy of loving kindness expand even more.

With each breath out feel it glow brighter.

Feel that energy of loving kindness flow from you out into the entire universe.

Feeling that this energy of loving kindness is limitless.

And now from here you've just radiated loving kindness out to the whole universe.

Internalize that energy.

Feel that energy of loving kindness flowing back to you.

You've found loving kindness for someone that you love,

Someone that you don't know very well.

Someone who usually pushes your buttons and the rest of the universe.

Here now find that same energy of loving kindness for yourself.

Nurturing yourself the way that you nurture the people in your life who you love and care about.

Nurturing yourself the way that you forgive other people in your life.

Knowing that this energy of loving kindness that you're now directing inwards will also radiate out from you.

And that when you accept yourself and forgive yourself and love yourself it's easier to send those qualities out into the world.

It's like a drop of water falling into a pool.

The ripples of loving kindness that have just dropped into you radiate out from you like ripples in a pond.

And they often continue flowing out from you in ways that you aren't even aware of.

When you interact with people with that energy of loving kindness it brightens their day and it changes the way that they interact with the people around them.

When you take the time to take care of yourself you have more energy to take care of the people around you.

And when you forgive yourself,

Accept yourself,

You tend to be more empathic,

More forgiving and more accepting of the people around you.

Feel this energy of loving kindness fill you up like you're refilling a well within you.

A well of love and kindness and calm and strength that you can draw upon as you move ash into the world.

Feel that warm glow of loving kindness from deep within.

With each breath in,

Feel that you're inviting loving kindness into your body,

Into your mind,

Into your heart.

With each breath out,

Feel that energy of loving kindness flow out into the world.

And now,

Bringing your awareness back to the sensation of your breath,

The cool freshness of each inhale flowing in,

The soft warmth of each breath as it leaves.

And bringing your awareness back to your body,

Feeling that support beneath you.

When you're feeling ready to,

You might like to gently start to open your eyes,

Giving yourself time to bring your awareness back to the world around you.

You might like to gently move and stretch,

Feeling your way into your body again.

And I'd like to thank you all so much for doing this meditation with me.

Wishing you all Namaste.