The loving kindness meditation.
Take a big deep breath.
In and out.
Begin to calm your body.
Let go of anything that's happened before this moment.
And just be here now.
Find your comfortable position.
One of the goals is just to feel good.
So find a posture that feels good for you.
Whether it's sitting,
Lying down,
And just concentrate on your breath.
In and out.
It may be helpful to count.
In two three four and out two three four.
Or say to yourself as you breathe in and out.
Breathing in peace.
Breathing out love.
Thoughts will come and go.
Just let them be.
Without judgment.
And with kindness.
It's natural.
Allow your breath to just bring you back to this place.
This moment.
Now begin to focus on your solar plexus.
Your chest area.
Your heart center.
Breathe in and out from there.
Feeling it raise and then lower.
Now allow yourself to open up to your basic goodness.
It's within all of us.
You may remember a time where you've been kind or generous.
It may be helpful to use your imagination and to picture yourself as a young child standing right before you.
Or even imagine the way someone you love looks to you.
And as you experience this love,
Notice how you feel in your body.
Maybe you feel some warmth.
A smile.
A sense of expansiveness.
This is loving kindness.
A natural feeling that is accessible to all of us always.
Resting with this feeling of open unconditional love.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Inviting feelings of peace and acceptance.
Begin now to wish yourself well by extending words of loving kindness.
And remembering to continue to focus on that breath.
May I be well.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I find happiness.
May I find true peace in my life.
Stay with your breath and direct your breath to your heart.
Your smiling heart.
And begin to send love to every part of your being on the out breath.
Sending love to my eyes that help me see.
Sending love to my ears so I may hear love.
Sending love to my mouth in the words I speak.
Sending love to my brain.
Creating pathways for love.
Sending love to my hands that I use to touch others.
Sending love to my chest.
My own heart.
Filling myself up with love.
Sending love down into my tummy.
The base of my body,
My root chakra.
Sending love there.
Down into my legs so I may walk purposefully with love.
Sending love to my feet,
My base.
Sending love throughout my body in thankfulness.
Next,
Think of a person in your life that you love,
That loves you.
It may not even be a person,
It may be a pet.
It could be a mentor,
A child.
Someone who takes very little effort to elicit feeling of love.
Now repeat the phrases for this person.
May she be safe and protected.
May she be well.
May she be filled with loving kindness.
May she feel happiness.
May she find true peace in her life.
Really feel the way it feels to let this love out and onto that person and the loving smile you receive back.
Now you can continue this practice directing that love toward other people.
Maybe someone who's a little bit harder to love.
Someone that's hurt you.
Someone you judge or feel judged by.
Think of that person as well.
And say to yourself,
May she be well.
May she be filled with loving kindness.
May she find happiness.
May she find true peace.
As we extend this love,
We're reminded that anyone who causes hurt to another isn't feeling love,
Peace,
And happiness within them.
So this extension of love to them is one way for us to move on and begin to attract more love into our own lives and letting that part go as we attract more love.
Now we'll bring this practice to a close by coming back to that loving kindness and extending it back to yourself.
Sit for a moment and feel that energy of loving kindness that was generated here.
Feel it in your body and set that intention to choose love today.
Sowater
