Hello,
My name is Lindsay,
And this meditation is centered around the practice of loving-kindness.
This meditation is a method of deepening compassion for ourselves and for each other.
It is a practice of cultivating love for all sentient beings.
This practice involves the softening of the mind and heart,
Opening us to deeper levels of love and kindness.
This practice has no strings attached.
We practice with no expectations of receiving anything in return.
It is merely a process to experience and enjoy.
It has been said that we don't attract what we want,
We attract how we are being.
This is what people mean when they say,
If you want love,
Be love.
This state of loving and of kindness is what we will explore now.
Let us begin.
Settle into a comfortable position and begin to take deep,
Full breaths.
Allow yourself to settle into this present moment.
In loving-kindness meditation,
We begin with ourselves.
It is important to extend loving-kindness to yourself first in order to be able to extend it to others.
Oftentimes we can be so hard on ourselves and overly critical.
This meditation helps train us to send positive wishes for ourselves.
So now I'd like you to visualize yourself.
Imagine yourself as a young child.
You,
Like everybody else,
Are just doing the best you know how to do.
Silently wish for yourself.
May I be healthy.
May I be peaceful.
May I be happy.
May I be peaceful.
May I be happy.
And now bring to mind someone that you love.
Someone who brings a smile to your face when you think of them.
See this person very clearly in your mind's eye.
This person,
Like everybody else,
Is just doing the best they know how to do.
Silently wish for them.
May you be healthy.
May you be peaceful.
May you be happy.
And now bring to mind someone that you don't know very well.
This could be a person you shared a smile with on the street,
Or the person who bagged your groceries.
This person,
Like everybody else,
Is just doing the best they know how to do.
Silently wish for them.
May you be healthy.
May you be peaceful.
May you be happy.
And now bring to mind someone who challenges you.
This person,
Like everybody else,
Is just doing the best they know how to do.
Silently wish for them.
May you be healthy.
May you be peaceful.
May you be happy.
And now see if you can begin to extend these feelings of loving kindness.
Begin with the street you live on,
Wishing all those who live close to you to be healthy,
Peaceful and happy.
Try the town or the city you live in now.
Perhaps your state,
Your country,
Maybe even the whole world.
See if you can genuinely wish that the whole world be healthy,
Peaceful and happy.
And now simply sit with these feelings of love and kindness.
Let the feeling of unconditional love wash over you.
Like any practice,
Loving kindness is to be practiced.
See if every day you can take even a few minutes to sit and offer genuine feelings of loving kindness to yourself and to others.
Experience what sitting in a state of boundless kindness can do for you.
May all beings be happy.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
