So to begin with,
We're just going to find a posture that's supportive of calm and focus.
And for this loving kindness meditation that can either be lying down or in a seated position,
Either sitting upright or with our backs supported by a chair or a couch.
We want the body to feel relaxed and calm enough to be present and to enjoy this meditation as much as possible,
But we also want to be alert and attentive and focused instead of drifting off into sleep.
And one of the ways that we can call ourselves present is by taking a few deeper breaths than usual.
So we're going to be breathing in through the nose and you want to do diaphragmatic breathing.
So you'll want to allow this breath to come through the nose,
Down through the throat,
And it will feel like you're actually breathing into your belly.
Let your whole chest and stomach relax and allow that breath to come through into your belly.
And on the out breath,
You want to invite a sense of letting go and relaxation,
Almost like any tension or contraction that you might be holding in your mind or your body can be breathed out with the out breath,
Making sure that the in breath and the out breath are quite slow.
So let's go ahead and take these three diaphragmatic breaths now.
And once you've taken those three breaths,
Just allow your breathing pattern to return to its natural rhythm.
And the first thing we're going to do is bring your awareness into the physical beating of our heart.
As we breathe,
There's a lot of movement and sensation in this area.
There's the sense of the lungs expanding and expelling with the breath and a slightly subtler sensation you might be able to feel is the physical beating of the heart.
You might be able to feel the rhythm as it's pumping blood through your veins.
And even if that's too subtle for you to notice,
We still have the intention to bring our awareness into our heart.
And so if it helps,
It's okay to bring the hands together and rest them over your heart to help you attune to not only these physical sensations,
But to have the intention to be attuning to a deeper sense of who you are,
The spiritual heart,
Your most authentic and radiant self.
So just take a moment to become acquainted with your heart in this way,
Breathing and feeling.
And this meditation will take some degree of imagination.
So the next thing we're going to do as we're breathing and feeling our heart is we're going to begin to imagine that instead of the air coming through our nose and into our lungs,
That we're actually breathing the air through our heart.
So in the in-breath,
The air comes in from all directions into the heart,
And on the out-breath,
The air comes out in all directions from the heart.
Just breathe for a little while experiencing what it's like if the air was coming in and out of your heart as you're breathing.
And then we're going to imagine that instead of air that our heart's breathing,
That it's actually breathing in love and breathing out love.
Imagine that there's a clear,
Warm and unconditional kindness,
Gentleness and compassion that flows freely and unconditionally in and out of your heart with each breath.
And sometimes it can help if we think the words on the in-breath,
Breathing in love and feel that love coming into the heart,
And then on the out-breath,
Think the words breathing out love and feel that love radiating out from the heart,
Along with every breath.
So let's just breathe like this for a moment.
And in the same way that the blood is being pumped through our whole body and nourishing every cell in our body through the power of our beating heart,
We can imagine that this love that we're breathing now through our heart is flowing through our veins,
Reaching every part of our body from head to toe,
From side to side,
In and out,
So that this love is circulating through and infusing every element of your physical body,
Every organ,
Every tissue,
Every cell,
Gentle,
Warm,
Unconditional love flowing freely through your body.
And then we can imagine that this love begins to flow so freely that we start to radiate this love from our body,
That it begins to enter the space around our body and the room that we're in,
That it begins to flow upwards through the ceiling and downwards through the floor,
Outwards through the walls,
That this love is not only unconditional but it's unstoppable,
That it can penetrate through anything and everything.
And then imagine that this love begins to flow further than you could even imagine.
It goes right up into the sky and out into space,
Right down through the earth into the center of the earth,
Right out across all the land and sea of the planet and then out across space,
Even further than you can imagine.
And that this breath of love that's coming in and out of our heart is flowing in and out across all space,
Connecting with,
Flowing through all beings.
And as we imagine and feel and breathe and invite this free-flowing love and kindness,
We can then think these words to ourself from our heart.
May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be well in my mind,
My heart,
My body.
May I be safe and protected on my path.
May I be truly blessed,
Happy and free in my life.
And take a minute to appreciate what it might feel like and be like to receive these blessings and have them come to fruition in your life within yourself.
And then as we tune into the sense of love radiating out from us,
Out to all beings in all places,
We can imagine and think these words from our heart,
Out to all beings.
May all beings be filled with loving kindness.
May all beings be well in their mind,
Hearts and bodies.
May all beings be safe and protected on their path.
May all beings be truly blessed,
Happy and free in their life.
And take a moment to really tune into what it might feel like to have these blessings fulfilled.
What it would be like if all the beings near and far,
Large and small,
Were truly happy and peaceful.
And just enjoy this.
Appreciate it.
Invite a sense of smiling and warmth as you enjoy this.
Recognizing that at any given moment,
Any thought or word or action we take is our best attempt at moving towards happiness with the experiences that we've had and the knowledge that we have,
And the skills that we have,
And the limitations that we have.
That in each moment,
Every thought,
Word and action is our best attempt at moving away from suffering and towards happiness.
And in acknowledging this,
We can have compassion for ourselves,
Understanding,
Patience,
Care.
And in acknowledging this for ourselves,
We can then imagine all of these beings that we've just sent our blessings and love out to,
Just like us.
Every thought,
Word and action that they may have taken or may be taking now is their very best attempt at moving towards happiness and away from suffering.
That the life experience and circumstances that they're in,
The knowledge and skills that they have,
In the best way that they know how,
They're using these to move away from suffering and towards happiness.
And in acknowledging this,
We can hold them in understanding and care,
Patience and goodwill.
Knowing that despite anything that may have happened in the past or that may happen in the future,
That if all beings were happy and peaceful,
That everyone and everything would benefit.
And then reminding ourselves that these qualities of awareness,
Love and kindness,
That they're always there,
They're always available unconditionally.
And it's simply up to us to remember,
To invoke,
And to embody them in our life and in the world.
And that in this moment,
We can commit and vow to bringing this kindness and this love with us into the day and into our lives.
And so to complete this loving kindness meditation,
Just as we started,
We're going to take a few diaphragmatic breaths in through the nose,
Down into the belly.
And then releasing on the out-breath.
