Hello and welcome.
I am Sakshi and today I will be guiding you through a loving-kindness meditation.
Through this meditation we try to cultivate the feelings of love and compassion in our heart towards our own self and then extend it to the people in our life and the world at large.
We can do this meditation sitting up or lying down,
In a chair,
On a mat or a bed,
Wherever you feel comfortable.
Just make sure that your spine is long and your body is grounded.
If you are sitting in a chair,
Let your feet firmly connect to the earth.
If you are sitting on the floor,
Let your sitting bones settle down.
If you are lying down,
Let your shoulders,
Spine and hips completely release and soften into the surface you are lying on.
Once you are settled,
Relax your belly,
Soften your jaw and gently close your eyes.
Now bring your awareness to your breath.
Tuning in to the flow and the natural rhythm of your breath today in this moment.
As you connect with your breath,
Let it deepen,
Lengthen and expand.
Your inhales become deeper.
Your exhales become longer.
Your breath becomes softer and fuller.
Inhaling your belly,
Ribs,
Chest expand.
Exhaling,
Everything relaxes back.
Inhaling all the nourishing oxygen and exhaling,
Releasing all that is no longer needed by you.
Keep breathing long,
Deep,
Full breaths.
As you breathe there,
Think about that which you love the most.
It can be a person,
An animal,
Anything in the universe.
You love them so much that just thinking about them makes your heart feel warm.
Their happiness makes you happy,
Their laughter makes you smile,
Their pain and suffering hurts you too.
Focus on that love,
On that compassion,
On that connection.
And let it transform into a bright light in the center of your heart.
Your Anahat chakra,
Your heart center.
A bright,
Soft,
Radiant light full of love,
Warmth and your compassion.
And with each breath,
This light expands.
It becomes bigger,
Glows brighter.
It's like your own little sun,
Full of love and compassion in the center of your heart.
The light keeps expanding as it flows down your spine to your pelvis,
Down your legs,
Your knees,
Your calves,
Your ankles,
To the soles of your feet,
To the tips of your toes.
It expands and flows up your chest,
To your shoulders,
Your arms,
Your hands and your fingertips.
It expands up your throat to your jaw,
To your face,
To your head,
Your mind.
Until your entire body,
Until each part of your body is full of this bright light,
Full of love,
Warmth and compassion.
Until each cell of your body is glowing with this light,
Is buzzing with this energy.
Now think about yourself,
Your life,
All the daily struggles and difficulties you go through and acknowledge here that though I'm grateful for my life and all that I have,
I am compassionate towards my struggles,
My pain,
My suffering.
I acknowledge them and that I'm trying my best to live my life.
I deserve my love.
I deserve to rest.
I deserve to soothe myself.
I deserve my compassion.
I deserve peace.
Extending your love,
Your compassion towards yourself,
Repeat with me,
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I feel at peace at all levels of my being.
Feel and embrace this love for yourself.
Now think about someone who is dear to you and acknowledge that their life is also full of difficulties,
Is also full of their struggles,
Ups and downs.
And extend your love and your compassion towards them.
May you feel happy.
May you feel healthy.
May you feel at peace at all levels of your being.
Now think about someone you know but do not have any strong feelings towards.
Just an acquaintance and acknowledge that even though you don't know much about their life,
Their life is also full of difficulties,
Struggles and suffering.
So extend your love and compassion towards them.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you feel at peace at all levels of your being.
Now think about someone you do not like that much,
Someone you have some sort of conflict with.
Maybe you argued with them recently.
Maybe you just don't like them or you just don't get along.
And acknowledge that even though you have conflict with them,
Even though you do not get along with each other,
Their life is also full of their own difficulties,
Their own struggles,
Their own ups and downs.
And extend your love and your compassion towards them.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you feel at peace at all levels of your being.
Now think about your community,
The people around you.
Some you know,
Some you do not.
Some you like,
Some you do not.
But acknowledge that whatever your relationship with them is or isn't,
Their life is still full of difficulties,
Their own struggles,
Their own ups and downs,
Their own challenges.
And extend your love and your compassion to your whole community.
May you all be happy.
May you all be healthy.
May you all feel at peace at all levels of your being.
Now think about the world at large.
So many people,
So many stories,
Each one has its own difficulty,
Has its own challenges,
Has its own ups and downs.
Some challenges are unique to individuals and some challenges connect all of us.
Some challenges,
Some pain,
Some difficulties we go through collectively.
There is so much happening in the world right now.
And while it increases the challenges we have in our own life,
It also connects us to everyone else.
Let yourself feel like a part of the world.
And feel the world as a part of you.
Extending your light,
Extending your love and your compassion through yourself to the world.
May we all be happy.
May we all be healthy.
May we all feel at peace at all levels of our being.
As your awareness comes back to you and your body,
Let your light of love and compassion settle back in your heart center.
And remember that this light is right here for you to access anytime you need it.
Your love for yourself,
Your compassion,
Your kindness,
It is right here in your heart center.
Slowly let your awareness expand to your surroundings.
Wiggling your fingers,
Wiggling your toes to bring more sensations in your body.
Rub your palms together again.
Cup your eyes.
Blink open your eyes in the cup of your palms.
And from there release and relax.
I hope you're feeling okay.
Thank you so much for joining me through this loving kindness meditation.
I am sending my love and my compassion to you to support you through any challenges you might be going through.
Take care.
Until next time.
