So this is a meditation to help therapists and doctors,
Physicians,
Nurses,
Counselors,
Social workers,
Caretakers,
Anyone who works in a caregiving capacity to cultivate a sense of loving kindness or unconditional positive regard for yourself,
Of course,
And all your clients.
It's an extremely difficult time to be a caregiver or in one of the helping professions.
People are stressed out,
Reactive,
Scared,
Families are struggling,
Couples are struggling,
And it's easy to get burned out.
It's easy to feel our frustration with human behavior.
And it may be that you're finding yourself tensing against clients during session or afterwards when you're writing your notes or contemplating your work.
And that's perfectly normal and it's okay.
And we also know that in order for us to really be there for our clients,
We have to keep an open,
Accepting,
Compassionate attitude toward them.
And so in some ways,
We are the most important client in the room.
Our mental health,
Our peace of mind,
Our ease with the way things are,
The way our client is,
Is extremely important.
And so this is a meditation that invites you to practice that unconditional loving,
Positive,
Compassionate regard,
Which can be so difficult to maintain,
Especially in times of incredible stress.
So just feel yourself being held by the bed or the couch or the floor,
Wherever you find yourself.
You want to be in a comfortable position with your eyes gently closed or focusing softly on a focal point of your choosing.
It could be a candle or a tree outside your window.
Just letting your thoughts settle for a moment,
Feeling your body settling,
Being held.
And we always start loving kindness meditation with ourselves.
And many of you have been practicing this and will already have a phrase or a series of phrases that sound right to you.
And please feel free to use those.
And if you don't,
I'm happy to share mine with you.
And you can use that or come up with a series of wishes that resonate particularly for you.
And mine are,
May I be happy?
May I be peaceful?
May I be healthy and at ease?
These are just some phrases that really resonate for me.
And just start with yourself,
Offer yourself these wishes for a few moments.
May I be happy?
May I be peaceful?
May I be healthy and at ease?
May I be peaceful?
May I be peaceful?
Then,
Let somebody who is very easy to care give to come up for you now.
It may be a client who really benefits from the way you provide care.
And they're just a very easy person to offer unconditional positive regard to.
And we use the same phrases,
Extending our wishes to that person.
May you be happy?
May you be peaceful?
May you be healthy and at ease?
Just let this person stay present in your mind and your heart.
Just let them be alive for you as you offer these phrases.
May you be happy?
May you be peaceful?
May you be healthy and at ease?
And this one's always a little tricky,
But next we allow a neutral.
Object of our caregiving.
Arise.
This may be a new client that you haven't really gotten to know well.
Just someone who doesn't inspire strong feelings one way or the other.
But whoever it is,
Let them come to mind now and offer them the same phrases.
May you be happy?
May you be peaceful?
May you be healthy and at ease?
And now let go of that person and invite forward someone who's more difficult.
May you be happy?
In some way for you.
It may be a client who's really entrenched in an old pattern.
One of those beautiful,
Lovely,
Wonderful clients who nonetheless are very stuck.
And maybe we feel a sense of frustration with them.
I mean,
We like to feel good about our work too.
We like to feel that we're helping people,
That they're making progress.
It's very normal to experience frustration sometimes as a therapist.
It might be a couple who really bring out the worst in each other.
For example,
It might be a client who just rubs you the wrong way because you're a human and some people are going to rub you the wrong way.
And remembering their humanity,
Their desire,
Like the rest of us,
Like everybody on the earth to be happy.
Offer them your loving kindness phrases.
May you be happy?
May you be peaceful?
May you be healthy and at ease?
May you be blessed?
And then we let that person go.
And we offer our loving kindness now to all sentient beings on the planet Earth.
All the beings in front of me,
All the beings behind me,
All beings to my left,
All beings to my right,
All sentient beings everywhere.
May we all be happy.
May we all be peaceful.
May we all be healthy and well.
That bell will signal the end of this meditation.
May we all be peaceful.
