Thank you for joining me for this love and kindness meditation.
It's a lovely way to foster connection and cultivate feelings of compassion for yourself as well as others.
Start by finding a comfortable meditation position.
You can be seated or lying down if you prefer and try to find a tall spine and maybe just tuck your chin a teeny bit so that the back of your neck is long too.
If it's comfortable for you to close your eyes then do or just find a spot to focus on if you prefer.
Do any wriggles or stretches that you need to so that you can be comfortable for the next few minutes.
Take a big slow inhale through the nose,
Filling up the lungs and then let that go even more slowly.
Continuing to breathe in and out through the nose if that feels okay for you.
And start by bringing to mind somebody who makes you smile,
Someone who it's natural for you to want to feel compassionate towards.
Imagine them smiling back at you,
Laughing maybe.
And be aware of the feelings of happiness,
Of kindness,
Lightness that you feel when you think of that person.
And keeping those feelings close,
Send out good wishes to that person by repeating just silently to yourself the following phrases.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe and well.
May you live peacefully and with ease.
And may you know that you are loved.
Hold on to that feeling and start to expand the reach of your kind thoughts.
Consider all of the people who positively impact your life in any way.
The ones who you interact with directly day to day like family,
Friends,
Colleagues and neighbours.
But even those who you don't always see or maybe don't notice.
The people who deliver things to you or who work behind the scenes in the shops you visit or the businesses providing services for you.
Who help in the process of creating all of the things that make your life easier.
And remembering the feelings that you have when you bring to mind your loved ones.
Send those same kind thoughts out to all of these people.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe and well.
May you live peacefully and with ease.
And may you know that you are loved.
Now start to let that compassion,
That kindness spread even further.
It's a truly limitless resource.
So keep coming back to the way that you feel when you see the smiles and laughter of your loved ones.
But let your kindness spread further to all of the people who don't directly or indirectly impact you.
Wherever they are in the world.
Going about their day as oblivious to you as you are to them.
Let your thoughts include all of these people wherever they are.
As you say quietly to yourself.
May you be happy.
May you be healthy.
May you be safe and well.
May you live peacefully and with ease.
And may you know that you are loved.
And now that you've sent kindness and compassion out for a whole wide range of people,
Let's come back for a moment to perhaps the most difficult path.
And give some level of love and kindness to yourself.
So reflect for a moment on you.
And remember that you are as deserving as all of the other people that you've sent good wishes to today.
So repeat quietly to yourself.
May I be happy.
May I be healthy.
May I be safe and well.
May I live peacefully and with ease.
May I know that I am loved.
And finally,
Let's include everybody in these good thoughts,
These wishes,
This compassion.
Let's send thoughts of happiness,
Health,
Safety to all beings,
Including ourselves.
May we be happy.
May we be healthy.
May we be safe and well.
May we live peacefully and with ease.
And may we all know that we are loved.
Take a few moments to sit with the compassionate wishes that you've been sending out to yourself and to those around you.
Inhaling and exhaling slowly through the nose if you can.
And taking in those compassionate feelings,
Those kind thoughts,
Those good wishes.
And when you're ready,
Start to gently move,
Wiggle your fingers,
Roll your wrists.
Let your head move from side to side.
In your own time,
Gently let your eyes open.
And try to let those feelings of kindness and compassion stay with you as you go about your day.
