Metta & Guided Mindfulness Of Breath Meditation

Start with thoughts of goodwill for yourself.

Tell yourself,

May I be happy?

May I learn to be truly happy?

Because happiness is something you learn.

It comes from causes.

You need to know what those causes are and be able to act on them.

The causes come from within,

Which is why your true happiness doesn't conflict with anyone else's true happiness.

So that your wish for true happiness is not a selfish wish.

Then spread thoughts of goodwill to others.

Start with people who are close to your heart,

Your family,

Your very close friends.

May they learn to be truly happy,

Too.

Then spread those thoughts out in ever-widening circles to people you know and like,

To people you like even though you don't know them so well.

To people you're more neutral about,

And to people you don't like.

Remind yourself that the world would be a much better place if everyone could learn how to find true happiness within.

Spread thoughts of goodwill to people who have harmed you in the past.

May they learn to be truly happy.

Spread thoughts of goodwill to people you have harmed in the past.

May they learn to be truly happy,

Too.

Spread thoughts of goodwill to people you don't even know.

And not just people,

Living beings of all kinds,

East,

West,

North,

South,

Above and below,

Out to infinity.

May we all find true happiness in our hearts.

Focus your attention on the breath.

Take a couple of good long,

Deep in-and-out breaths.

Notice where you feel the breathing process.

Is it comfortable?

If it is,

Keep on breathing in this way.

If it's not,

You can change.

You can try longer breathing still,

Or shorter breathing,

Or in long and out short,

In short and out long.

Try deeper breathing,

Or more shallow breathing,

Heavier breathing,

Or lighter,

Faster breathing,

Or slower breathing.

Try to see what rhythm and texture of breathing feels best for the body right now.

You can either consciously experiment with different kinds of breathing or just pose the question in the mind with each breath.

What breath would feel especially good,

Especially gratifying,

This time?

And see how the body responds.

If your thoughts wander off,

Bring them back to the breath.

If they wander off again,

Bring them back again.

Ten times,

A hundred times,

Just keep coming back to the breath.

Each time you return,

Reward yourself with an especially refreshing,

Gratifying,

Energizing,

Relaxing breath,

Whatever would feel really good,

To remind you that this is where you want to be.

If there are any pains in the body,

You don't have to pay them any attention.

Think of the breath going through the pains,

Because after all,

The breath energy was there first.

The pain came later.

Focus on the areas where the breath does feel good.

And here,

Of course,

We're thinking of the breath not just as air coming in and out of the lungs,

But the flow of energy throughout the body.

It animates the nerves,

The muscles,

Goes through the blood vessels.

Each time you breathe in,

Each time you breathe out.

And we have been Hermes,

Hermosine,

Hermjà,

땔의 finals in when the sun does set.

When you breath,

You breath.

Once you've found a rhythm and texture of the breathing that does feel good,

The next step is to be aware of the whole body as you breathe in and the whole body as you breathe out.

And a good way to build up to that is to go through the body section by section.

Start down around the navel.

Focus on that part of the body.

Watch it for a while as you breathe in and as you breathe out.

Notice how it feels.

If there are any patterns of tension,

Think of them relaxing.

Any sense of blockage in that part of the body?

Think of it dissolving away so that no tension builds up as you breathe in and you're not holding on to any tension as you breathe out.

If you want,

You can think of breath energy coming in and out of the body right there at the navel so you don't have to push or pull it from any other part of the body.

Now move your attention over to the lower right-hand corner of the abdomen and follow the same three steps there.

In other words,

One,

Locate that part of the body in your awareness.

Two,

Watch it for a while as you breathe in and breathe out.

And three,

If you notice any patterns of tension or tightness in that part of the body,

Allow them to dissolve away all the way through the in-breath and all the way through the out.

And now the sense of mass.

Then move your attention over to the lower left-hand corner of the abdomen and follow the same three steps there.

Then move your attention up to the solar plexus,

The area in front of the stomach,

And follow the same steps there.

Then move your attention over to the right,

To the right flank.

And then to the left,

To the left flank.

Then bring your attention to the middle of the chest,

Including the whole area around the chest.

Then move your attention to the right,

To the spot where the chest and the shoulder meet.

And then to the same spot on the left.

Then bring your attention to the base of the throne,

The center of the chest.

And now bring your attention to the base of the throat.

And then to the left,

To the right flank.

And then to the right flank.

And then to the left,

To the right flank.

Then bring your attention to the middle of the head.

Try to be very gentle as you focus here.

Think of the breath energy coming in and out not only through the nose,

But also through the eyes,

In through the ears,

In from the back of the head,

Down from the top of the head.

Very gently working through any patterns of tension,

You may feel around the eyes and the jaws and the forehead,

And dissolving them away.

Some of them may seem to be parlent but just feeling light about the environmental Now bring your attention to the back of the neck.

As you breathe in,

Think of the breath energy coming in there,

And then going down the shoulders,

Through the arms,

Out to the hands,

Out to the fingers.

And then as you breathe out,

Think of it radiating out into the air.

As you sensitize yourself to the arms and the shoulders,

Try to notice which side is holding more tension—the left shoulder or the right shoulder?

Left upper arm,

Right upper arm,

Lower arm,

Wrists,

Hands,

Fingers.

Whichever side seems to be more tense,

Consciously relax it and keep it relaxed all the way through the in-breath,

All the way through the out.

And then as you breathe in,

Think of it radiating out into the air.

And then as you breathe out,

Think of it radiating out into the air.

And then as you breathe in,

Think of it radiating out into the air.

Now,

Keeping your attention focused on the back of the neck,

This time think of the energy coming in there and going down the spine,

Down to the tailbone.

And then as you breathe out,

Think of it radiating out into the air.

And as you sensitize yourself to the area around the spine,

Try to notice which side is carrying more tension—the upper back,

Middle back,

Lower back,

Around the tailbone.

Consciously relax those areas and try to keep them relaxed all the way through the in-breath,

All the way through the out.

And then as you breathe in,

Think of it radiating out into the air.

And then as you breathe out,

Think of it radiating out into the air.

Now move the focus of your attention down to the tailbone.

And as you breathe in,

Think of the breath energy coming in there and going down through the pelvis,

Through the legs,

Past the knees,

Ankles,

Out to the feet and the toes.

And then as you breathe out,

Think of it radiating out into the air.

And again,

Try to notice which side is holding more tension—in the pelvis,

Legs,

Knees,

Ankles,

Feet.

Consciously relax those areas of tension and then keep them relaxed all the way through the in-breath,

All the way through the out.

And as you breathe in,

Think of it radiating out into the air.

Now that completes one cycle through the body.

If you want,

You can start at the navel and go through the body again.

Picking up any patterns of tension,

You may have missed the first tamaran.

Keep this up until you're ready to settle down.

Then choose any one spot where it feels most congenial to keep your mind centered.

Allow your focus to settle there.

And then from that spot,

Think of your awareness spreading out to fill the whole body.

So you're aware of the whole body breathing in and the whole body breathing out.

Your awareness will have a tendency to shrink,

So you have to keep reminding yourself each time you breathe in,

Whole body,

Each time you breathe out,

Whole body,

All the way through the breath.

Both in and out.

If you find your awareness blurring out,

Then return to the survey of the different parts.

Otherwise,

Just stay right here,

Maintaining this centered but full-body awareness.

There's nothing else you have to attend to right now,

For this kind of awareness is healing both for the body and for the mind.

And it forms an excellent foundation for insight to arise.

It gets back to没ability.

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Take a couple of good long,

Deep in-and-out breaths,

Way down through your torso,

All the way down to the bottom of the abdomen.

Each time you breathe in,

Think of the breath soothing the abdomen,

Soothing the chest,

Dissolving away any bits of tension you may feel here and there.

Ask yourself if long breathing feels good now.

If it does,

Keep it up.

If it doesn't,

You can change.

Heavier,

Lighter,

Deeper,

All the way down to your feet,

Or more shallow.

Try to notice what the body needs right now.

Then as you breathe in and out,

Think of the breath energy moving in waves,

Not just down to the torso,

But also down to the legs,

To the arms.

Very gently through the head.

The nerves of the head tend to be overworked.

So when you think of the breath energy coming in here,

You don't want to force anything.

Just allow it to gradually dissolve away,

Bit by bit by bit,

Very gently.

Any patterns of tension you may feel there in the head.

When you've found a rhythm that feels good,

Check it in a few places.

First,

Look at your abdomen.

Locate that part of the body in your awareness and watch it for a while.

Does this rhythm of breathing feel good there?

If it does,

Keep it up.

If not,

Allow it to change.

If you feel any patterns of tension in the abdomen,

Allow them to relax,

To dissolve away so that no new tension builds up as you breathe in and you don't hold on to any tension as you breathe out.

Then move your attention up to the area right in front of the stomach and follow the same steps there.

In other words,

Notice if that rhythm of breathing feels good there,

Too.

If it does,

Keep it up.

If not,

You can change.

If you want,

You can think of the breath energy coming in and out of the body right there at the stomach so you don't have to pull it from anywhere else.

Then bring your attention up to the middle of the chest and follow the same steps there.

Be especially sensitive to the area around the heart.

If there's any tightness there,

See if you can relax and breathe into it in a very gentle and soothing way.

The breath is supposed to be healing.

So don't force things too much.

Just maintain a steady,

Soothing awareness,

A steady,

Soothing presence,

All the way through the in-breath and all the way through the out.

Then bring your attention up to the base of the throat and follow the same steps there.

And then to the middle of the head.

As you focus on the head,

Think of the breath energy coming in and out not only through the nose but also through the eyes and the ears,

In from the back of the head down from the top of the head.

Gently soothing any patterns of tension you may feel in the head and gradually dissolving them away.

When the energy in the head feels good,

Then think of it spreading down the nervous system,

The entire nervous system,

All the way down the arms,

All the way down the legs.

Each time you breathe in,

Each time you breathe out.

Now move your attention to any spot in the body that seems most congenial.

Any of the spots we've covered just now or any other spot where it's easy to have a sense of the breath energy being nourishing,

It's easy for the mind to stay focused.

Allow your attention to settle down there and then to spread from that spot to fill the entire body.

So you're aware of the whole body all the way through the in-breath and the whole body all the way through the out-breath.

See if you can maintain this sound of a broad awareness.

If it shrinks,

Just spread it out again.

It'll tend to shrink especially in the out-breath.

So keep your awareness as broad as possible throughout the entire cycle and allow the breath to find its own rhythm.

That's all you have to do.

Maintain this sound of a broad awareness.

That's all you have to do.

Maintain this sound of a broad awareness.

The passing passing are are are are are are are are are are are are are.

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