Find Loving-Kindness Meditation (Metta)

Hey,

This is Will Schneider from Men Talking Mindfulness,

Taking this opportunity where we can work together with the loving kindness meditation,

Also known as a META meditation,

M-E-T-T-A,

META meditation.

This meditation is to help you find more peace,

Find more kindness,

Find more patience with yourself and other people.

So get yourself ready.

If you want to sit for this meditation,

That's fine.

If you want to lie down,

That could be a great idea as well.

But really make yourself comfortable.

So find that seat.

Maybe pause the recording for a moment until you find that seat and come back and resume.

All right,

Wonderful.

Let's begin.

We'll begin with some breathing to help soften the body and the mind and help to drop us a little bit deeper and ground us into this moment.

So if you'd like to place a hand on your belly,

Right hand on your belly,

Left hand on your chest to begin,

Just to feel that contact and feel more of the breath and using bigger breaths to really help us relax,

You can do that.

Or rest your hands and your thighs,

Palms facing up if you'd like to assume and experience more of a surrendering and receptive posture with the palms open and up or ground the palms down in your thighs if you're sitting or ground the palms in your torso,

One hand belly,

One hand chest if you're lying down or you can bring the hands in the chest.

Even if you're sitting up,

Close the eyes if you like nice and easy and exhale the breath all the way out the mouth.

Big giant inhale,

Fill the bottom of the pelvis,

Fill the top of the chest and exhale,

Let it go out.

More bigger breath in,

Keep going inhale,

Inhale,

Inhale,

Exhaling nice and easy out the mouth.

More in,

Out,

Couple more in,

Bigger breath,

Big balloon,

Be proactive on that breathing,

Out,

Feel the grounding on the exhalations in your sit bones,

One more of those inhale,

Let it go out.

Switching the breath,

We're going to take two inhales through the nose,

We're going to inhale,

Big inhale,

First one,

Exhale,

We're going to take a little sniff through the nose like a second inhale and the exhale we're going to,

Not just through the throat and through the mouth but also through the lips,

It's going to sound like this,

The exhale,

Pursing the lips a little bit to create that sound.

We'll work that way and on the exhale,

Imagine anything that's bothering you,

Stress or straining you or creating anxiety,

Just imagine it kind of pushing away from you as you exhale.

Let's go,

Exhale,

Begin,

Inhale,

Big inhale,

Good,

Hold for a moment,

Take another little sniff of air through the nose and then take that nice long exhale through the lips,

Out,

Out,

Out,

Good,

Bigger inhale,

Hold for a second,

Second inhale,

Exhale out,

Few more smooth inhale,

Big inhale,

Another inhale,

Top it off,

Exhale out,

Grounding deeper,

Creating that space between your thoughts,

Your feelings and sensation in your body,

Inhale,

Inhale second,

Exhale out,

Last two in,

In second inhale,

Exhale out,

One more in,

In,

Out,

Good and come back to some normal breaths,

Smooth breath as we continue this practice and just notice yourself how you're feeling right now,

Notice your body still sitting here in this space,

Good and just take a couple more moments,

Grounding yourself here,

Letting go of the need to be anywhere else or to do anything else or to perform or achieve something or letting go of expectations as results of our meditation,

Just be with what is throughout the entire and all the way through the end and a metta meditation is just a simple mantra meditation and a mantra is just a simple word or phrase being repeated to ourselves over and over again,

Again not trying to achieve anything,

Just using the words to help feel and experience what those words mean,

Not just an intellectual or in the mind but in the body,

In the heart,

Staying connected to our breath the whole time and just start by simply saying to ourselves,

I am patient with myself,

I am patient with myself,

Keep going just to yourself,

I am patient with myself and again not just being an intellectual pursuit but feeling your body,

What is it,

Just experience the energy of those words,

The energy of patience coming into your body,

Expanding your heart,

Dropping into your soul,

Just keep going,

I am patient with myself,

I am patient with myself and I am not rushing the mantra but just slowly through the breath,

Finding your own pace of the mantra,

Reciting that mantra,

I am patient with myself,

Notice if there is any resistance that just even the thought of being patient but that's okay,

That's welcome here,

That's why we do this to develop more patience in our practice of meditation so we can remind ourselves to be more patient in the world with ourselves,

We'll add next to other people so keeping the same mantra,

All we're going to add is I am patient with myself and others,

Just keep going,

I am patient with myself and others,

Just keep recycling that meditation,

I am patient with myself and others,

I am patient with myself and others,

Experiencing that patience in your body,

In your heart,

With your breath,

Really connecting imagination and experience in the body,

I am patient with myself and others,

Again letting go of expectations and just being with what is,

Let's switch,

Going a little in a different direction but very similar,

I am kind to myself and that's the next mantra,

I am kind to myself,

I am kind to myself,

You can see kindness in your mind and use the breath to bridge the kindness in your imagination and bring it into your heart,

Sink it into your soul,

I am kind to myself,

The mantra is the anchor,

I am kind to myself and get into that feeling if you can,

Breathe a little bit deeper if you need to,

I am kind to myself,

I really feel the energy of those words,

I am kind to myself,

What is the experience,

The physical experience of kindness,

The emotional experience of kindness,

How do you visualize kindness,

It could be a smile,

It could be a hug,

It could be a generous gesture,

Add the others,

I am kind to myself and others,

I am kind to myself and others,

Just keep working from that space including others because we are all connected in this world and if I can be kind to myself,

A much greater opportunity to be kinder to others,

I am kind to myself and others,

Keep repeating it as many times as you like,

As few times as you like but feel,

Feel,

Feel,

Experience the kindness,

Be the kindness,

I am kind to myself and others,

I am kind to myself and others,

I am peaceful with myself and others,

Just work from that place,

I am peaceful with myself and others,

Start a new mantra,

A new feeling,

Just kind of adding to the experience of kindness,

Adding to the experience of patience and now being peaceful with yourself and others,

Feeling it,

Seeing it,

Experiencing it in your body,

I am peaceful with myself and others,

Maybe the palms are open instead of grounded just to receive and experience what it means in the palms to be peaceful,

I am peaceful with myself and others,

Notice the mind how it maybe wants to kind of jump in and have a comment about it or a judgment and can you just distance yourself from the thinking and come back to the mantra,

I am peaceful with myself and others,

Staying with your breath to stay grounded and to experience more of the feeling of peacefulness.

Close our meditation with just the last mantra is may all beings be happy and free,

That's it,

May all beings be happy and free,

May it bring a little smile to your face,

You say those words,

Wonderful,

Just be with it,

May all beings be happy and free,

May all beings be happy and free,

May all beings be happy and free,

May all beings be happy and free.

Okay,

Let's bring your hands over the top of your heart and let's just take a moment of thanks for yourself for showing up,

Putting forth this effort in time for this meditation,

Notice if the mantra,

This metta meditation,

This loving kindness meditation,

Notice if you feel more relaxed,

Easier with yourself in the world,

More loving,

More kind,

More patient,

More peaceful.

Take one big giant inhale,

Exhale out the mouth,

Two more big inhale,

Out,

Out,

Exhale and one more inhale,

Exhale,

Let it go.

Thank you so much for putting forth this time,

I thank you for being here,

Once again this is Will Schneider with Men Talking Mindfulness and thank you for being part of this community,

More importantly thank you for practicing because you're going to make a difference in your community by bringing this loving kindness energy to yourself and therefore to the world.

You can do this meditation as many times as you like,

You can do it several times during the day and maybe this is your weekly practice for several weeks so you can really begin to experience the power of a metta meditation.

So thank you for being here,

Thanks for showing up and we'll catch you another time.

Peace,

Peace,

Thank you.