Welcome to my loving kindness meditation.
Let's start by coming into a comfortable seated position or laying down on the back in Shavasana.
The purpose of today's meditation is to cultivate gratitude and increase our awareness of how we are all connected to one another.
Let's begin by relaxing the whole body,
Dropping the shoulders,
Relaxing the arms,
And then feeling the length of the spine.
Relax all the muscles in the face.
Let the tongue drop from the roof of the mouth.
Let the eyes get heavier and heavier until they close.
And just let the whole face smile.
Notice what it feels like to breathe in and out through the nose.
Without trying to change or control the breath,
Just notice the pattern and the pace.
Notice how the breath travels through the body.
Notice any spots in the body that are tense or tight,
And try to breathe into those spots.
As we continue to breathe deeply,
Let's bring into our mind's eye someone that we love very closely.
It could be a partner,
A family member,
Or a close friend.
And we'll repeat this affirmation silently to ourselves and direct the message to this loved one.
May you be happy,
Healthy,
And free from harm.
May you be happy,
Healthy,
And free from harm.
May you be happy,
Healthy,
And free from harm.
And gently let this person go.
And now bring into our mind's eye a person that we have neutral feelings for,
Neither positive nor negative.
This could be someone that we see on a regular basis.
Maybe it's someone that makes our coffee,
Or we run into at work or school.
And we'll repeat this affirmation silently to ourselves and direct it towards this person.
May you be happy,
Healthy,
And free from harm.
May you be happy,
Healthy,
And free from harm.
May you be happy,
Healthy,
And free from harm.
And gently let this person go.
Next,
Bring into our mind's eye someone that we have negative feelings towards.
So someone that we may have gotten into an argument with or had a conflict with in the past.
Bring our awareness to this person and silently repeat the affirmation and direct it towards this person.
May you be happy,
Healthy,
And free from harm.
May you be happy,
Healthy,
And free from harm.
May you be happy,
Healthy,
And free from harm.
Take a couple deep breaths and let this person go.
Next,
Let's bring into our mind's eye ourselves and direct the silent affirmation to yourself.
May you be happy,
Healthy,
And free from harm.
May you be happy,
Healthy,
And free from harm.
May you be happy,
Healthy,
And free from harm.
Take a couple of deep breaths and move the awareness away from ourselves.
And finally,
We'll bring into our awareness all living beings,
All living beings on this planet.
Imagine that you can hold the entire planet in both of your hands and repeat this affirmation directed to all living beings.
May you be happy,
Healthy,
And free from harm.
May you be happy,
Healthy,
And free from harm.
May you be happy,
Healthy,
And free from harm.
And gently feel this planet moving away from your awareness and bring the focus back to the breath.
Notice the pattern of the breath.
Notice how it feels to breathe in through the nostrils and out through the nostrils.
Notice any feelings that might come up for you.
And let's gently begin to deepen the breath.
Breathing in through the belly,
The rib cage,
And the heart center.
And exhaling,
Moving the belly closer to the spine.
A couple more deep breaths.
And let's begin to wiggle the fingers and the toes,
Slowly awakening the body.
And fluttering the eyes open when you're ready.
This concludes our meditation.
Namaste.