Loving-Kindness Meditation

This is a loving-kindness meditation. These simple words, when offered directly from the heart, can be of great service in strengthening self-compassion and kindness to oneself. And it's alright if you're not feeling particularly passionate or kind in this moment. Whatever you are feeling, you can hold the intention of offering loving-kindness, offering it from wherever you are, however you are, right in this moment. These words can be replaced or modified to best reflect whatever message speaks to you, or perhaps that your heart might be needing to hear. So feel free to consider these as placeholders for any message that you might become aware that you need, arising from your own wisdom, your own heart. The intention of this practice is to fall more deeply awake, awake to your own heart, and perhaps more capable of bringing wakeful heart to the world around you. So finding a posture that will allow for comfort and support you for this type of wakeful engagement. It is traditional in loving-kindness practices to start by offering these heart-centered messages to oneself and to repeat the refrain to others, slowly widening the circumference of loving-kindness to more and more sentient beings. So you're invited to follow along with these words, or those of your own choosing, opening the heart as best you can, and silently offering each phrase from within the deep well spring of your being. We begin by offering loving-kindness to oneself. So letting your awareness just settle on the body, the body at rest in this moment, in whatever position you find yourself in, and settling awareness with the breath, coming aware of the rhythm and movements of breath stirring in the body. And maybe even taking a hand to place over your heart, this gesture of gentle nurturance and compassion, maybe exploring how this impacts or changes your practice in any way. And in offering the following words to yourself, staying in full awareness with whatever arises, in body, heart and mind. So silently saying to yourself, "Deep from within the heart, may I be safe, free from physical or emotional harm, free from harm that can arise from external sources and from internal ones, may I experience freedom from the shackles of fear, doubt and worry, may I be safe." "May I be happy," relieved from the constant pursuit of desiring, of not being or having enough, untroubled by neither the intensity or content of thoughts and emotions. May I offer gentleness to myself during times of difficulty, may I be happy, and may I be healthy, aware of the wholeness that resides deep within, free from distress when the body becomes ill or wounded. May I know the vibrancy of my own being. May I be healthy. And may I live with ease, finding peace even during times of turbulence and struggle. Grounded by the life that moves around me, that moves through me, may I know my own truest nature. May I live with ease. And now staying very close with the body, with the heart, and developing an image of someone close or dear to you, allowing this individual and maybe the felt sense that they bring to your life to move to the forefront of your heart and in your mind's eye. So now repeating the practice, holding this dear one very close, may you be safe, free from physical or emotional harm, free from harm that can arise from external sources and from internal ones. May you experience freedom from the shackles of fear, doubt and worry. May you be safe. May you be happy. Relieved from constant pursuit of desiring, of not being or having enough, untroubled by neither the intensity or content of mind and emotions, may you offer gentleness to yourself during times of difficulty. May you be happy. And may you be healthy. Bear of the wholeness that resides deep within. Free from distress when the body becomes ill or wounded. May you know the vibrancy of your own being. May you be healthy. May you live with ease. Finding peace even during times of turbulence and struggle. Grounded by the life that moves around you, that moves through you. And may you know your own truest nature. And letting go of this dear individual. And bringing to mind someone perhaps who feels neutral. Whom you neither experience a strong disliking towards nor perhaps a strong liking. Well this could be a stranger when you pass by in the grocery store or another individual who maybe you hardly know, briefly interacted with. And exploring the experience of expanding loving kindness outward. Offering these words from as deeply in the heart as you were able to in this moment. May you be safe. Free from physical or emotional harm. Free from harm that can arise from external sources and from internal ones. May you be safe. And may you be happy. Relieved from the constant pursuit of desiring, of not being or having enough. Untroubled by neither the intensity or content of mind and emotions. [BLANK_AUDIO] May you offer gentleness to yourself during times of difficulty. May you be happy. May you be healthy. Where of the wholeness that resides deep within? May you be from distress when the body becomes ill or wounded. May you be healthy. And may you live with ease. May you be peace even during times of turbulence and struggle. May you know your own truest nature. And now letting someone come to mind, who perhaps can sometimes feel difficult to love or to offer kindness towards. And there's no need to select anyone here who elicits really strong emotions, but letting the heart find the right person for you in this moment. Who elicits a challenge in some way and staying very close to your own heart, to your own experiences. Offering this refrain of loving kindness. May you be safe. May you be safe. May you be happy. Unleaved from the constant pursuit of desiring. Of not being or having enough. And may you offer gentleness to yourself during times of difficulty. May you be happy. May you be healthy. Aware of the wholeness that resides deep within. May you be healthy. Founded by the life that moves around you and that moves through you. And expanding even further, perhaps to a group of people, your family, a workplace. Or some other community. And holding these individuals or this group very closely in your hearts and in your mind. And with a sense of yourself being included in this group. Extending these words. May we be safe. May we experience freedom from the shackles of fear, doubt and worry. May we be safe. May we be happy. Relieved from the constant pursuit of desiring. And may we offer gentleness to ourselves during times of difficulty. May we be happy. May we be healthy. And may we know the vibrancy of our own being. May we be healthy. And may we live with ease. May we live with ease. And now widening your heart as far as you can. To maybe even encompass the entire world. All of humanity. Offering loving kindness to the earth and all sentient beings. And including yourself within this wide loving embrace. Silently opening the heart. May all beings be safe. May all beings experience freedom from the shackles of fear, doubt and worry. May all beings be happy. May all beings experience gentleness during times of difficulty. And may all beings be happy. May all beings be healthy. May all beings know the vibrancy of their being. And may all beings live with ease. Grounded always by the life that moves around, that moves through. May all beings come to know their truest nature. May all beings live with ease. with ease and allowing these wishes for all beings on the planet to flow with the breath. Keeping the heart wide and receptive. Love flowing in and love flowing out. Breath flowing in. Breath flowing out. Cultivating harmony and strengthening the expression of love and peace for all beings. Meditation of love and peace for all beings. Meditation of love and peace for all beings.