Become comfortable in your chair or cushion, sitting in whatever position makes you feel the most at ease. Start by relaxing the muscles of the face, and slowly move down the body. Relax your shoulders, relax your back, relax the tension in your legs. (Pause)…
Allow your hands to rest comfortably in your lap. Gently close your eyes… (Pause)…
Settling into awareness of the body…and the breath.
Feeling into our body right now…noticing what’s here.
Open to whatever is to be experienced in the body in this moment
Connecting to the breath…noticing the wave-like movements of the belly…
In this practice, we’ll be cultivating loving kindness. We all have within us, this natural capacity for loving kindness. Or…friendship that is unconditional and open…gentle…supportive.
Loving kindness is a natural opening of a compassionate heart…to ourselves and to others. It’s a wish that everyone be happy.
We begin with developing loving kindness toward ourselves…allowing our hearts to open with tenderness.
Remember a time you have been kind or generous towards someone else. You might recall your natural desire to be happy and not to suffer. If acknowledging your own goodness is difficult, look at yourself through the eyes of someone who loves you. What does that person love about you? Or, you may recall the unconditional love you felt from a family member or a close friend.
And, as you remember a time when you gave loving kindness or felt it…notice how you feel in your body. Maybe you feel some warmth…or heat in the face. A smile…a sense of expansiveness. This is loving kindness, a natural feeling that is accessible to all of us…always. Resting with this feeling of open, unconditional love for a few minutes … (Pause)
Start to wish yourself well by extending kind words to yourself. Silently repeat to yourself:
May I be filled with love
May I feel connected and calm
May I accept myself just as I am
May I be happy
And now, call to mind someone you are deeply connected to, like a friend you have known for years, close family members, and imagine yourself saying these words to whoever you are thinking of:
May you be filled with love
May you feel connected and calm
May you accept yourself just as you are
May you be happy
Bring to mind someone you have a relationship with but are not close to. Someone you would like to know better. And again, imagine say these words to that person:
May you be filled with love
May you feel connected and calm
May you accept yourself just as you are
May you be happy
Lastly, bring to mind someone who you don’t know. Maybe it is someone from one of your classes, or a stranger you have passed on the street. Silently repeat these words to that person:
May you be filled with love
May you feel connected and calm
May you accept yourself just as you are
May you be happy
And now, bringing this practice to a close by coming back to extend kindness to yourself. Sitting for a while and basking in the energy of loving kindness that may have been generated here.