Loving-Kindness Meditation
A Meditation Practice
Here is the audio to follow for the loving-kindness meditation.
TRANSCRIPT:
Hello and welcome to Cultivating Chill. My name is Vikki Velasquez and thank you for joining me for a loving-kindness meditation.
Loving-kindness meditation cultivates love and compassion for yourself, your loved ones, and the rest of the world.
The meditation consists of six stages where we offer well-wishes and love to different groups of people.
Meditation will begin with directing love and compassion to ourselves.
Then, we move this loving, compassionate energy towards a loved one – like a family member or close friend – followed by someone neutral, like a coworker, neighbor or even our favorite barista — and then to someone who might be considered "difficult," like someone you just don’t get along with or a distant friend.
Next, we send love and compassion to the self, to the loved one, to the acquaintance, and to the distant friend.
Finally, we send our love and compassion out to the rest of the world.
We will silently repeat four wishes in each stage.
May you be free from harm
May your mind be at ease
May you feel safe
May you be happy
This loving-kindness meditation will be about ten minutes or so.
I invite you to find a comfortable seat, maybe in a chair or sitting on the floor in Easy Pose or even nestled in bed, surrounded by pillows.
You want to be comfortable but also upright.
If you are sitting on the floor, feel free to rest your back against a wall for extra support.
Sitting on a cushion or yoga block or folded blanket will elevate the hips over the thighs, creating more space for the air to flow through the body.
Inhale, the spine lengthens.
Exhale, the shoulders slide down the back, away from the ears.
I invite you to place your hands over your heart center, one on top of the other.
When you are ready, gently close your eyes.
(one to two breaths)
Notice the feeling of your heartbeat.
(one to two breaths)
Notice the feeling of your breath.
(one to two breaths)
Breathe into your heart space as we prepare for meditation.
Feel your breath…feel your heartbeat.
(about three natural breaths)
As you breathe, bring your attention inwards, to the dark space behind your eyelids.
(one to two breaths)
This is your mind’s eye.
(one to two breaths)
Bring to your mind’s eye an image of yourself.
Maybe you picture yourself as you are now or as you were at a different age, time, or place.
Take this image of yourself and place it into your heart.
Silently to yourself, repeat the following phrases:
May you be free from harm
May your mind be at ease
May you feel safe
May you be happy
Continue to repeat these phrases as you hold the image of yourself in your heart.
(Allow time for about five repetitions)
When you are ready, gently release the image and return your focus to your breath and your heartbeat.
(about three breaths)
Bring to your mind’s eye an image of a loved one, like a family member or close friend. It can even be your beloved pet.
Take this image of your loved one and place them into your heart.
Silently to yourself, repeat the following phrases:
May you be free from harm
May your mind be at ease
May you feel safe
May you be happy
Continue to repeat these phrases as you hold the image of your loved one in your heart.
(Allow time for about five repetitions)
When you are ready, gently release the image and return your focus to your breath and your heartbeat.
(about three breaths)
Bring to your mind’s eye an image of someone you know but are not close to, like a neighbor or a coworker. Someone who is an acquaintance, maybe even a friend or cousin whom you are not particularly close to but have warm feelings for.
Take this image of your acquaintance and place them into your heart.
Silently to yourself, repeat the following phrases:
May you be free from harm
May your mind be at ease
May you feel safe
May you be happy
Continue to repeat these phrases as you hold the image of your acquaintance in your heart.
(Allow time for about five repetitions)
When you are ready, gently release the image and return your focus to your breath and your heartbeat.
(about three breaths)
Bring to your mind’s eye an image of someone you might describe as difficult. Maybe someone you don’t get along with or even a distant friend.
Take this image of the distant friend and place them into your heart.
Silently to yourself, repeat the following phrases:
May you be free from harm
May your mind be at ease
May you feel safe
May you be happy
Continue to repeat these phrases as you hold the image of your distant friend in your heart.
(Allow time for about five repetitions)
When you are ready, gently release the image and return your focus to your breath and your heartbeat.
(about three breaths)
Now, bring to your mind’s eye the images of you, your loved one, the acquaintance, and the distant friend.
Take these images and place them into your heart.
Silently to yourself, repeat the following phrases:
May you be free from harm
May your mind be at ease
May you feel safe
May you be happy
Continue to repeat these phrases as you hold the images of you, your loved one, the acquaintance, and the distant friend in your heart.
(Allow time for about five repetitions)
When you are ready, gently release the images and return your focus to your breath and your heartbeat.
(about three breaths)
Finally, let’s bring to your mind’s eye an image of the entire world.
All the people, everyone, everywhere.
In the cities, the countryside, and everywhere in between.
The plants, the animals, the birds in the air, the creatures in the oceans, and all the little creepy crawly things in the dirt.
Take this image of the entire world with all the living things and place it all into your heart.
Silently to yourself, repeat the following phrases:
May you be free from harm
May your mind be at ease
May you feel safe
May you be happy
Continue to repeat these phrases as you hold the image of the world in your heart.
(Allow time for about five repetitions)
When you are ready, gently release the image of the world.
Return your focus to your breath and your heartbeat.
(about three to four breaths)
Loving-kindness meditation has come to an end.
Let’s bring our hands in prayer position, hands to heart center.
Whenever you are ready, you may gently open your eyes.
The light in me honors the light in you.
Namaste.
Cultivating Chill hopes you found the information and breathing practices informative and helpful. If you have any questions or want to share anything, please feel free to leave a comment.