WEBVTT 00:00.360 --> 00:03.720 Today, I'm going to lead a traditional loving-kindness meditation. 00:04.140 --> 00:09.700 There are many, many versions of loving-kindness meditation, and I encourage you to explore 00:09.700 --> 00:17.140 that if you're so inclined or interested, and find different loving-kindness meditations, 00:17.360 --> 00:28.100 keep exploring, and see what resonates best with you in your practice. 00:28.100 --> 00:37.160 And in this traditional loving-kindness meditation that I'll offer today, we use words and this 00:37.160 --> 00:40.140 intention of offering love and tenderness. 00:40.600 --> 00:43.700 This is our anchor, so to speak, for this practice. 00:44.040 --> 00:50.960 We use the words to anchor our thoughts, to come back to these thoughts, and to keep them 00:50.960 --> 00:57.860 focused best we can with this sense of embracing, embracing ourselves, embracing 00:58.100 --> 01:04.100 all beings with a sense of kindness and love. 01:06.260 --> 01:18.640 So with this loving-kindness meditation practice, we first begin, we begin with someone who you 01:18.640 --> 01:21.160 naturally think of when you think of loving-kindness. 01:21.160 --> 01:29.480 For many of us, there's an immediate connection when we consider love or as a concept or hear 01:29.480 --> 01:30.740 the words loving-kindness. 01:30.920 --> 01:34.580 Perhaps there's an immediate connection. 01:34.840 --> 01:36.400 Perhaps an image comes up for you. 01:37.000 --> 01:42.320 And this being may be someone who is still with you. 01:42.440 --> 01:46.840 Maybe someone who is no longer physically here with you. 01:46.840 --> 01:49.520 It could be an animal or any being, really. 01:50.780 --> 01:54.900 And so simply beginning first with that person. 01:55.400 --> 02:02.280 And then we'll move on to other people to offer loving-kindness to, including ourselves. 02:03.060 --> 02:08.500 And the encouragement as we go through this practice is to notice the workings of the mind. 02:08.500 --> 02:14.580 The thinking mind tends to maybe start the laundry list of who should be on the list, who shouldn't 02:14.580 --> 02:15.360 be on the list. 02:15.560 --> 02:23.500 And as we've been practicing in our classes and in our lives, certainly today, just simply 02:23.500 --> 02:28.260 noticing this thinking mind, this activity of the mind, and then come back, come back to 02:28.260 --> 02:35.140 this intention around cultivating a sense of embracing love and tenderness, a sense of opening 02:35.140 --> 02:42.500 the heart, and simply allowing your attention to rest on one being that you'd like to choose 02:42.500 --> 02:46.340 for each of the exercises around loving-kindness. 02:46.340 --> 02:53.060 So just the encouragement to acknowledge when your mind wanders, and again, perhaps just that 02:53.060 --> 02:58.580 smile to notice it, and then coming back, coming back to the practice, coming back to this 02:58.580 --> 03:06.420 intention to tend to our own hearts and then open up these full and vibrant hearts to offer this to 03:06.420 --> 03:06.740 others. 03:09.540 --> 03:10.740 So let's begin. 03:13.300 --> 03:20.660 First, simply settling into a comfortable seated position or lying down position or standing. 03:20.660 --> 03:21.860 Remember, you're in choice. 03:21.860 --> 03:29.220 So at this point in the day, what would be a supportive posture for you to practice loving-kindness? 03:33.300 --> 03:40.500 And either closing the eyes for that bit of respite for our neural pathways, or maybe a soft and 03:40.500 --> 03:50.100 unfocused gaze, simply letting in some light and allowing the attention to turn inwardly for this practice. 03:52.740 --> 03:59.060 Perhaps beginning with dropping into the breath, simply noticing this miracle of breath, this moving 03:59.060 --> 04:01.620 in, receiving. 04:04.020 --> 04:10.260 With each exhale, perhaps imagine letting go or release of what no longer is serving our bodies, 04:11.300 --> 04:15.940 offering that out to nourish the plants and the world. 04:15.940 --> 04:24.580 But coming back to the breath, coming back to this moment, perhaps dropping into the breath, 04:28.260 --> 04:31.540 dropping into the body, if that's a more comfortable anchor for you. 04:32.660 --> 04:38.580 And always knowing that at any point in any of our practices, if there's any 04:38.580 --> 04:51.780 sense that there is an overwhelm or any feeling of too much, you can move away from the practice or what I'm 04:51.780 --> 04:59.780 inviting in terms of the loving-kindness words, and just come back to the breath, come back to the body, 04:59.780 --> 05:07.860 or move away, open the eyes, if that's what you need, remembering that in our intention to practice, 05:08.900 --> 05:15.780 it's our intention to treat ourselves with love and kindness first, best we can. 05:15.780 --> 05:30.100 So as we begin loving-kindness meditation, bringing to mind that being who perhaps showed up readily for you, 05:30.980 --> 05:40.180 or maybe not, maybe it takes a little while to identify someone who we would want to offer this to. 05:42.660 --> 05:47.380 But whatever you decide, simply allowing your attention to rest, perhaps having 05:48.580 --> 05:54.500 an image in the mind's eye, if that's helpful, or simply dropping into the breath and the body, 05:54.500 --> 06:02.820 as we begin to recite the words, as we offer our loving-kindness to this person that we 06:03.460 --> 06:08.180 naturally and lovingly bring to mind. 06:12.100 --> 06:13.940 May you be safe and protected. 06:16.260 --> 06:18.340 May you be happy and healthy. 06:20.500 --> 06:23.780 May you live your life with ease and contentment. 06:24.500 --> 06:32.660 May you be safe and protected. 06:34.340 --> 06:37.380 May you be happy and healthy. 06:39.380 --> 06:42.340 May you live with ease and contentment. 06:46.260 --> 06:50.580 And we'll continue to offer these words, or perhaps other words. 06:50.580 --> 06:55.220 The words are not as important as the intention. 06:56.260 --> 07:04.100 And finding words that maybe resonate with you, that bring to your mind and heart this sense of 07:04.100 --> 07:06.820 offering loving-kindness, that's what matters. 07:06.820 --> 07:14.980 So simply using the words that work best for you, not worrying about mixing up the words, 07:14.980 --> 07:18.020 or there's no right or wrong word to use here. 07:18.020 --> 07:26.180 It's simply bringing to mind this intention and using the words in this practice as an anchor to 07:26.180 --> 07:33.220 keep us with this intention of offering out loving-kindness. 07:33.220 --> 07:48.260 And we'll practice for a few more rounds of words, and then in silence, choosing your words, 07:48.260 --> 07:51.140 your cadence for a few moments. 07:51.140 --> 08:01.700 So again, offering this loving-kindness meditation to someone who you naturally feel a sense of love to. 08:03.140 --> 08:05.140 May you be safe and protected. 08:05.140 --> 08:08.980 May you be happy and healthy. 08:10.340 --> 08:14.820 May you live your life with ease and contentment. 08:17.780 --> 08:20.660 May you be safe and protected. 08:22.420 --> 08:25.620 May you be happy and healthy. 08:27.380 --> 08:30.660 May you live your life with ease and contentment. 08:30.660 --> 08:35.300 May you be safe and protected. 08:35.300 --> 08:37.380 May you be safe and protected. 08:39.220 --> 08:41.460 May you be happy and healthy. 08:42.980 --> 08:46.580 May you live your life with ease and contentment. 08:49.460 --> 08:53.460 And now continuing with your words of loving-kindness. 08:55.460 --> 08:59.620 Continue to offer the words that most resonate with you. 09:00.660 --> 09:03.220 As we practice loving-kindness to. 09:05.380 --> 09:05.940 Someone that. 09:06.900 --> 09:08.740 We've chosen to offer this tender 09:10.900 --> 09:14.340 practice to this morning, this afternoon. 09:30.660 --> 09:47.300 Now we'll move on to continue to offer out this intention of loving-kindness. 09:47.300 --> 09:54.980 And next we'll look to identify a neutral person. 09:56.180 --> 09:58.180 Someone that you don't really know. 09:58.180 --> 09:59.700 Perhaps you don't even know their name. 10:00.820 --> 10:06.420 It may be someone at your local coffee shop that you see regularly or grocery store. 10:07.700 --> 10:09.940 Perhaps someone you see walking around the neighborhood. 10:09.940 --> 10:14.100 Or someone in your community. 10:16.420 --> 10:21.060 You don't have any feelings of love or tenderness towards this person. 10:21.060 --> 10:22.340 You don't really know them. 10:22.340 --> 10:25.380 And you don't have any sense of not liking them. 10:25.380 --> 10:29.060 Or having difficult feelings regarding this person. 10:29.060 --> 10:30.100 They're just neutral. 10:30.820 --> 10:33.300 And again, this could be a person. 10:33.300 --> 10:34.580 It could be an animal. 10:34.580 --> 10:40.100 And noticing again the activity of the mind. 10:40.660 --> 10:42.740 Trying to settle on one person. 10:43.460 --> 10:50.580 And remembering that today in practice we're simply choosing one person for this offering. 10:50.580 --> 10:58.020 And we can offer loving-kindness to others in the future. 10:58.020 --> 11:05.300 So this is just a choice to practice and offer loving-kindness to this one being today. 11:06.580 --> 11:11.940 So wherever your mind is just picking one being for today. 11:12.740 --> 11:16.100 That pops into mind that you'll offer loving-kindness to. 11:16.100 --> 11:21.940 And again, we offer loving-kindness to this individual in this way. 11:24.020 --> 11:26.500 May you be safe and protected. 11:28.820 --> 11:31.620 May you be happy and healthy. 11:33.140 --> 11:36.420 May you live your life with ease and contentment. 11:40.340 --> 11:43.300 May you be safe and protected. 11:43.300 --> 11:51.620 May you live your life with ease and contentment. 11:54.020 --> 11:56.260 May you be safe. 11:56.260 --> 11:57.700 May you be safe and protected. 11:57.700 --> 12:01.700 May you be safe and protected. 12:01.700 --> 12:08.180 May you be happy and healthy. 12:09.060 --> 12:12.980 May you live your life with ease and contentment. 12:12.980 --> 12:25.540 now for a few more moments in silence repeating to yourself your chosen words to 12:25.540 --> 12:30.820 continue offering love and kindness to this neutral person in your life . 13:24.420 --> 13:34.900 Now we'll continue to practice continue offering these kind wishes 13:34.900 --> 13:48.380 and now we'll move to offering loving kindness to someone in your life that you have difficult 13:48.380 --> 13:59.260 feelings towards perhaps negative feelings it may be someone that does not naturally come to mind 13:59.260 --> 14:00.940 when you think of loving kindness 14:00.940 --> 14:08.740 but someone that perhaps there's a complicated relationship there. 14:08.740 --> 14:17.160 And the encouragement for today is not to pick the most difficult person in your life 14:17.160 --> 14:21.500 perhaps someone that there are very strong negative feelings about. 14:21.500 --> 14:29.300 For practice today choose someone that there's just somewhat difficult 14:29.300 --> 14:34.240 perhaps a recent disagreement or argument. 14:34.240 --> 14:40.900 We're not trying to choose the most difficult relationship or person today 14:40.900 --> 14:45.640 but simply bringing to mind someone that you have a sense of 14:45.640 --> 14:50.200 negative or complicated feelings. 14:50.200 --> 15:00.020 And taking your time to allow your mind to settle 15:00.020 --> 15:07.720 to pick again this one individual that you're going to be offering loving kindness to today. 15:07.720 --> 15:15.880 And remembering that even as we offer loving kindness we're offering loving kindness best we can 15:15.880 --> 15:31.260 and we're offering it with a sense of encouraging health happiness and love to the extent that it's available to us and to every person. 15:31.260 --> 15:38.820 We all have different states of health or contentment so it's encouraging this 15:40.820 --> 15:45.820 best we can 15:45.820 --> 15:49.820 best that it's available to us. 15:49.820 --> 15:55.920 And so bringing this person that you have a challenging or difficult relationship with to mind 15:55.920 --> 15:59.580 perhaps visualizing them sitting across from you. 15:59.580 --> 16:07.400 May you be safe and protected. 16:07.400 --> 16:09.400 May you be happy and healthy. 16:09.400 --> 16:15.400 May you live your life with ease and contentment. 16:15.400 --> 16:21.400 May you be safe and protected. 16:21.400 --> 16:27.400 May you be happy and healthy. 16:27.400 --> 16:34.400 May you live your life with ease and contentment. 16:34.400 --> 16:42.400 May you be safe and protected. 16:42.400 --> 16:47.400 May you be happy and healthy. 16:47.400 --> 16:52.400 May you live your life with ease and contentment. 16:58.400 --> 17:06.580 And now silently continuing to offer your words of loving kindness to this individual 17:06.580 --> 17:11.780 for a few moments together in silence. 18:52.400 --> 19:01.400 And now, preparing to transition once again. 19:01.400 --> 19:09.400 And this time, offering these words of loving kindness to yourself. 19:09.400 --> 19:21.400 And even noticing anything that might come up even as we consider that. 19:21.400 --> 19:33.400 This intention to hold yourself with tenderness and love. 19:33.400 --> 19:43.400 To offer this genuine, loving, caring wish for you. 19:43.400 --> 19:55.400 And if it feels awkward or difficult. 19:55.400 --> 20:01.400 Just imagine the person that you chose at the beginning of this practice. 20:01.400 --> 20:07.400 A person who came to mind rather readily when you thought of loving kindness. 20:07.400 --> 20:11.400 Perhaps someone who is there for you. 20:11.400 --> 20:15.400 Again, this person could be with you now. 20:15.400 --> 20:19.400 They could have passed away. 20:19.400 --> 20:23.400 Could be an animal. 20:23.400 --> 20:31.400 So this being that you readily identified as an object of loving kindness for you. 20:31.400 --> 20:35.400 Perhaps imagining that person sitting across the table from you. 20:35.400 --> 20:39.400 And offering these words to you. 20:39.400 --> 20:49.400 As we bring to mind this intention of offering loving kindness to you. 20:49.400 --> 20:59.400 May I be safe and protected. 20:59.400 --> 21:05.400 May I be happy and healthy. 21:05.400 --> 21:13.400 May I live my life with ease and contentment. 21:15.400 --> 21:17.400 May I be safe and protected. 21:25.400 --> 21:28.400 May I be happy and healthy. 21:28.400 --> 21:29.400 May I be safe and protected. 21:29.400 --> 21:31.400 May I be safe and protected. 21:31.400 --> 21:33.400 May I be safe and protected. 21:33.400 --> 21:41.400 May I live my life with a sense of ease and contentment. 21:41.400 --> 21:44.960 May I be safe and protected. 21:47.860 --> 21:50.980 May I be happy and healthy. 21:52.980 --> 21:58.120 May I live my life with a sense of ease and contentment. 22:03.920 --> 22:07.400 May I be safe and protected. 22:07.400 --> 22:15.880 May I be happy and healthy. 22:17.580 --> 22:23.200 May I live my life with a sense of ease and contentment. 22:26.160 --> 22:34.840 And now continuing on to offer these words, your words of loving kindness to you. 22:34.840 --> 22:39.660 In silence for a few moments together. 23:32.840 --> 23:35.820 And now one last transition. 23:35.820 --> 23:58.000 This practice, bringing the whole world or all beings to mind, this expansive sense of offering loving kindness to all beings everywhere. 23:58.000 --> 24:13.000 Whatever that may look like or feel like to you, look like in your mind's eye, your imagination, or however that feels to you, perhaps a sense of opening, expanding in the heart region. 24:13.000 --> 24:26.000 But this idea of simply offering a sense of love, kindness, and compassion to all beings everywhere. 24:26.000 --> 24:34.280 May all be safe and protected. 24:34.280 --> 24:42.940 May all beings be happy and enjoy their best health. 24:44.640 --> 24:51.060 May all beings have a sense of ease and contentment in life. 24:51.060 --> 24:59.600 May all beings feel safe and protected. 25:02.100 --> 25:07.140 May all beings be happy and enjoy their best health. 25:09.700 --> 25:16.480 May all beings live with a sense of ease and contentment. 25:16.480 --> 25:46.460 May all beings be safe and protected. May all beings be happy and healthy. May all beings live with ease and contentment. 25:46.460 --> 26:00.220 And now continuing on for a few moments in practice, using your words of loving kindness in an offering to all beings. 26:28.440 --> 26:40.320 And now, preparing to transition as we end this practice, simply taking a moment to drop 26:40.320 --> 26:51.880 into the heart, drop into this intention to offer yourself loving kindness, and this 26:51.880 --> 27:01.940 expansive offering out to this community here, together today, and then beyond to all beings 27:01.940 --> 27:02.580 everywhere. 27:05.580 --> 27:13.680 And with that, just simply following one or two rounds of breath, when you're ready, beginning 27:13.680 --> 27:20.380 to allow some light to come in, focus, the eyes, maybe a stretch. 27:21.880 --> 27:29.560 As we transition to our next practice, and I'll just end with a very brief quote from Kama 27:29.560 --> 27:34.320 Chodron. Compassion for others begins with kindness to ourselves. 27:34.980 --> 27:39.500 So the encouragement is to continue caring for your own tender heart. 27:51.880 --> 27:59.560 (The sound of a ringing bell.)