May you be at ease

Last week SMOW kids learned something called metta, or loving- kindness meditation. This practice invites us to soften the mind and heart and open to deeper feelings of kindness and love. To begin, take a comfortable posture (sitting, lying down, etc.) and bring your focus to your heart center. Imagine when you inhale your heart gets brighter and bigger and as you exhale, the heart softens. Anchor your attention on the sensations at your heart center. Visualize a picture of yourself, either as you are today or from another time in your life. To this image, repeat quietly to yourself, “May I be healthy and strong. May I be happy just as I am. May I be at ease.” Repeat these phrases a few times as you continue to visualize an image of yourself.  Next, visualize someone you love, it could be a pet, friend or a family member or even someone who has died. Repeat the phrases as you picture this person in your mind. “May you be healthy and strong. May you be happy just as you are. May you be at ease.” After a few rounds of guiding these thoughts at the person you love, shift your focus to a more neutral person. It could be someone who works at the coffee shop or grocery store, or perhaps a neighbor down the block or even someone you see daily during your commute to work. As you repeat the phrases, encourage yourself to feel tenderness or loving care for their welfare. Now the tricky one. Move to someone you don’t particularly like or someone you may resent. Repeat the phrases for this person. If you have difficulty doing this, you can say before the phrases, "To the best of my ability, I wish that you be healthy and strong, that you are happy just as you are and that you are at ease.” If you begin to feel ill will toward this person, return to the image of someone you love and let the loving kindness arise again. Then return to the more difficult person. Invite the phrases to spread through your whole body, mind, and heart. After the difficult person, radiate loving kindness out to all beings. Stay connected to the warmth and love at the center of your heart. Allow the phrases and feelings to be a conduit for the force of loving-kindness inside yourself and the universe at large. May you be healthy and strong. May you be happy just as you are. May you be at ease. 

Loving kindness meditation softens the mind and opens the heart to love.