Good morning and welcome to this special morning meta meditation.
Practising metta or loving kindness in the morning is an opportunity to invite the feeling of compassion into your daily life, compassion for yourself and others. Loving kindness is an opportunity to cultivate kindness, appreciation and self-love and to invite these feelings into the rest of your day.
Allow yourself to get comfortable, you can sit up with your back straight, or you can lie down. Place your hands by your sides or inside your lap and gently close your eyes.
Take a few breaths in and out. On each breath, you become more present in your body in this moment and with every breath, you relax into your body more. If you have just woken up, notice how your body is slowly waking up. The morning is a wonderful opportunity to just be in the moment, to observe the sensations in your body with fresh eyes.
Allow your breath to come and go, naturally. Focus on your breath as it moves in and out of your body. As you keep breathing in, place your awareness on your chest, and on your heart. Imagine yourself breathing into your heart, and notice how this feels for you in this moment. Any sensations that might come up, just let them arise and go again.
Keep breathing in and out and enjoy this complete sense of wellbeing and calm.
Now slowly repeat the following phrase in your mind.
May I be happy
May I be healthy
May I be safe
May I be loved
May I live with ease and joy
May I be happy
May I be healthy
May I be safe
May I be loved
May I live with ease and joy
Continue repeating these phrases silently, noticing how you feel with every time you say these words of loving kindness to yourself; just allow all sensations to arise, to flow over you…
May I be happy
May I be healthy
May I be safe
May I be loved
May I live with ease and joy
With each breath, feel how this sense of wellbeing, joy and love is spreading through your entire body, and entering every cell. Keep breathing into your heart, and continue reciting the phrase:
May I be happy
May I be healthy
May I be safe
May I be loved
May I live with ease and joy
Now bring to mind someone you love dearly, someone you enjoy being around, and someone who makes you feel safe and loved. You can imagine this person standing or sitting in front of you, as you repeat the following phrase:
May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you be safe
May you be loved
May you live with ease and joy
May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you be safe
May you be loved
May I live with ease and joy
Feel the sensations of love and joy in your heart and how they radiate through your entire body and then over to the person in front of you. With every repetition, imagine your loved one receiving these feelings of loving kindness from you.
May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you be safe
May you be loved
May you live with ease and joy
Notice how you feel, and how your heart feels, as you keep repeating these words:
May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you be safe
May you be loved
May you live with ease and joy
Now bring into your awareness an acquaintance of yours, perhaps someone you see on the bus or at the supermarket or on your way to work. Visualise this person in front of you as you say to them:
May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you be safe
May you be love
May you live with ease and joy
May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you be safe
May you be loved
May you live with ease and joy
Notice how you feel as you extend these words of loving kindness to someone you don’t know very well yet. Notice how this joy you feel in your heart radiates through your whole body and to the person in front of you. With every repetition, imagine this person receiving your kindness, love and joy.
May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you be safe
May you be love
May you live with ease and joy
Stay in this feeling for a moment, keep breathing into your heart and out through your mouth.
Now think of someone you have had difficulties or conflict with - it could be a friend, a family member, or a coworker. Picture this person in front of you as you repeat the phrase:
May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you be safe
May you be loved
May you live with ease and joy
May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you be safe
May you be loved
May you live with ease and joy
Notice how it feels to offer these words of loving kindness to someone you have had difficulties with. Bring awareness to how the sensations in your body change as you repeat these words of loving kindness to them. It might feel a little challenging to offer these wishes to someone you have had conflict with, whatever feelings may arise, just let them wash over you and say:
May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you be safe
May you be loved
May you live with ease and joy
Now imagine how all the people you just imagined how you and the person you have had difficulty with are joined by your loved one and your aquaintance. Extend your feelings of loving kindness to everybody as you repeat:
May we all be happy
May we all be healthy
May we all be safe
May we all be loved
May we all live with ease and joy
Now think about all human beings in this world, men and women, of all ages, of all cultures, of all nationalities, and how you wish for them, just like for you, to be happy and live a life of joy and ease:
May we all be happy
May we all be healthy
May we all be safe
May we all be loved
May we all live with ease and joy
May we all be happy
May we all be healthy
May we all be safe
May we all be loved
May we all live with ease and joy
Notice how your feelings of loving kindness spread to everybody in this world, how everybody is touched by this radiant light of joy and love.
May we all be happy
May we all be healthy
May we all be safe
May we all be loved
May we all live with ease and joy
Remain in this loving moment and keeping breathing into your heart.
You can take these feelings of kindness, love, compassion, ease, joy and happiness into the rest of your day with you.
When you’re ready, open your eyes. Stretch your legs, your arms, your entire body.