Guided Metta Meditation -Beginner-Excellent TWIM Starter 30 min

So, this meditation, we'll start off. First, I'd like you to close your eyes. Sit straight. Keep your back straight. You don't need to be too straight. Just enough to be relaxed, and you don't slouch. And just take in a deep breath. Exhale slowly. And when you exhale, just be present with your body. Take another deep breath.

And when you exhale, just feel your entire body relax. Loosen up the body. Notice any tension or tightness anywhere in the body, from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Just relax. Now I'd like you to put a small smile on your lips. Yeah, this is very important. The smiling will help you to keep mindfulness going.

It will help to keep the mind uplifted, and it will help you to tune into loving kindness, which is the primary object of meditation for this practice. A small smile on your lips, a little smile in your eyes, a little smile in your heart. Now you can use different phrases. You can say, may I be well, may I be filled with loving kindness. In your mind, you can use these phrases a couple of times, three or four times, until you feel something in your heart. Or you can think about things that you're grateful for: the children in your life, the friends that you have, the people and relationships that make you happy.

Whatever it is that you're grateful for. That's one option. Or another option is to think about and imagine a small little puppy or kitten in front of you, that you're holding them in your arms, or a cute chubby little smiling baby looking out at you. You're holding them and you're smiling and giggling at them. Or you could think about a wholesome memory. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as you feel a sense of upliftedness.

And you will experience a warmth, a glowing, warm sensation in your chest, in the middle of your chest, in your heart, your spiritual heart. Have awareness in that sensation, in that feeling, in the heart. And that warm, glowing sensation is the beginning of loving kindness. You are sending loving kindness to yourself. Just settle into that and relax. Thank you. Thank you. Now, inevitably, while you're sitting here, your mind is going to go off in different directions.

And that's okay. There are different distractions that come up, and you just allow them to be there. You might notice that your mind got caught up in something. This is the first step in bringing your mind back to a meditative state. This is called recognize. Recognize you were distracted. Then you release your attention from it and come back to the mind and body.

You're anchoring your mind back to the present through the mind and body. Then you relax. Notice any tightness or tension anywhere in the body and relax. You might notice that you're no longer smiling, so check in and make sure that your smile is still there. If it's not, please smile. And then come back to the glowing feeling in your heart and stay with it.

This is how you let go of distractions. Oh, my mind got distracted. Release your attention. Relax the mind and body. Back to the smile. And come back to the feeling of loving kindness. This is a feeling meditation. You want to stay rooted in the experience of loving kindness in your heart. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The mind gets distracted.

Recognize it. Release your attention. Relax the body. Back to the smile, re-smile. Return back to the feeling of loving kindness. What is a distraction? Distraction is anything that takes your attention fully away from the feeling of loving kindness. You notice thoughts in the background, but you're still staying with the loving kindness. There's nothing to do, just keep your attention there. But if the mind has wandered away completely from the feeling of loving kindness, use the 6R's: recognize, release, relax, re-smile, return, repeat, whenever you get distracted. Just come back to the feeling of loving kindness and let's stay there. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now that you're basking in this feeling, it's time to send it to a spiritual friend.

Spiritual friend, that's translated from the word kalyana mitta. Basically, somebody that is a good friend of yours. Somebody that you admire. Somebody that you respect. This friend cannot be a relative. They must be alive. And they have to be of the same sex. So it can be anybody that you admire in public life. It can be somebody you know in your personal circle.

Whatever it is. And I'd like you to, if it helps, imagine your spiritual friend, whomever you choose, standing in front of you and smiling at you. And now I would like you to direct that feeling of loving kindness in your heart to your spiritual friend. If it helps, you can say to that friend, I want you to be happy.

I want you to be free of suffering. I want you to be filled with loving kindness. Or alternatives like, may you be happy, may you be free, may you be filled with loving kindness. And if you're unable to visualize the friend, that's okay. Go to your heart and imagine them as a small little person in your heart, basking in the feeling of loving kindness, and just stay with that feeling. The intention is that this loving kindness is directed to your friend, so let's do that now. Thank you. Thank you. Again, if your mind is distracted, your attention is completely away from the feeling of loving kindness towards your friend.

Recognize that. Release your attention and bring it back to the awareness of mind and body. Relax any tightness and tension. Come back to your smile. Come back to the feeling of loving kindness towards your friend. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Again, if you get distracted, just recognize the distraction. Mind is away from the object.

It's okay for the distraction to be there. Recognize it. Release your attention from that and get back to the mind and body and relax. Come back to the smile. Come back to the feeling of loving kindness towards your spiritual friend. Distractions are not our enemies. They just help us to see where the mind becomes attached. Just allow them to be there. They are teachers. It's okay for them to be there. The more we try to push or control them, the more they resist and come in many more numbers in our mind.

So, the less you resist, stay present, and are okay with the distraction, the less it's likely to create any tension in the mind. Just recognize, release your attention, relax mind and body, smile, return back to your loving kindness and your spiritual friend. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, for the time being, we're going to close this meditation session. So I'd like you to just bring your awareness back to the body. Relax. And when you're ready, open your eyes back to here, the room. So I'd like to just close this. Yeah, and I think that's pretty much it.