One very beautiful and inspiring way to reap all these benefits of meditation is through the practice of loving-kindness. “A Meditation on Loving Kindness,” as mentioned previously, uses special phrases and images to help us see ourselves and others through the eyes of the heart. To listen again please click on the arrow below or read and follow along with the guided practice below.
Listen Here…
“It is only with the heart that one can see clearly, for what is essential is hidden from the eyes.”
– Antoine de Saint Exupery
Imagine for a moment that you are standing in a wide, open field scattering seeds. These seeds are your intentions to cultivate loving-kindness for yourself and others. Just as any wise gardener knows, one cannot force the seeds to grow or to hurry them along. The same is true for cultivating loving-kindness. Force only closes the heart. Gently plant the seeds of your intentions to be loving and kind by softly repeating the following phrases . . . as if the phrases are like prayers or sacred intentions.
Begin by placing your hands on your heart and repeat the following phrases for yourself:
“May I be healthy and live in-tune with the laws that govern the good health.”
“May I be peaceful and live with ease.”
“May I be free to live and love fully.”
Continue by imaging a loved one for whom you would like to offer a blessing and open one of your hands from your heart as if to touch them on their cheek or shoulder. Softly repeat the following phrases:
“May you be healthy and live in-tune with the laws that govern the good health.”
“May you be peaceful and live with ease.”
“May you be free to live and love fully.”
Now open both hands outward and upward and offer a blessing to all beings everywhere:
“May all beings everywhere be filled with everlasting peace.”
For more guided meditations with Karen Sothers like the Loving-Kindness practice,
Sacred Pause: Guided Meditations for Renewing Mind, Body, and Soul
is available for purchase.
Please click here for a description & purchase details of Sacred Pause.