The International Day of Peace (“Peace Day”) is observed around the world each year on 21 September. Established in 1981 by unanimous United Nations resolution 36/37, the General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to “commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples.”
Join us to create a wave of peace as you hold your Moments of Mass Mindfulness at midday across the world in your local time zones for International Peace Day.
A Meditation On Compassionate Loving Kindness
(a transcription of https://www.mommworld.org/s/CompasionateLovingKIndness.mp3)
Welcome to a meditation on compassionate loving kindness, a collaboration between HeartMath and MOMM -moments of mass mindfulness, a dynamic initiative with a focus on co-creating peace and coherence within ourselves and within our communities.
A loving kindness meditation is a wonderful way to take some time out from the activities of the day and, with focused attention on the heart and breath, and with the gentle intention to connect with heart based values of care, appreciation and compassion, you improve your connection with yourself and with others.
The beauty of this meditation is that it can take less than 10 minutes of awareness based breathing, to create changes in the body and mind and in doing so, the nervous system returns to a balanced state allowing the ‘inner pharmacy’, your own innate healing system, to maintain optimal functioning.
You start to feel the increased energy in the body, clarity in the mind, and a sense of positive calm within. It is a practice and the more you do it, the greater the benefits over time. So let’s settle down and experience comfort in your surroundings and with the position of your body, then I (Sue Cooper) will guide you in a few longer conscious breaths and then for 5 minutes into a very gentle and calming heart based breathing awareness, it is a practice called a “Heart lock-in” meditation which will bring you into a nice state of coherence. Then we move into our loving kindness meditation together.
During this practice allow whatever feelings arise be without judgment, acknowledge them and gently bring your attention back to the breath or to my voice. This is a kindness exploration, be gentle with the attention to yourself and simply let go of any expectations, enjoy taking some time out.
•Finding a comfortable position that feels exactly right for you in this moment.
•You rest your body so you feel supported and in alignment. It maybe that your feet are comfortably resting on the floor, your back supported and spine is straight, and with your gentle attention note that you are relaxed and in alignment. Your head is straight and cantered, your shoulders are relaxed and your hands are resting in a comfortable position.
•You then either close your eyes or soften the gaze so that your attention moves from the activities of the outside to the inner experience
•Focus your intention in the area of your heart and begin to breathe deeply and comfortably.
•Imagine that your breath is flowing into and out of your heart.
•Begin to make your in breath and out breath balanced, try a pace of 5 seconds for the in breath and 5 seconds for the out breath, you may want to count to 5
•If you prefer to breathe a little faster or slower, that’s fine too, Focus on keeping the breath balanced as you imagine it flowing in and out of your heart
1 minute of silence
•Flowing the in and the out breath through the heart.
1 minute of silence
•Now recall someone or something you feel genuine care, appreciation or compassion
•This could be a person, a place, a pet, anything so long as it is real.
•On your out-breath, radiate the feelings of care, appreciation or compassion out towards others.
•And on the in-breath, breathing the feelings of care, appreciation or compassion into yourself.
•Breath out towards others, breathe in towards yourself, care, appreciation or compassion.
•We will continue this for two minutes. I will watch the time and then we will then move into a loving kindness meditation.
2 minutes of silence.
•Now allow your breath to be natural. Throughout this practice you will breathe naturally ideally through your nose.
•The breath might slow down, speed up, get deeper or shallower or stop for a moment. Feel it, let it be as it is.
•With your eyes closed you might notice you are more aware of sounds in the environment, lets welcome every sound we hear, the sounds near and far. Sound is rarely a barrier to meditation.
•Also with your eyes closed you might notice you are more aware of your body sensations.
•So lets begin with a body relaxation practice.
•Feel your body from the inside out, notice every sensation.
•As you focus on each body part, relax the area and any tension you find.
•First, relax your scalp and forehead.
•Soften you eyes, your entire face, even your ears.
•Soften your mouth, tongue, chin and jaw.
•Tuck your chin and drop your shoulders away from your ears.
•Let your arms hang comfortably, relax your hands and fingers and then relax your upper back, upper chest and diaphragm.
•Relax your upper, mid and lower back and soften your belly.
•Soften your hips and your pelvis; let them relax with gravity as you notice how you are being supported by the chair or cushion.
•Notice your right leg from hip to toes.
•Notice your left leg from hip to toes.
•Now bring the awareness to the movement of your breath.
•Notice the expansion and contraction of each natural inhale and exhale.
•Feel the sensations as your breath enters and leaves your body and notice the cool air on the inhale, the warmer air on the exhale.
•Bring you attention to the rise and fall of your chest; imagine looking inwards towards your heart.
•Now bring to your heart or mind, someone who has a deep love for you.
•It can be a grandparent, parent, a friend, a spouse, a child or grandchild, spiritual being and even a beloved pet.
•Feel, feel what being loved feels like.
•Now let the awareness of that being fade and bring your heart mind to someone you truly care about, a child, parent, partner or any being you feel love for.
•Get a feel for his or her presence, visualize this person or silently say their name.
•Silently, with sincerity offer them loving kindness.
•Use the phrases silently to yourself.
•“May you be happy, may you be free from suffering, may you know peace”.
•You can image the loved one is benefitting from this blessing.
•Repeat the phrase silently and feel whatever emotions arise.
•There is no need to force a feeling or make anything up, be aware and present with whatever experience is happening, even if it feels like nothing at all.
•Now, refocus your attention on your heart and with the same sincerity, offer the same phrase of compassion to yourself.
•“May I be happy, may I be free from suffering, may I know peace.”
•Feel whatever comes up, loving or painful emotions or perhaps you are not too sure what you feel. Whatever you feel is perfect as it is.
•If physical sensations such as lightness or numbness or even physical pain arises, simply acknowledge their presence, don’t ignore them or cover them up or change them, bear witness to the actual experience.
•Now identify a neutral person, someone you met today or someone you have met briefly this week.
•Even without knowing their name, get a sense of the person.
•Imagine the persons face, what they were doing when you encountered them.
•Offer the same phrase of compassion towards them as you offered towards your loved ones and yourself.
•Bear witness to what you feel.
•“May you be happy, may you be free from suffering, may you know peace”.
•Now scan your body to be sure you are still comfortable and relaxed.
•Identify someone you have been having difficulty with, maybe over the past few days or the past weeks.
•Imagine them; get a feel for their presence. Offer the same phrases of compassion to them.
•Even if they have hurt you in the past, you can’t fully know this difficult person. Notice what you are feeling, whether it’s pleasant, unpleasant or you feel numb. Keep your attention in the present with the intention to wish the person well.
•This may be challenging for you but remember, it’s a practice.
•Take your time, imagine them receiving this blessing and it lightens their load.
•When you feel complete, be sure your body is relaxed and return to focus to your heart centre.
•This practice shifts relationships, even if you don’t feel much at all.
•Now return your attention to your heart centre and expand your aware to include all beings in your immediate environment.
•It may be that you have others in the room, expand your awareness to include them.
•Now extend your blessing to those in your home, neighbors in your street. Extend it to all beings in your city, your country and all those on earth. Offer them the loving kindness,
•“May you be happy, may you be free from suffering, may you know peace”.
•Now bring your attention back to yourself. Just as you wish all being to be well and free from suffering, repeat,
•“May I also be happy, may I also be free from suffering, may I also know peace”.
1 minute of silence
•Keep your eyes closed and allow some deeper breaths, become conscious of the rise and fall of the belly and chest on the in and the out breath.
•And bring your awareness to your whole body and sense the space around you.
•Keep your eyes closed for a few more moments, enjoy your state of being,
•Lower your gaze, slowly open your eyes.
•And when you feel the familiarity of your surroundings, raise your gaze.
30 seconds of silence
• Was it easy? How was it for you? Sue Cooper for www.mommworld.org, May 2019
Notes to accompany the transcript. We welcome you to freely use this transcript and feel the heart-based essence of the words as you verbalize them to yourself and others and we request that you attribute the meditation to Sue Cooper for Moments of Mass Mindfulness. www.mommworld.org. The recorded version (https://www.mommworld.org/s/CompasionateLovingKIndness.mp3 ) is over 25 minutes long and is delivered slowly and mindfully and with heart-based awareness. We request that the meditation be verbalized in the awareness of pauses between each bullet point for ease of flow and to allow the reader and participants time to deeply feel and embed the guidance.
www.mommworld.org MOMM is an opportunity to collaborate and create powerful change
Recent Comments