Speaker 1: Welcome, dear one. Welcome to this quiet moment. You have
Speaker 1: arrived here, and that arrival itself is an act of courage.
Speaker 1: In a world that pulls you in every direction, you
Speaker 1: chose to stop. You chose to breathe. You chose to
Speaker 1: come home to yourself. Tonight, we will practice something ancient
Speaker 1: and powerful. we will practice loving-kindness. This is the practice
Speaker 1: of generating warmth within your own heart and then letting
Speaker 1: it radiate outward, like ripples spreading across a still pond
Speaker 1: after a stone touches the water. We begin with ourselves,
Speaker 1: and from there, the warmth travels. It reaches the people
Speaker 1: you love. It reaches the people you barely know. It
Speaker 1: even reaches the people who have caused you pain.
Speaker 2: And finally, it reaches every living being on this earth.
Speaker 2: There is no right way to feel during this practice.
Speaker 2: Some moments will bring a swell of tenderness. Others may
Speaker 2: bring resistance or sadness or even laughter. Whatever arises, let
Speaker 2: it be here. You are not performing. You are simply opening.
Speaker 1: Let us begin by acknowledging that you are enough, exactly
Speaker 1: as you are in this moment. Not the version of
Speaker 1: you that is striving or fixing or improving. The you
Speaker 1: that exists right now, sitting or lying here, breathing, alive.
Speaker 1: That version is ready of love. Not someday when you
Speaker 1: have achieved more or lost weight or become kinder or
Speaker 1: earned more. Right now. in this imperfect, unfinished, beautiful moment.
Speaker 1: The tradition of loving-kindness meditation comes from many cultures and
Speaker 1: many centuries of human wisdom. The Buddhist tradition calls it metta.
Speaker 1: The Christian tradition speaks of agape, a love that asks
Speaker 1: nothing in return. The Sufi tradition speaks of unconditional love
Speaker 1: as the very fabric of existence. And the scientific tradition
Speaker 1: has now shown us, through decades of re-sotir, that this
Speaker 1: practice literally rewires the brain. It strengthens neural pathways associated
Speaker 1: with empathy, reduces the pathways linked to anxiety and depression,
Speaker 1: and creates lasting changes in how we relate to ourselves
Speaker 1: and others. But you do not need to understand the
Speaker 1: science to feel the truth of it. You only need
Speaker 1: to be willing, willing to sit with yourself, willing to
Speaker 1: offer yourself what you might so freely give to others,
Speaker 1: willing to be vulnerable enough to feel what arises when
Speaker 1: you open the door to genuine compassion. Let us take
Speaker 1: three slow, deep breaths together. In through your nose, filling
Speaker 1: the space below your ribs, expanding your belly like a
Speaker 1: warm balloon. And out through your mouth, letting everything soften.
Speaker 1: Let the sound of your exhale fill the room, steady
Speaker 1: and unhurried. Breathe in, two, three, four.
Speaker 3: And out two three four five six again in two
Speaker 3: three four and out letting your shoulders drop away from
Speaker 3: your ears letting the tension in your neck dissolve like
Speaker 3: sugar in warm water feel the muscles in your face
Speaker 3: relax your jaw your cheeks the tiny muscles around your eyes.
Speaker 1: One more time, a full breath in and a long,
Speaker 1: slow breath out. Let the sound of your exhale be
Speaker 1: a gentle sigh. Let the tension in your jaw dissolve.
Speaker 1: Let the space between your eyebrows smooth and open. Feel
Speaker 1: the breath reaching all the way down to your toes.
Speaker 1: You are here, you are present, and you are ready.
Speaker 1: Now let us settle more deeply into your body, wherever
Speaker 1: you are. Allow yourself to find the most comfortable position
Speaker 1: you can. If you are sitting, let your spine be
Speaker 1: tall but not rigid, like a tree rooted in rich earth.
Speaker 1: its branches reaching towards soft light. If you are lying down,
Speaker 1: let your arms rest gently at your sides, palms turned
Speaker 1: upward in a gesture of openness and receiving. Feel the
Speaker 1: points of contact between your body and the surface beneath you,
Speaker 1: your hips pressing into the cushion, your shoulder blades settling
Speaker 1: into the mat, the back of your head cradled gently.
Speaker 4: Let gravity do its work. You do not need to
Speaker 4: hold yourself up. The earth holds you. It has always
Speaker 4: held you. It has been holding you since the first
Speaker 4: moment of your life, and it will hold you until
Speaker 4: the last.
Speaker 1: Now bring your attention to the soles of your feet.
Speaker 1: Feel the subtle warmth there, the pulse of blood moving
Speaker 1: through them. Imagine the earth beneath you is warm, like
Speaker 1: sun-baked stone in late afternoon, and that warmth is rising
Speaker 1: through the soles of your feet, traveling up through your ankles,
Speaker 1: your calves, your knees. It is a golden warmth, thick
Speaker 1: and nourishing, like honey poured slowly into every cell. Let
Speaker 1: that warmth pool in your belly, a golden glow just
Speaker 1: below your navel. Each breath you take feeds this warmth,
Speaker 1: makes it brighter, makes it hum with a soft, steady energy.
Speaker 5: This is your center.
Speaker 1: This is the place from which all loving-kindness will flow.
Speaker 1: You might imagine it as a small sun, burning gently
Speaker 1: in the core of your being. casting warm light in
Speaker 1: every direction. If your mind wanders, and it will, that
Speaker 1: is perfectly natural. There is no failure in a wandering mind.
Speaker 1: There is only the gentle return. Each time you notice
Speaker 1: your thoughts have drifted, you have already returned.
Speaker 5: You are already here.
Speaker 1: Celebrate that.
Speaker 5: Celebrate the noticing, not the wandering.
Speaker 6: The noticing is the practice. Feel the rhythm of your
Speaker 6: breath now. not controlled, not forced, simply the natural rise
Speaker 6: and fall of your chest, like the tide, like the
Speaker 6: swaying of grass in a meadow, in and out, expanding
Speaker 6: and releasing, life flowing through you without any effort on
Speaker 6: your part. Let us deepen this breath together. In through
Speaker 6: the nose for a count of four, hold gently for two,
Speaker 6: and out through the mouth for a count of six.
Speaker 6: The exhale is always longer than the inhale. This tells
Speaker 6: your nervous system that you are safe, that there is
Speaker 6: no danger here, only peace. In, two, three, four, hold out, two, three, four, five, six. Again, in,
Speaker 6: and a long, slow release. Feel the air leave you
Speaker 6: like a wave retreating from the shore, smooth and unhurried.
Speaker 1: Now let your breath return to its natural rhythm. You
Speaker 1: do not need to control it anymore. Simply observe it,
Speaker 1: the breath pressed itself. You are the witness. You are
Speaker 1: the space in which it happens. Feel the aliveness in
Speaker 1: your body, the tingling in your fingertips, the gentle hum
Speaker 1: of your heartbeat, the soft expansion and contraction of your ribcage.
Speaker 1: You are a living, breathing miracle. Every cell in your
Speaker 1: body is working to keep you alive and none of
Speaker 1: them are asking for your permission. They simply love you. Unconditionally,
Speaker 1: without condition, without hesitation.
Speaker 7: This is the first lesson of loving kindness. Love is
Speaker 7: already here. It has always been here. We do not
Speaker 7: need to create it. We simply need to remove the
Speaker 7: barriers that have been blocking it. Now we arrive at
Speaker 7: the heart of the practice. We begin with the most
Speaker 7: important person in your life.
Speaker 1: You. Bring to mind a gentle image of yourself. Perhaps
Speaker 1: it is you as a child. with wide eyes and
Speaker 1: an open heart before the world taught you to build walls,
Speaker 1: see that child standing in a field of tall grass,
Speaker 1: the wind catching their hair, their laughter rising into the
Speaker 1: sky like a bird. Perhaps it is you this morning,
Speaker 1: in a quiet moment with your coffee, watching the light
Speaker 1: change across the kitchen wall, feeling the warmth of the
Speaker 1: cup in your hands. Perhaps it is you, at your
Speaker 1: most vulnerable, when no one was watching, when you were
Speaker 1: simply being.
Speaker 5: Whatever image feels most tender.
Speaker 6: Most real, let it be here.
Speaker 1: Look at yourself with the eyes of someone who loves
Speaker 1: you completely. Not the version of you that is doing
Speaker 1: everything right. Not the version that is productive or impressive
Speaker 1: or successful. The real you. The one who sometimes struggles,
Speaker 1: the one who sometimes doubts, The one who sometimes feels lost.
Speaker 1: See that person. And know that they are worthy of love.
Speaker 1: Not the love that is earned. A love that simply is.
Speaker 1: The way the sun shines on everything equally, without discrimination,
Speaker 1: without preference, Place your hand over your heart if it
Speaker 1: feels natural. Feel the warmth of your palm against your chest.
Speaker 1: Feel your heartbeat beneath your fingers. Each beat is a declaration.
Speaker 1: I am here. I am alive. I matter. The rhythm
Speaker 1: is steady and faithful. It has never missed a beat
Speaker 1: for you, not once. In all the years of your life,
Speaker 1: through every joy and every sorrow, your heart has kept
Speaker 1: its promise.
Speaker 8: And now, silently, let us offer yourself these words. Repeat
Speaker 8: them after me in your mind.
Speaker 1: May I be happy. May I be healthy.
Speaker 8: May I be safe. May I live with ease. Let
Speaker 8: those words settle into your body like rain into parched soil.
Speaker 8: Do not rush through them. Let each one land. Let
Speaker 8: each one take root. May I be happy.
Speaker 9: What does happiness mean for you right now? Not the
Speaker 9: happiness of achievement or acquisition. Not the happiness of a
Speaker 9: promotion or a purchase. The happiness of simply being. The
Speaker 9: happiness of a child watching bubbles float through the air,
Speaker 9: their eyes wide with wonder. The happiness of warm water
Speaker 9: on your skin after a long day. The happiness of
Speaker 9: a deep, Honest conversation with someone who truly sees you.
Speaker 9: The happiness of a Sunday morning with nowhere to go
Speaker 9: and nothing to prove. Let the happiness fill your chest.
Speaker 1: Let it be real. May I be healthy. Send warmth
Speaker 1: to every part of your body. To your eyes that
Speaker 1: have seen so much beauty and so much pain. To
Speaker 1: your ears that have heard laughter and harsh words. And
Speaker 1: the soft voice of someone saying I love you. To
Speaker 1: your hands that have held. And released. And created. And comforted.
Speaker 1: To your legs that have carried you through every chapter
Speaker 1: of your life.
Speaker 10: Through every joy and every loss.
Speaker 1: To your heart. That brave, stubborn heart that keeps beating
Speaker 1: even when it has been broken. Even when it has
Speaker 1: been asked to hold more than seems possible. May every
Speaker 1: cell in your body vibrate with health and vitality. May
Speaker 1: every organ function with grace and ease. May your body,
Speaker 1: this remarkable vessel, be a source of comfort and strength.
Speaker 1: May I be saved.
Speaker 5: Feel the truth of this wish.
Speaker 1: You deserve to feel safe. Not just physically safe, but
Speaker 1: emotionally safe. Safe to be who you are without apology.
Speaker 1: Safe to speak your truth without fear. Safe to rest
Speaker 1: without guilt. Safe to need without shame. Safe to cry
Speaker 1: without being told to stop. Safe to laugh without being
Speaker 1: told to be quiet. Safety is not a luxury. It
Speaker 1: is a birthright. Let safety wrap around you like the
Speaker 1: warmest blanket you have ever known. Let it fill the
Speaker 1: spaces where fear has been living. May I live with ease.
Speaker 1: What a beautiful wish. Not ease in the sense of
Speaker 1: avoiding difficulty. Ease in the sense of meeting difficulty with grace.
Speaker 1: Ease in the sense of trusting that you have the
Speaker 1: strength to handle whatever comes. Ease in the sense of
Speaker 1: not fighting against the current of your own life, but
Speaker 1: flowing with it, like a river finding its way to
Speaker 1: the sea. Ease in the sense of releasing the exhausting
Speaker 1: need to control every outcome, every moment, every breath. Let
Speaker 1: us repeat these words once more slowly with feeling. May
Speaker 1: I be happy. May I be healthy. May I be safe.
Speaker 1: May I live with ease. If tears come, let them come.
Speaker 1: Tears are not a sign of weakness. They are a
Speaker 1: sign that your heart is opening. They are the rain
Speaker 1: that nourishes the garden of your inner life. Let them fall.
Speaker 1: Let them wash away whatever has been building up, whatever
Speaker 1: has been blocking the flow of your own love. A
Speaker 1: warmth spread through your chest. Let it spread. If your
Speaker 1: eyes fill with light, let them light up. If a
Speaker 1: smile forms on your lips, let it grow. This is
Speaker 1: your natural state. This is who you are beneath the
Speaker 1: layers of fear and protection and obligation. You are being
Speaker 1: made of love and right now you are remembering that.
Speaker 1: Now gently let the warmth in your heart begin to expand.
Speaker 1: Think of someone you love deeply. It could be a
Speaker 1: person who is still in your life or someone who
Speaker 1: has passed on. It could be a partner, a child,
Speaker 1: a parent, a dear friend. It could be a pet
Speaker 1: whose loyal presence has been one of the purest forms
Speaker 1: of love you have ever known. Let their face appear
Speaker 1: in your mind's eye. See them clearly. The curve of
Speaker 1: their smile. The light in their eyes, the way they
Speaker 1: tilt their head when they listen, the way they laugh,
Speaker 1: the sound of it filling a room like music. The
Speaker 1: way they say your name with that particular inflection that
Speaker 1: no one else uses. Let every detail be vivid. Now
Speaker 1: from the warm center of your chest, imagine a golden
Speaker 1: light beginning to glow brighter. This light is made of
Speaker 1: everything good you have ever felt about this person. It
Speaker 1: is made of gratitude, of tenderness. Of the countless small
Speaker 1: moments that have woven your connection into something sacred. The
Speaker 1: time they held your hand when you were scared. The
Speaker 1: time they stayed up all night listening to you talk
Speaker 1: through your pain. Of the tain they showed up. Simply
Speaker 1: showed up. When no one else did. Let this golden
Speaker 1: light flow outward from your heart like a warm current
Speaker 1: of air. Traveling toward them. It moves through walls.
Speaker 11: Through distance.
Speaker 1: Through time. It reaches them wherever they are. It wraps
Speaker 1: around their shoulders like a gentle embrace. It touches their heart.
Speaker 1: And silently, let us offer them these words. May you
Speaker 1: be happy.
Speaker 10: May you be healthy.
Speaker 1: May you be safe. May you live with ease. Feel
Speaker 1: the difference between offering these words to yourself and offering
Speaker 1: them to someone you love. There is a natural generosity here.
Speaker 1: A willingness to extend warmth Without being asked, this is
Speaker 1: the essence of loving-kindness. The joy of giving love is
Speaker 1: its own reward. Imagine the person receiving your wish. See
Speaker 1: the softening around their eyes. See the tension in their
Speaker 1: shoulders release. See them take a deeper breath, as if
Speaker 1: they can feel your love reaching them across any distance.
Speaker 1: See them smile. perhaps unconsciously as warmth fills their chest.
Speaker 1: Perhaps you want to act something more personal. Perhaps you
Speaker 1: want to say, thank you for being in my life.
Speaker 1: Thank you for showing me what love looks like. Thank
Speaker 1: you for staying, even when it was hard. Thank you
Speaker 1: for your patience, your humor, your willingness to be imperfect
Speaker 1: beside me. Let those words join the golden light.
Speaker 12: Let them travel.
Speaker 1: If this person is no longer physically present, know that
Speaker 1: love does not die when a body does. The love
Speaker 1: you feel is as real and as alive as it
Speaker 1: ever was. It exists in the space between you and
Speaker 1: you will exist in the space between you forever. Death
Speaker 1: cannot touch it. Distance cannot diminish it. It simply is.
Speaker 1: Hold this person in your heart for another moment. Breathe
Speaker 1: in their name. Breathe out your love for them. Let
Speaker 1: this be a moment of pure, uncomplicated connection. No expectations.
Speaker 5: No conditions. Just love.
Speaker 1: Meeting love. And now, gently, let the golden light dim.
Speaker 1: Not because the love is fading, but because you are
Speaker 1: about to direct it elsewhere. The love remains. Warm and steady.
Speaker 1: Like a fire that does not need tending.
Speaker 13: Now.
Speaker 1: Let us turn our attention to someone you neither like
Speaker 1: nor dislike. Perhaps it is the person who makes your
Speaker 1: coffee every morning, the cashier at the grocery store, the
Speaker 1: neighbor whose name you have never known but whose face
Speaker 1: you recognize, the bus driver who carries you safely to
Speaker 1: your destination each day, the janitor who cleans the building
Speaker 1: after you leave.
Speaker 14: These are the invisible people of your life. You see them,
Speaker 14: but you do not truly see them. You pass by
Speaker 14: them without pausing. You exchange polite smiles without meaning. And yet,
Speaker 14: they have lives as rich and as complicated as your own.
Speaker 14: They have people they love. They have dreams they are
Speaker 14: nurturing in quiet moments. They have fears that keep them
Speaker 14: awake at night. They have a heart that beats.
Speaker 1: Just like yours. with the same longing to be seen,
Speaker 1: to be valued, to matter. Let one of these people
Speaker 1: come to mind. Choose someone whose face you can picture,
Speaker 1: even vaguely. Now, let us practice extending the same warmth
Speaker 1: to them that you offer to yourself and to your
Speaker 1: loved one. From your heart center, that golden glow, send
Speaker 1: a beam of light toward this person. It is the
Speaker 1: same quality of love, the same tenderness, the same wish
Speaker 1: for their well-being. May you be happy. May you be healthy.
Speaker 1: May you be safe. May you live with ease. Notice
Speaker 1: how this feels. It might feel different from extending love
Speaker 1: to someone you already care about. It might feel unfamiliar,
Speaker 1: even a little awkward.
Speaker 5: That is okay.
Speaker 1: Loving kindness is a muscle, and like any muscle, it
Speaker 1: grows stronger with practice. Every time you extend warmth to
Speaker 1: a neutral person, you expand the boundaries of your compassion.
Speaker 1: You break down the invisible walls between you and the
Speaker 1: rest of humanity. You begin to see that there are
Speaker 1: no truly neutral people, only people you have not yet loved.
Speaker 1: Imagine this person going about their day, perhaps unaware that
Speaker 1: you are sending them love. See them pouring their coffee.
Speaker 1: or stacking shelves, or driving through traffic, or standing in
Speaker 1: line at the bank. And now, with your wish hovering
Speaker 1: around them like a gentle golden mist, imagine their day
Speaker 1: becoming slightly brighter. Not dramatically, not miraculously, just a little easier,
Speaker 1: a little warmer, a little more connected to the vast
Speaker 1: web of human care. This is what loving kindness does.
Speaker 1: It creates invisible bridges between hearts. It transforms strangers into neighbors.
Speaker 1: It reminds us that we are all in this together,
Speaker 1: sharing the same planet, breathing the same air, hoping for
Speaker 1: the same things, to be happy, to be safe, to
Speaker 1: be loved. Hold this neutral person in your heart for
Speaker 1: a moment longer. Send them one more wave of warmth.
Speaker 1: And then let them go with gratitude for the lesson
Speaker 1: they have taught you. that love can be extended to
Speaker 1: anyone if you are willing. Now we arrive at the
Speaker 1: most challenging and most transformative part of this practice. Think
Speaker 1: of someone who has caused you pain, someone whose words
Speaker 1: or actions have left a wound. This does not need
Speaker 1: to be your greatest enemy. It can be someone who
Speaker 1: disappointed you, or someone you struggle to understand, or someone
Speaker 1: whose behavior confuses or hurts you. Let the face come
Speaker 1: to mind and immediately you may feel resistance. Your body
Speaker 1: might tighten. Your breath might become shallow. Your jaw might clench.
Speaker 1: Your mind might race with justifications for why this person
Speaker 1: does not deserve your love. All of that is natural.
Speaker 1: All of that is human. You do not need to
Speaker 1: fight it. Simply acknowledge it.
Speaker 12: Ah, there is resistance, there is pain, and let it be.
Speaker 1: This part of the practice is not about condoning harmful behavior.
Speaker 1: It is not about forgetting what happened or pretending it
Speaker 1: did not matter. It is about freeing yourself from the
Speaker 1: prison of resentment. Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting
Speaker 1: for the other person to die. When you hold on
Speaker 1: to anger, the person who suffers most is you. Your
Speaker 1: shoulders carry the weight. Your stomach carries the knots. Your
Speaker 1: sleep carries the disruption. End. Loving kindness is the antidote,
Speaker 1: not for them, but for you. Let us take a
Speaker 1: deep breath together. In, two, three, four. And out. Letting
Speaker 1: go of whatever you are holding onto.
Speaker 6: Not the memory, the grip.
Speaker 1: Now, from the warm center of your heart, send a
Speaker 1: thin golden thread toward this person. It does not need
Speaker 1: to be a flood of warmth. A single thread is enough.
Speaker 1: A single wish, an act of radical courage. Let that
Speaker 1: thread waver in the air between you, fragile but persistent
Speaker 1: like the first vine reaching across a broken fence.
Speaker 5: May you be happy, may you be healthy.
Speaker 6: May you be safe.
Speaker 1: May you live with ease. If those words feel too
Speaker 1: difficult right now, try this. May you be free from suffering.
Speaker 1: That is the most basic wish, the most fundamental. May
Speaker 1: whatever pain is in your heart begin to heal. May
Speaker 1: whatever darkness you carry begin to lift. May you find
Speaker 1: peace in your own way, in your own time. Know
Speaker 1: that sending love to a difficult person does not mean
Speaker 1: you have to let them back into your life. It
Speaker 1: does not mean you have to trust them again. It
Speaker 1: does not mean you have to pretend that everything is fine.
Speaker 1: Boundaries are a form of self-love. You can hold it
Speaker 1: down and extend compassion at the same time. The boundary
Speaker 1: protects you The compassion frees you. Feel the difference in
Speaker 1: your body when you let go of resentment. Feel the lightness.
Speaker 1: Feel the space that opens up where the anger used
Speaker 1: to be. That space is filled with something new, with compassion,
Speaker 1: with understanding, with the recognition that this person too is
Speaker 1: a human being who is suffering in their own way,
Speaker 1: fighting their own battles, carrying their own invisible wounds. Hurt
Speaker 1: people hurt people. This does not excuse their behavior, but
Speaker 1: it helps you understand it. An understanding is the bridge
Speaker 1: to freedom. Hold this thread of light for one more moment.
Speaker 1: Breathe in forgiveness.
Speaker 5: Breathe out peace.
Speaker 1: And then let the thread dissolve, not because the work
Speaker 1: is done, But because you have done enough for now,
Speaker 1: you have taken a brave and powerful step. Now let
Speaker 1: us expand the circle of our loving kindness towards widest
Speaker 1: possible reach. Think of all the people on this earth.
Speaker 1: The eight billion hearts beating in unison. The mothers and fathers,
Speaker 1: the children and grandparents. The teachers and the students, the
Speaker 1: healers and the hurting, the leaders and the led, the
Speaker 1: lonely ones and the loved ones. Feel the vastness of this.
Speaker 1: Every single one of them has a heartbeat, just like yours.
Speaker 1: Every single one of them was once a newborn, curl
Speaker 1: and helpless, dependent on love for survival. Every single one
Speaker 1: of them will one day close their eyes for the
Speaker 1: last time. In this shared vulnerability, we are all the same.
Speaker 1: In this beautiful impermanence, we are one. Let the golden
Speaker 1: light in your chest begin to expand. It grows brighter, warmer, larger.
Speaker 1: It fills your entire body, glowing through your skin like
Speaker 1: sunlight through a candle. And now, let it overflow. Let
Speaker 1: it pour out of you in every direction. Upward toward
Speaker 1: the sky. Downward toward the earth. outward toward the horizon
Speaker 1: in all four directions, north, south, east, west. This light
Speaker 1: carries the same simple wish for every being it touches.
Speaker 1: May all beings be happy. May all beings be healthy.
Speaker 1: May all beings be safe. May all beings live with ease.
Speaker 1: Let the light reach into hospitals and homes, into schools
Speaker 1: and prisons, into forests and cities, into deserts and oceans.
Speaker 1: Let it touch the elderly woman sitting alone in her apartment,
Speaker 1: staring out the window waiting for a phone call that
Speaker 1: never comes. Let it touch the young man lying in
Speaker 1: a hospital bed, wondering if he will see tomorrow. Let
Speaker 1: it touch the child laughing in a playground, unaware of
Speaker 1: how precious this moment is. Let it touch the soldier
Speaker 1: far from home. The nurse on a third double shift.
Speaker 12: The refugee who has lost everything.
Speaker 1: The artist who paints in silence. The beggar who sleeps
Speaker 1: under bridges. The CEO who has everything except peace. Let
Speaker 1: the light wrap around the earth itself. Feel the warmth
Speaker 1: of this planet. we share. The forests that breathe for us.
Speaker 1: The oceans that sustain us. The mountains that stand as
Speaker 1: silent witnesses to our small, beautiful lives. The rivers that
Speaker 1: carry our stories to the sea. May the earth be well.
Speaker 1: May the creatures who share this home with us be well.
Speaker 1: May every wing, every fin, every root, every leaf be
Speaker 1: touched by this warmth. Hold this vast, downless love in
Speaker 1: your heart for a moment. Let it be, let yourself
Speaker 1: be held by it. This is who you are when
Speaker 1: you remove the walls. This is the love that lives
Speaker 1: beneath all your fears, all your defenses, all your stories about.
Speaker 5: Who you are and who you are not.
Speaker 1: You are love manifesting as a human being. And in
Speaker 1: this moment, you are practicing what you were born to do. Gently, slowly,
Speaker 1: let the vast golden light begin to draw back toward you.
Speaker 1: It returns to your chest, settling into the warm center
Speaker 1: beneath your sternum. It does not disappear. It simply concentrates,
Speaker 1: becoming a steady, unwavering glow. that you can carry with
Speaker 1: you when you leave this practice. Like an ember that
Speaker 1: stays warm all night, long after the fire has died down.
Speaker 12: Fill the afterglow, the softness, the openness.
Speaker 1: Your heart has been working hard and it feels good.
Speaker 1: It feels alive, it feels full. Not heavy, but full.
Speaker 1: The way a glass is full when water reaches the
Speaker 1: brim but does not spill. Let yourself rest in this
Speaker 1: feeling for a moment, without trying to name it or
Speaker 1: explain it. Notice the sounds around you, the hum of
Speaker 1: the world continuing its rhythm, a car passing, the wind outside,
Speaker 1: the quiet tick of a clock. These sounds are not interruptions,
Speaker 1: they are companions. They are the soundtrack of a life
Speaker 1: that is being lived right here, right now, in all
Speaker 1: its messy, magnificent imperfection. Place both hands over your heart now.
Speaker 1: Feel the double warmth of your palms, the gentle weight
Speaker 1: of your own hands. This is the weight of love.
Speaker 1: This is the weight of belonging. You belong to yourself
Speaker 1: first and foremost. And from that belonging, you can belong
Speaker 1: to the world. Notice how your body feels now compared
Speaker 1: to when we began. Perhaps your chest feels more open.
Speaker 1: as if a window has been unlatched. Perhaps your breathing
Speaker 1: is deeper, more rhythmic, more relaxed. Perhaps there's a tingling
Speaker 1: in your hands or a lightness in your face or
Speaker 1: a gentle warmth behind your eyes. Whatever you notice, welcome it.
Speaker 1: These are the physical manifestations of a heart that has
Speaker 1: practiced loving kindness. They are real. They are measurable. They
Speaker 1: are yours. Let us take three breaths to seal this practice.
Speaker 5: Each breath is a commitment.
Speaker 1: Each breath is a promise you make to yourself. First breath.
Speaker 10: I commit to being kinder to myself.
Speaker 5: Not perfect. Not flawless.
Speaker 1: Just kinder.
Speaker 5: The way you would speak to a friend. The way
Speaker 5: you would hold a child. The way you would tend
Speaker 5: to a garden.
Speaker 1: With patience and consistency and faith that something beautiful will grow.
Speaker 1: Second breath. I commit to seeing the humanity in every
Speaker 1: person I meet. Even the ones who challenge me. Even
Speaker 1: the ones I do not understand. Behind every behavior is
Speaker 1: a human heart. And every human heart is worthy of compassion.
Speaker 1: Not agreement. Not approval. Just recognition that they too are
Speaker 1: doing their best with what they have. Third breath.
Speaker 15: I commit to carrying this warmth into the world. Not
Speaker 15: as a burden. Not as an obligation. but as a gift,
Speaker 15: as something that flows naturally from a heart that has
Speaker 15: been well tended. Like a river does not try to
Speaker 15: reach the sea. It simply follows the path that is
Speaker 15: already there.
Speaker 1: Let these commitments settle into your bones. They are not
Speaker 1: goals to be achieved. They are directions to be lived.
Speaker 1: You do not need to be perfect at this. You
Speaker 1: only need to keep practicing. Every time you choose kindness
Speaker 1: over judgment, you are practicing. Every time you pause before reacting,
Speaker 1: you are practicing. Every time you forgive yourself for being human,
Speaker 1: you are practicing.
Speaker 11: Now let us integrate everything we have cultivated through a
Speaker 11: simple breathwork practice. This will anchor the loving-kindness into your
Speaker 11: body and help it stay with you long after this
Speaker 11: meditation ends.
Speaker 10: We will breathe in a rhythm of four parts. Inhale
Speaker 10: for four counts, hold for two counts, exhale for six counts,
Speaker 10: and rest for two counts. This 4-2-6-2 pattern activates your
Speaker 10: parasympathetic nervous system, sending a powerful signal of safety and
Speaker 10: calm through every fiber of your being. It is like
Speaker 10: pressing a reset button on your entire body.
Speaker 1: Medical research has shown that this specific ratio of inhalation
Speaker 1: to exhalation directly stimulates the vagus nerve, the longest nerve
Speaker 1: in your body, running from your brain to your gut,
Speaker 1: regulating your heart rate, your digestion, and your emotional state.
Speaker 1: With each breath, you are literally communicating with your own
Speaker 1: nervous system, telling it that the danger has passed, that
Speaker 1: you are safe, that you can rest. Let us begin.
Speaker 1: Inhale through your nose for four counts. One, two, here, four.
Speaker 1: Feel your belly rise, your ribs expand, your chest lift.
Speaker 1: Feel yourself completely with fresh, clean air. Imagine it disinfused
Speaker 1: with golden light, warm and nourishing. Hold for two counts. One, two.
Speaker 1: Feel the stillness at the peak of your inhale. A
Speaker 1: moment of perfect fullness. A pause between one wave and
Speaker 1: the next. A moment of pure potential where anything is possible.
Speaker 1: Exhale through your mouth for six counts. One, two, three, four, five, six.
Speaker 1: Let the air leave you slowly like a long releasing sigh.
Speaker 1: Feel your body softening, settling, letting go. With every count,
Speaker 1: release a little more tension, a little more worry, a
Speaker 1: little more weight. Rest for two counts. One. Two. Three.
Speaker 1: In a stillness after your exhale, the empty space, the canvas,
Speaker 1: the breath between breaths, again, in 2, 3, 4, hold, out, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, rest.
Speaker 1: Let the golden warmth in your heart synchronize with this breath.
Speaker 1: With each inhale, the light grows brighter. With each exhale,
Speaker 1: it spreads further, reaching into places in your body that
Speaker 1: need healing.
Speaker 5: Your lower back, your shoulders, your throat, your jaw.
Speaker 1: Wherever there is tension, let the warm light dissolve it
Speaker 1: like sunlight melting frost. In, two, three, four, hold, out, two, three, four, five, six, rest.
Speaker 1: Continue this rhythm on your own. Let me be silent
Speaker 1: for a moment while you breathe. Listen only to the
Speaker 1: sound of your own breath. The most ancient and most
Speaker 1: intimate sound. The sound of life itself. Three more cycles.
Speaker 3: One.
Speaker 1: Inhale the warmth. Hold the fullness. Exhale the love. Rest
Speaker 1: in peace.
Speaker 7: Two.
Speaker 1: Inhale deeply. Hold. Release slowly.
Speaker 16: Rest.
Speaker 1: You are doing beautifully. Every breath is an act of self-care.
Speaker 1: An act of courage. An act of quiet defiance against
Speaker 1: the chaos of the world.
Speaker 3: Three.
Speaker 13: The final breath. Fill yourself to the brim with everything good.
Speaker 1: Hold it.
Speaker 5: Let it go.
Speaker 16: And rest.
Speaker 13: Now let your breath return to its natural rhythm. You
Speaker 13: do not need the patra anymore. Your body has learned it.
Speaker 13: It will return to it whenever it needs to. In
Speaker 13: the middle of the night, in a moment of stress,
Speaker 13: in the quiet.
Speaker 5: Pause before sleep, this breath is yours.
Speaker 10: It has always been yours.
Speaker 13: You simply remembered it tonight.
Speaker 1: Before we close this practice, let us plant a few
Speaker 1: seeds of truth in the garden of your mind. These
Speaker 1: are not wishes. They are not hopes. They are affirmations,
Speaker 1: which means they are statements of what already is. You
Speaker 1: are not asking the universe for anything. You are simply
Speaker 1: agreeing with what is already true. Repeat each one silently
Speaker 1: and feel the truth of it land in your body,
Speaker 1: like a stone dropping to a deep, still pool. I
Speaker 1: am worthy of love, exactly as I am. My kindness
Speaker 1: is not weakness, it is my greatest strength. I choose
Speaker 1: to see the light in others even when it is hidden.
Speaker 1: I release the need to control and I trust the
Speaker 1: flow of life. I am surrounded by.
Speaker 17: Love even when I cannot see it. I forgive myself,
Speaker 17: Not because I am perfect, but because I am human.
Speaker 17: Every breath I take is a gift. Every heartbeat is
Speaker 17: a blessing. I carry peace within me. And I share
Speaker 17: it with the world.
Speaker 1: I am enough.
Speaker 5: I have always been enough.
Speaker 1: I will always be enough. My heart is open. My
Speaker 1: mind is clear. My spirit is free. I choose compassion
Speaker 1: over judgment. Courage over fear. Love over indifference. The warmth
Speaker 1: I generated tonight lives inside me. It cannot be taken away.
Speaker 1: Let these affirmations echo softly in the silence of your mind.
Speaker 1: Let them sink below the surface of your thoughts, past
Speaker 1: the noise and the worry, past the inner critic that
Speaker 1: always has something to say, down into the deep, quiet
Speaker 1: place where your truth lives. You do not need to
Speaker 1: believe them all right now. You only need to be
Speaker 1: willing to consider them, willing to let them take root,
Speaker 1: willing to see what grows in the fertile soil of
Speaker 1: your open heart. Some of these words may land like
Speaker 1: seeds in good earth, and in a week, or a month,
Speaker 1: or a year, you may find them sprouting in unexpected moments,
Speaker 1: a difficult conversation where you remember, I am enough, a
Speaker 1: moment of self-doubt where you recall, My kindness is not weakness.
Speaker 1: A lonely night where you whisper to yourself, I am
Speaker 1: surrounded by love. This is how affirmations work. They plant
Speaker 1: themselves quietly and grow slowly and one day you realize
Speaker 1: they have become the trees that shelter you. Let me
Speaker 1: invite you into one more visualization before we close. Imagine
Speaker 1: yourself walking through a beautiful forest clearing. The ground is
Speaker 1: soft beneath your feet. covered in moss and fallen leaves
Speaker 1: that crunch gently with each step. The air smells of
Speaker 1: pine and wildflowers. That clean, sweet scent that fills your
Speaker 1: lungs like cool water fills a thirsty throat. Above you,
Speaker 1: the sky is a deep, infinite blue, and the sunlight
Speaker 1: filters through the canopy in golden shafts, painting the forest
Speaker 1: floor with light. You walk slowly, deliberately, feeling every step.
Speaker 1: The earth beneath you is alive and warm. The trees
Speaker 1: around you are ancient and wise, their bark textured like
Speaker 1: old leather, their leaves whispering secrets in the breeze. You
Speaker 1: walk and you notice that everything in this forest is
Speaker 1: touched by the golden light you cultivated tonight. The moss glows,
Speaker 1: the flowers shimmer, the stream that crosses your path sparkles
Speaker 1: with an inner radiance. This is what the world looks
Speaker 1: like when you see it through the eyes of loving kindness.
Speaker 1: Everything is beautiful. Everything is worthy. Everything is alive. Reach
Speaker 1: a small open meadow in the center of the forest.
Speaker 1: It is perfectly round, surrounded by birch trees with white
Speaker 1: bark that reflects the golden light. In the center of
Speaker 1: the meadow is a stone bench, worn smooth by time
Speaker 1: and by all the others who have sat here before you.
Speaker 5: You sit down. The stone is warm from the sun.
Speaker 1: You lean back.
Speaker 5: You close your eyes.
Speaker 1: In this place, you feel completely and utterly at peace.
Speaker 1: Not the peace of absence. Not the peace of nothing happening.
Speaker 1: The peace of fullness. The peace of knowing that you
Speaker 1: are loved. The peace of having practiced love and having
Speaker 1: it return to you tenfold.
Speaker 18: Stay here for a moment. Let this image be imprinted
Speaker 18: on your mind. This meadow, this light, this peace. It
Speaker 18: is always available to you. Whenever you need it, you
Speaker 18: can close your eyes and return here. The path is
Speaker 18: always open. The bench is always waiting. The light is
Speaker 18: always shining. Before you leave this meadow, let us take
Speaker 18: one final moment for gratitude. Gratitude is the natural companion
Speaker 18: of loving kindness. When the heart is full of love,
Speaker 18: gratitude flows like water.
Speaker 1: Place your hands together, palms touching. In front of your heart,
Speaker 1: feel the warmth between your palms. This warmth is the
Speaker 1: combined energy of your practice tonight. It is real, it
Speaker 1: is powerful, and it is yours. Let us offer three
Speaker 1: quiet thanks. First, gratitude for yourself, for showing up tonight,
Speaker 1: for choosing to spend this time in silence and reflection.
Speaker 1: for being brave enough to look inward, for being patient
Speaker 1: with the process, for not giving up on yourself, even
Speaker 1: when it would have been easier to. Thank you, quietly,
Speaker 1: for being you. Second, gratitude for the people in your lives,
Speaker 1: the ones who love you, the ones who challenge you,
Speaker 1: The ones who teach you whether they know it or not.
Speaker 1: Every relationship is a mirror. Every interaction is a lesson.
Speaker 1: Thank them silently for the gift of their presence in
Speaker 1: your story. Third, gratitude for this moment itself. For the
Speaker 1: fact that you are here, breathing, alive, capable of feeling
Speaker 1: love and sharing it. This moment will never come again
Speaker 1: and you are fully present in it. That is a miracle.
Speaker 6: That is everything.
Speaker 1: Let your hands rest gently at your sides again. Let
Speaker 1: your shoulders soften one final time. We are nearing the
Speaker 1: end of our practice, but the effects of loving kindness
Speaker 1: do not end here. They ripple outward into every conversation
Speaker 1: you have, every decision you make. every interaction you encounter.
Speaker 1: The warmth you generated tonight will color your tomorrow. It
Speaker 1: will soften your reactions. It will deepen your connections. It
Speaker 1: will remind you in quiet moments throughout the day that
Speaker 1: you are a source of love in this world. Perhaps
Speaker 1: tomorrow morning, you will wake and feel the ghost of
Speaker 1: this practice still lingering in your chest, a tenderness that
Speaker 1: was not there before, a patience that comes a little
Speaker 1: more easily. That is the residue of tonight. That is
Speaker 1: proof that the practice works, not because anything magical happened,
Speaker 1: but because you gave yourself permission to feel something real,
Speaker 1: and what is felt deeply is never forgotten. When you
Speaker 1: are ready, begin to bring gentle movement back into your body.
Speaker 1: Wiggle your fingers. Roll your wrists. Feel the life returning
Speaker 1: to your extremities. like water returning to a dry river bed.
Speaker 1: Turn your head slowly from side to side, releasing any
Speaker 1: stiffness in your neck. Take a stretch if your body
Speaker 1: wants one. Let your body guide you. It knows what
Speaker 1: it needs.
Speaker 19: Take one more deep breath in, the deepest breath of
Speaker 19: the evening. Fill yourself with air, with light, with love.
Speaker 19: And as you exhale, Let a soft smile form on
Speaker 19: your lips. Not because you have to, because you want to.
Speaker 19: Because this practice has touched something true inside you.
Speaker 12: Something that was always there, waiting to be noticed.
Speaker 1: Open your eyes slowly. Let the world come back to
Speaker 1: you gradually. Let the colors be vivid. Let the sounds
Speaker 1: be clear. Let everything look slightly newer.
Speaker 12: Slightly brighter, as if you are seeing it through fresh eyes.
Speaker 5: Because in a.
Speaker 1: Way, you are.
Speaker 12: You are seeing with the eyes of loving-kindness. And nothing
Speaker 12: looks the same.
Speaker 5: Through those eyes.
Speaker 12: You have practiced loving-kindness tonight.
Speaker 1: You have offered warmth to yourself, to the people you love,
Speaker 1: to strangers, to those who have hurt you, and to
Speaker 1: all beings everywhere. This is one of the most courageous
Speaker 1: things a human being can do. And you did it.
Speaker 16: Carry this warmth with you as you move through the
Speaker 16: rest of your evening and into tomorrow. When the world
Speaker 16: feels harsh, remember the golden light in your chest. When
Speaker 16: someone is difficult, remember the thread of compassion. When you
Speaker 16: feel unworthy, remember the affirmations that you planted tonight. When
Speaker 16: you are alone, remember that you are never truly alone.
Speaker 16: Love is always here.
Speaker 5: You are love. You always have been and you always
Speaker 5: will be.
Speaker 1: Thank you for sharing this quiet moment with me.
Speaker 5: Be well.
Speaker 1: Be kind. Be at peace. Until next time.