Guided Meditation for Loving and Kindness Audio Lecture

StarLight Breeze Guided Meditations

About the Meditation

Relax your body, calm your mind, and soothe your spirit with this guided meditation lecture. Practicing meditation can help with greater mental clarity, resetting, and rebalancing every system in your body. It has a profound, rich, and calming effect, promoting feelings of peace and a sense of awareness.

This guided meditation lecture for ‘Loving Kindness’ will help you to connect to the deep healing of ourselves and others. The practice welcomes you to settle yourself into a comfortable position and guides you through gentle breath-work to reach a state of inner calm and relaxation. Being mindful of the present moment increases our awareness, concentration, and gratitude for all the small things in life.

Once your body and mind have slowed down, you will be encouraged to bring forth the idea of loving-kindness. In this loving-kindness meditation practice, you will learn to extend your unconditional, inclusive love to strangers, acquaintances, friends, and family, expecting nothing in return.

This is the ideal, pure love, which everyone has in their potential. This is a process of opening up our hearts, surrounded by feelings of care, concern, tenderness, and compassion. It is not a sentimental feeling of goodwill, and neither it is an obligation — it comes purely from a selfless place.

By practising to be more selfless, we can identify and connect with others and that in and of itself is wholeheartedly rewarding. It allows us to squash our egos as we are not acting out of pride or for a desire to be noticed. A selfless attitude will help you to act from your heart and soul, instead of the mental chatter that comes from our ego. Loving-kindness further helps to boost your overall well-being and reduce stress.

By practising loving-kindness often, you can enhance your capacity for forgiveness, connection to others, and self- acceptance. It may not feel very comfortable to practice loving-kindness first — especially extending compassion to those who you may have a troubling relationship with —, however, this will gradually and ultimately set you free.

For best results, it is recommended to practice meditation daily. Regular practice can help to reduce everyday anxiety and stress, improve your sleep, energise your body and mood, and ultimately improve your overall health and wellbeing. So breathe in, and may you find stillness within.

The Guided Meditation

Welcome to StarLight Breeze meditations … May you find a comfortable, seated position … Keeping your back, neck, and head straight … There is no pressure … No straining … Just maintaining a balanced, upright posture … Softly place your hands on your lap … And close your eyes … Breathing in gently through the nose … And breathing out through the mouth … Finding stillness in the moment … In the body … And in the mind …

Loving kindness is a practice of paying attention to ourselves and to those around us … Maintaining an attitude of interest, compassion, and care … As you slowly begin to deepen your breath … Open up your heart centre now … Push your shoulders back just a little bit … Allowing for your chest to expand … To allow some warmth in … It’s important to begin by offering some loving kindness to yourself by silently repeating the following words … Imagining a cool and fresh stream of water flowing through every part of your body … Refreshing every corner … Melting away any tension or stress that your body may be holding onto … Washing away any tension … Anxiety … Or pain … As it touches each part … Gently …

‘’May I be full of love and forgiveness, health and peace … May I be filled with stillness and happiness … May I be healthy, peaceful, and strong … May I give and receive appreciation today’’

Notice how you feel saying these words to yourself … Shift your attention around the meaning of these phrases … Notice if any emotions arise to the surface … Notice your physical body … If your attention drifts, that’s okay … Gently redirect it back to these feelings of loving kindness … Allow these feelings to envelop you … Stay with this focus of compassion towards yourself for a few more moments … Knowing you are just right — just as you are … Feeling very peaceful … Breathing in feelings of love … Breathing out all that you would like to let go of …

And now … Call to mind a benefactor — someone who has given you support … Stood by your side … Someone who you look up to that has shown kindness toward you … Allow yourself to extend loving kindness to this person in return, saying the following words …

‘’May you be full of love and forgiveness, health and peace … May you be filled with stillness and happiness … May you be healthy, peaceful, and strong … May you give and receive appreciation today’’

Even if the words don’t fit into this very moment, sound strange, or do not feel comfortable … It’s okay … See if you can connect to the meaning of these phrases even if you might not feel the safety and warmth right now … In time, these phrases will become more and more natural to you … They are the vehicle for connecting you to yourself and to those around you …

And now … Extending this loving kindness towards your family, your parents, your spouse, siblings, or your children … Say the following words … Holding the attitude of grace … Tenderness … Allowing your heart to feel soft … Embrace this affection with an open heart …

Now … Bring to mind someone who is hurting or experiencing a difficult time in their life … Picture this person near you … Feel their presence in yours … Extending your loving kindness to surround them with love that is so healing … So pure … Without holding any expectation that it should make you or them feel in any particular way … Quietly saying the following words …

Taking a few moments to notice how it feels to extend these wishes … Even when you wish well to a person and it does not appear that they are open to receive it … Loving kindness to them is a heartfelt wish that holds no strings attached … No matter if they do or do not receive it — that is out of your control … And what is out of your control, must be accepted … Let go of any attachments you may have … Any expectations … Sending loving kindness is all about opening up your heart … To free yourself from any negativity, anger, or fear toward yourself or others …

Now call to mind a difficult person … Someone you have trouble getting along with, or whose words or actions have hurt you in the past … Sending loving kindness to a difficult person relaxes your heart and sets you free from fear and corrosive resentment … Enemies do not exist … There are only people who we dislike or who dislike us … By sending compassion to this person, deliberate ourselves from feelings of bitterness that could block our heart centres … This will help you to remember that just like you, this person wants to be loved … And just like you, they desire peace in their life … Quietly say the following words to yourself … Extending loving kindness to a difficult person in your life …

Taking a few moments here … Absorbing feelings of love and compassion … And finally … Offering your well wishes to all beings everywhere …

As this loving kindness practice comes to an end, take the time to appreciate the potential of this practice to increase your sense of connection and belonging … Not only to yourself, but to those around you … Slowly begin to return to full awareness by stretching gently … And as you softly open your eyes again, noticing the movements of your own breath … Bringing nourishments and aliveness to your body as a whole … Just as your wishes of good will bring nourishment and aliveness to those around you … We hope you enjoyed this meditation practice by StarLight Breeze, and may you have a wonderful day.