“In deep and lasting ways, when we heal ourselves, we heal the world. For, as the body is only as healthy as its individual cells, the world is only as healthy as its individual souls…
Care for your soul as if it was the whole world.” -Mark Nepo
This is a time of year that brings with it a range of emotions- joy, anxiety, love and fear… and a season of life that we are experiencing as a community, as a nation and a world, that might feel heavy, uncertain and turbulent in nature. As we each carry the weight of this range of emotions and their physical presence on our hearts and minds in different ways, it is natural to seek practices that ground us, as well as places, people, and communities where we are able to find peace. Many of you reading this may be in a position- as parents, caregivers, community leaders, and as friends or kindred spirits- that others look to you to find peace. This kind of devotion and loving presence is no small task. Caring for others begins with taking care of our own inner light, our own peace, our own sanctuary. My daughter was brilliantly taught the following mantra in her preschool class and continues to repeat it daily: “Today is a new day with a new opportunity to make our world a better place.” While the simplicity of this affirmation is heartwarming, and true, it is not so easily accomplished when we find ourselves depleted. But when we show up with loving presence to self, by extension we are able to show up more fully for others and for our world.
The Pali word Metta or Maitri in Sanskrit is a beautiful representation of this sort of care for self, other and global community, and is most often translated to mean “loving kindness.” However another translation that I personally like is “universal or unconditional friendliness.” In this recorded guided meditation, I invite you to pour into yourself with the sort of loving attention that you would offer to a dear friend.
What would it look like, what would it feel like to offer yourself unconditional friendliness? To treat yourself with a sort of unconditional friendship in this season of life?
Meditation teacher and author, Sylvia Boorstein, says that when we find it difficult to embrace a mindset of loving kindness toward self, it can help to address yourself as you would a beloved friend or even a child. She suggests starting with a term of endearment. Sweetheart, darling, dear one, babe– whatever makes you feel loved and warm inside. Choose a way to greet yourself, and then share with yourself a mantra that you need to hear in this moment, on this day, in this season. “Sweetheart, you are safe. You are loved. You are enough.” Perhaps try a few on before you settle on one that resonates deeply, one that meets you where you are today. What do you need to hear from your dear friend? You might continue to lovingly address yourself in this way, or you might gradually begin to shift your mantra into the first person: I am.
You can, of course, use this mantra of loving kindness during your meditation practice, but also, because what we practice grows stronger, the beauty of mindfulness meditation is that you can access these words and the sense of renewal they bring along with a few conscious breaths, in any moment of need as you navigate the ebbs and flows of day to day life.
This guided meditation is a little over 10 minutes long, but I invite you to pause as needed to take more time throughout and to make it your own.
As you move through this holiday season, I share with you the following Metta words of loving kindness and unconditional friendliness: May you be safe, May you be healthy, May you be happy, May you live with ease and find peace within.
