An Exercise: Befriending Meditation

When life gets a little rough and you’re feeling a little down – sad, angry, lost or lonely – consider listening to and using this nine-minute befriending meditation. It is a variation of the loving-kindness meditation. Wish yourself well with the following mantra:

May I be safe and free from suffering. May I be as happy and healthy as it is possible for me to be. May I have ease of being.

Eventually, extend the same to others:

May all be free from pain and suffering May all be happy and healthy. May all of us have ease of being.

Love and friendship can be given to and experienced by all living beings, including you. So be “just as you are, complete and whole.”

An Exercise: Sending Loving-Kindness

Loving-kindness is a form of love characterized by acts of kindness. In loving-kindness meditation, words, images, and/or feelings evoke a loving-kindness and friendliness toward oneself and others, including enemies and strangers. Through the recitation or thinking of phrases of a loving-kindness script, loving-kindness and loving wishes are expressed and radiated. Consider trying this loving-kindness practice by Gregory Kramer of the Metta Foundation. The purpose of this practice is to

Send loving-kindness to yourself
Really love yourself.
Want yourself to be happy.

Although it is designed to be taught to children within the family context, the same script can be modified and used for people of all ages within different contexts. There are also many other loving-kindness meditations and scripts available, such as Jack Kornfield’s Meditation on Lovingkindness and Venerable Sujiva’s Beginning Practice of Loving-Kindness.

May you be filled with loving-kindness. May you be happy. May you be really happy. May you be at peace.