Free Guided Meditation: Cultivating Love and Goodwill For Self And Others

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Type: Mantra meditation
Duration: 7.38min

During this meditation, you focus benevolent and loving energy toward yourself and others in the form of mantras. It is sometimes erroneously called mettā meditation (which is practiced alongside with Vipassana). But consider this Loving-Kindness meditation as a simple introduction, whereas mettā enables meditators to experience benevolence beyond the intellectualization of the concept.

For this meditation, find a comfortable position and close your eyes. Connect to the natural flow of your breath, allowing yourself to feel at ease. Using your natural breath, just your natural breath, focus on the breath coming in and out of the nostrils. There is no need to follow the breath beyond this small area of the nose. You are concentrating on this small area only. Observe the incoming breath and the outgoing breath. Notice the sensations on the inside of the nostrils, as the breath enters and exits.

We begin by offering sincere loving-kindness to yourself. Allow space between each mantra and repeat as many times as you want: May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I be safe. May I live with ease.

Next think of someone you care about. This can be a family member, friend, or pet. Picture them in your mind, say their name if you want, and offer the same mantras of loving-kindness: May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you be safe. May you live with ease. Let feelings of gratitude and love expand and radiate out for yourself and for your loved one.

Now offer the same loving-kindness mantras to someone neutral — perhaps a colleague or cashier at the market. Picture them in your mind and say their name if you want. Let the circle of compassion grow wider. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you be safe. May you live with ease. Let feelings of gratitude and love expand and radiate out for yourself and for this person.

Next, think of someone you have negative feelings towards. Release resistance, surrender to feeling compassion for this person, knowing that this will benefit both of you. This part of the meditation may be challenging, that’s okay. You don’t have to force it. Be patient, you’ll get there with time. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you be safe. May you live with ease. Let feelings of gratitude and love expand and radiate out for yourself and for this person.

Lastly, in this ever-expanding circle of loving-kindness, let your compassion radiate to all beings everywhere: May all beings be safe. May all beings be happy. May all beings be healthy. May all beings live with ease. You can visualize your compassion as a light radiating out from you in all directions.

This concludes the session, sit as long as you need to or even lie down to rest.

Once you get the hang of the loving-kindness meditation, you can personalize it to whatever you’re dealing with. Some days you might need to focus on doing the meditation just for yourself. Or you might focus on a friend who’s having a hard time. Maybe there’s a larger situation negatively affecting you, and this can be a way through the pain and to your heart. Whatever the challenges you face, this practice is here to support you.