Every day we seem to scrub ourselves on the
external side with all sorts of products, bringing a sense of cleanliness to
our physical selves, but what about the internal realm, our minds also need the
cobwebs removed! Through each day our
minds get clouded with all the conversations and activities that each day
brings, our emotions rise and fall and each thought wave gives rise to another,
so here is a lovely meditation to help clear out the mind without having to use
any soap, natural or not!
I love to do this mediation before going to
sleep, it seems to lull me into a nice comfortable place where my mind can rest
and drift off to that blissful place and allow me to play a nice game of shut
eye!
This practice is known as Metta Bhavana,
meaning loving kindness where you direct just that to yourself, a loved or
cherished one, a neutral person and to somebody you are having difficulty
with. Sit in a comfortable position, one
you can maintain for some time, with the spine straight, or if sitting is
difficult for you then do it lying in savasana – on your back with legs apart,
the arms apart from your body with the palms facing up to the sky. Softly close your eyes and allow the breath
to be effortless and easy. For a few
moments mentally scan through the body starting at your toes and working up to
the crown of your head, becoming aware of each part of your physical self,
allowing any sensations to run through your being, observing them but holding
no judgment of them, taking a bit of time to tune in to your physical self and
bring the mind and the body closer together.
Then begin to expand from that and focus on your breath, notice every
inhalation as it enters your nostrils then follow it through the nose and down
into the lungs. Then follow the breath
back out of the body and observe a gentle warmth on the upper lip with every
exhalation. Stay with that breath for a couple of minutes. Then we begin to repeat the mantra – May you
be well, May you be happy, May you be free from suffering and May you
progress. The first few times you
mentally repeat this, imagine yourself at your third eye center, the point at
the middle of your eyebrows, directing that love and kindness to yourself. Then the next few times imagine a loved one, and
then a neutral person and then somebody you are having some difficulty
with. You may want to go around the
cycle again or even a few times. This is
going to generate positivity and take us away from negativity and the negative
karma that we generate from our thoughts. When we are having troubles with somebody or
even a group of people it is usually the case that they are not happy and are
suffering, if they were happy we probably wouldn’t have problems with them. Or maybe it is our own unhappiness that is
causing the problem, in which case we need to direct more love and kindness
back to ourselves! When you have
completed then let any visualizations go, let the mantra go and bring your
attention back to your breathing for some time, when you are ready rub the
palms together to create a warmth and gently cup them over your eyes, gentleyopen
your eyes and release your hands, or if you are practicing in bed then simply
drift off to sleep!
Enjoy your loving kindness; bring positivity
and a fresh mind!
For now have beautiful days
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
May we all be peaceful.
Mangala / Nicky.
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