10-Minute Guided Meditation: Self-Love | SELF

Hi, and welcome.

My name is Manoj.

I'm a meditation teacher and co-founder of Open.

And welcome to today's meditation practice.

What we're actually gonna do is
we're trying to generate feelings of...

kindness, acceptance, warmth
and tenderness for ourself.

And this is a very ancient practice.

It's a 2,500 year-old practice,
often referred to as Metta meditation.

So, I'll invite you to settle in
to a comfortable position.

You can lay down if you wish,
if that's most comfortable for you.

You can even do this standing up,
if that feels good.

But I love to do this seated.

And, as you sit,
you may wish to lengthen your spine

so it's upright and alert,
without being rigid or forced.

You can place both your palms down
on top of your thighs.

Or you can place them on top of each other.

And when you're ready,
let's take a deep breath in together.

In through the nose,
out through the mouth.

Breathing in deeply.

[inhales]

And then, as you open your mouth,
relax your shoulders.

[exhales]

You can begin to just settle in
to your meditation today.

You don't have to control your breathing.

You don't have to force your mind
to be quiet.

Just take a moment
as you settle into your practice,

to just notice that you have a body.

This awareness of our body can allow us
to feel more present with it.

[meditative music]

Notice any sounds that are around you.

You don't have to wonder what they are
or why they're here.

Just notice that sounds come and go.

[meditative music]

Then begin to notice your heart.

And take a moment
to remember that you have a heart.

And that heart is breathing,
and that heart is feeling.

[meditative music]

As you keep your awareness here,

I'm going to invite you to begin
to visualise an image of yourself.

You can visualise yourself
as you are right now.

Or if it's helpful,
you can visualise yourself as a child.

[meditative music]

As you visualise yourself,
mentally repeat these phrases:

"May I be happy?"

And as you repeat that phrase in your mind,

see if it can bring to mind
a time when you were happy.

It's not important who was there
or what happened.

Or really recollect
the feeling of being happy.

And then mentally
keep repeating that phrase.

"May I be happy?"

[meditative music]

And then repeat the phrase:

"May I be safe?"

And as you mentally repeat this phrase,

remember a time when you felt safe.

And again, the occasion of the people
that were around you

aren't as important
as the feeling of safety.

"May I be safe?"

[meditative music]

As you repeat this phrase,
notice how it feels in your body.

The intention, creating the feeling.

[meditative music]

And offer yourself the phrase:

"May I be healthy?"

And this is your heartfelt wish

to be healthy in the mind
and healthy in the body.

And you can bring to mind
a time when you felt that way.

[meditative music]

And then repeat the phrase:

"May I live with ease?"

And remember a time
when you lived with ease.

Notice how this feels in your body.

[meditative music]

As you systematically and mentally
repeat these phrases,

notice what is being felt in your body.

And often this feeling that we are feeling
is called Metta.

Loving-kindness.

It's an acceptance,
it's a warmheartedness,

and it's a tenderness for ourselves.

See if you can sync in to that feeling,
just for a few more moments.

[meditative music]

And when you're ready,
you can let go of this technique

and just notice how your body feels.

And perhaps make an intention to
take with you into the rest of your day.

The same quality of Metta.

A loving-kindness for ourself.

When you're ready,
you can very gently begin to open your eyes.

Thank you for joining me today.
I'll see you again next time.