Beginning a Metta Meditation Practice

Begin by bringing attention to yourself. By helping ourselves, by loving ourselves, by having compassion for ourselves, we learn how to give to others with knowledge and strength. 

This practice is from Sharon Salzberg's book Loving-Kindness, with minor alterations and additions.

Be creative and change it to suit you.

Sit, keep warm, drink tea, be comfortable.

Close your eyes 

Rest

Think for a while about your wish to be happy, reflect on it. Think about the good intention in your wish to be happy.

If you realise your attention has drifted to other thoughts, gently bring your attention back to reflecting on your wish to be happy. Just as you drifted off gently, allow yourself to gently return. There is no reason to scold yourself for getting distracted. Whether you drift off every minute or every 30 minutes makes no difference. This is the practice, accepting with kindness the constant flux of your experience. You can start again and again, over and over again. 

If feelings of happiness arise, allow it to. If self criticisms or self doubts arise, allow it to. Observe the conditions which limit your capacity to love yourself. Breath gently and accept whatever emotions arise. 

When you feel like it, this may be in the same sitting or you might want to wait until a later sitting, reflect upon a quality you like about yourself for a while. Again, observe whatever arises and return from distractions with kindness.

For another while, in the same sitting or later, call to mind something you have done or said that you feel was a good or kind action. As with above, observe and return gently from distractions.


So the three parts of this meditation practice are:
1. Reflect on your wish to be happy
2. Reflect upon a quality that you like about yourself
3. Reflect upon something you have done or said that you feel was a kind action

DO METTA!