Today’s practice
Wishing Ourselves and Others Well
8 min, guided by Sean Fargo
Today we practice wishing ourselves and others well. This is not forced positivity. It is training the heart toward goodwill in small doses, the way Sharon Salzberg has taught it for decades.
In your day
Before your next interaction, silently offering: may you be well, may you be happy. Then noticing what happens in you.
From Sean
I start with someone it is easy to wish well, and go in baby steps from there: a friend, a neighbor, someone I do not know at all. And the words matter less than the feeling. If may you be happy does not land for you, try one word, safe, or ease, and sense into it. It is a wish, or a prayer, or just something you feel. Whatever lets you feel it.
A question to carry
Did it shift the tone of your attention or your patience, even slightly?
Saved on this device only, and kept for all 28 days.
A few lines, for whatever they are worth
May you be well,
the woman ahead of me in line,
the man who cut me off,
the one in the mirror.
Nobody heard me say it.
Something in the chest did.
If you want more today
- Script: Loving Kindness Meditation (PDF), to read aloud for yourself or someone else.
- Workshop: Donald Rothberg on teaching loving-kindness, about an hour, for when you have it.
- Podcast: Loving Kindness for a Loved One a Meditation with Sean Fargo, for the drive or the walk.
Read the practice as text
Transcription
Let’s begin by taking a moment to settle your body into a comfortable position (3 seconds).
You may close your eyes or if you would like keep them slightly open with a soft focus looking downward a few feet in front of you (2 seconds).
Allow your spine to lift and your shoulders to soften (2 seconds).Today we will practice wishing ourselves and others well (2 seconds).
This can help us to improve our sense of connection to others and even bring happiness for ourselves (2 seconds).
Taking a full breath in (2 seconds) and a long slow breath out (2 seconds).Bring to mind someone that you care about (2 seconds).Imagine them well and happy (2 seconds).
Say to yourself, “May they be well, may they be happy.” And whatever other wishes you have for them, say them now (5 seconds).
Bring to mind someone else that you care about. Imagine them well and happy.
Say to yourself,“May they be well, may they be happy.” And whatever other wishes you have for them, say them now (2 seconds).
With that same sense of care that you felt for another, invite a sense of well being for yourself (2 seconds).
May I be well, may I be happy and whatever other wishes you would like to offer to yourself. Offer them now in a spirit of kindness and generosity.
Now, staying with the breath, allow these offerings of kindness and goodwill to sink in (2 seconds).
Notice how it feels in the body (5 seconds).
Finish with a full deep breath in (2 seconds) and a long slow breath out (3 seconds) *ding* (20 seconds).
Integrated Practice:
When you see the next person you will interact with today, take a moment to say in your mind, “I wish for you to be happy” as you greet them. Repeat this as many times as you remember to do so today.
Reflection Questions:
How did the practice of wishing others well impact your interactions? Did it shift your mood in any way? Did it impact the quality of your attention?
Your progress
Day by day. No streak to protect.
Kept on this device. A missed day is part of the practice: pick up where you are.
Daily by email
This is Day 5 of the 28-Day Mindfulness Challenge.
One short practice a day for four weeks, sent to your inbox each morning with the worksheet and a podcast episode to go with it. Free.