This is a short guided loving-kindness meditation, a practice for generating a wish for well-being for ourselves and for others. It starts by relaxing the body and breath, then offers wishes of well-being in widening circles: yourself, someone you love, the people around you, friends and family, and all beings. It returns to yourself at the end.
The guide says you can repeat the phrases silently or out loud, and can replace them with similar words that work well for you.
If wishing yourself well feels uncomfortable, the guide suggests releasing just a little of that resistance and letting the phrases be here around you as you breathe.
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Episode Overview:
What You’ll Learn:
- How the practice begins by relaxing the body and breath
- Short phrases for offering well-wishes to yourself and others
- A step-by-step loving-kindness sequence you can use anytime
- How the circle widens from yourself to all beings
- One suggestion for working with resistance: release a little of it
Key Practices:
- Body-based relaxation (shoulders, belly, face, breath)
- Self-directed loving-kindness phrases
- Expanding awareness from self → loved ones → community → all beings
- Closing the loop by returning kindness to yourself
Moments You Might Practice:
- When you feel overwhelmed or tense
- During transitions in your day
- Before sleep
- Anytime compassion feels distant or difficult
Show Notes:
Why Compassion Needs a New Approach
The guide opens with the body rather than the phrases. You’re invited to:
- Soften the shoulders and belly, and maybe wiggle the body for a second
- Relax the muscles of the face and around the eyes
- Take a couple of deep breaths and let the body settle
You can close your eyes or look downward to limit visual distractions.
Starting With the Body: Grounding First
Before the phrases, the guide asks for a full breath in through the nose and a long breath out through the mouth, settling the mind as the body rests.
There’s no need to change anything right away. Simply resting is enough.
The Power of Simple Phrases
The practice uses short phrases. In the audio, the first one is offered to yourself:
- May I be well
If it’s uncomfortable to wish yourself well, the guide suggests releasing just a little resistance. The phrases can stay in the air around you as you breathe.
Expanding the Circle of Care
Once you’ve offered the phrase to yourself, the circle widens step by step.
1. Someone Who Feels Easy to Love
Bring to mind someone you care about: someone who makes your heart sing or smile, whom you adore, love, or greatly admire. Keep them in mind as you wish them well:
- May you be well
2. Neighbors and Everyday Connections
Next, reflect on the people around you, maybe someone having a hard time at work, in the same building or on the same block:
- May they be well
- May they be safe and free from suffering
- May they be happy
3. Friends and Family (With Complexity)
Then reflect on your friends and your family, with the words May they be well. Doing the best that they can.
4. All Beings Everywhere
Finally, the circle opens fully:
- May all beings be well
- May all beings be safe and free from suffering
- May all beings be happy
- May all beings live with ease
The guide invites you to feel this well-wishing extending out from you in all directions, and to feel the care within.
Returning to Yourself
To close, the guide brings the circle of loving-kindness back toward yourself, with May I be well. In the guide’s words, you’re bringing that large circle of loving-kindness back toward yourself.
Before that, you’re asked to check in:
- How do you feel in this moment?
- What are the sensations in your body?
- What is the quality of your mind?
Why This Practice Works
The sequence follows four steps, and each builds on the one before: the body settles first, the phrases begin with yourself, the circle widens, and the last step returns to you.
- Ground the body
- Offer simple phrases
- Expand outward
- Return inward
It’s short and portable. You can use it:
- On a busy morning before work
- During a stressful moment in your day
- In the evening
Final Reflection
The meditation ends with breathing in and out, being present with a sense of care, or with whatever is here right now.
It’s short enough to repeat as often as you like.
Additional Resources:
- Free Training with Sean Fargo: How to Teach Mindfulness With Confidence & Credibility
- Certification: Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program
- Blog: 200+ Heart Chakra Affirmations: A Path to Emotional Healing and Love
- Blog: How to Teach Meditation for Restorative Sleep and Deep Rest
