Loving-Kindness Meditation Script
Loving-kindness meditation (often called metta) is a practice of quietly offering good wishes: first to yourself, then to widening circles of people, and finally to everyone. Instead of watching the breath, you repeat a few simple phrases. A particular feeling is not required, and you can stay with one recipient or skip any stage. The suggested session is ten minutes including silence.
This is a text reading with no recorded narration. Read at an easy pace, around 90–110 words per minute, and leave the bracketed pauses silent. Rehearse before guiding a group; the timer rings at the end rather than announcing stages. The loving-kindness methodexplains how to choose phrases and adapt the sequence.
The script
Settling in
Sit comfortably. Let your hands rest. Close your eyes, or let your gaze fall softly to the floor.
Notice a few breaths at their natural pace. Feel the support of your seat without needing to make your body relax.
There is nothing to achieve in the next few minutes. We are simply practicing goodwill, the way you might practice scales on a piano.
[Pause for 30 seconds.]
Toward yourself
You can begin with yourself, or start with someone easy to wish well if that feels more comfortable. For yourself, silently repeat:
May I be safe. May I be healthy. May I be at ease. May I live with a peaceful heart.
Let the phrases move at an easy pace without changing your breathing. You do not need to force a feeling; simply offer the words.
If your mind wanders, gently return to the phrases. Wandering is normal; returning is the practice.
[Pause for 45 seconds.]
Toward someone you love
Bring to mind someone it is easy to wish well: a friend, a helpful person, or a familiar animal. A name or a faint impression is enough; a clear picture is optional.
May you be safe. May you be healthy. May you be at ease. May you live with a peaceful heart.
Notice your response without asking it to be warm or different from before. The wish can stand on its own.
[Pause for 60 seconds.]
Toward a neutral person
Now bring to mind someone you neither like nor dislike: a neighbor you barely know, a person you passed today, the driver of the bus.
May you be safe. May you be healthy. May you be at ease. May you live with a peaceful heart.
This person has a whole life, full of hopes and worries, just like yours. You do not have to feel anything special. Offering the words is enough.
[Pause for 45 seconds.]
Toward someone difficult
If it feels okay today, bring to mind someone you find difficult. Not the hardest person in your life, just someone mildly annoying.
May you be safe. May you be healthy. May you be at ease. May you live with a peaceful heart.
You do not have to approve of their actions, forgive them, or change a boundary. If this step does not suit you, return to an easy recipient or stay with the room. You are free to leave this person out.
[Pause for 45 seconds.]
Toward everyone
Finally, let the circle open as wide as it will go: everyone in this building, this town, this country, people you will never meet, everywhere.
May all beings be safe. May all beings be healthy. May all beings be at ease. May all beings live with peaceful hearts.
Rest here for a few quiet breaths, letting the words fade into simple silence.
[Pause for 45 seconds.]
Closing
Take one fuller breath. Feel the chair beneath you. When you are ready, open your eyes.
Carry one small piece of this with you: the next person you meet today is part of the circle you just wished well.
Keep exploring
For breath or contact as an anchor instead of goodwill phrases, trymindfulness meditation. If you prefer fewer words and more silence, the 10 minute body scan is a good contrast. All of our texts live in thescript library, and themain timer is always one click away.