Settle in. Before a single phrase is spoken, the room has already been quieted by a voice asking you to find a comfortable position, to let the breath move with ease, and to keep the central channel open. Then come three short sentences, "May I be happy. May I be at peace. May I live with ease," and the practice begins doing what loving-kindness meditation is built to do: take a few quiet wishes and carry them outward until they include nearly everyone. Brenda McMorrow's eight-minute guided metta meditation, recorded for Lee Harris' "Portal Presents" session "Revealing the Radiant Heart," walks the listener through five offerings in order: to oneself, to someone who has shown us love and kindness, to a neutral person, to someone we find difficult, and finally to all beings, including ourselves. This article looks at how that sequence works, why each step matters, and how to practice it without the video in front of you.
The word metta is usually rendered as loving-kindness, and McMorrow uses both names in the opening seconds. "I particularly love to do this type of meditation," she says at the start of the recording. "That is a metta meditation. It's also known as a loving kindness meditation." [0:12]
That personal note matters. Much of the instruction in a practice like this is not in the technique itself but in the tone the teacher brings to it. McMorrow never performs the feeling of compassion for the listener. She simply offers a structure, a set of phrases, and a series of pauses, and trusts that the structure will do the work.
McMorrow lays out the whole arc early, before anyone has closed their eyes: "We're going to offer three phrases. First to ourselves. And then to someone that has shown us love. Someone that has shown us kindness." [0:31] The sequence then continues outward: a neutral person, someone difficult, and finally all beings.
Starting with yourself is not a detail to skip past. The first phrases are addressed to the one sitting in the chair, and the meditation returns to that voice twice, at the start and again at the very end. The teacher's own framing puts self-directed wishes first, which is consistent with how many contemplative teachers describe the practice: the warmth you learn to feel for yourself becomes the ground for everything that follows.
Notice the teaching method, too. The phrases are spoken aloud first, "so you can repeat after me," then repeated silently. McMorrow says, "I'll say it a few times and then we'll do it silently." [1:41] That shift from voice to silence is part of the training. The words are learned in the body, then carried inward without being recited.
The grammar of the practice does quiet work. The self is addressed with "May I." A known benefactor is addressed with "May you." The neutral person and the difficult person are also "you." Only at the end does the meditation shift to "May we." Each change in pronoun changes who is inside the circle.
When McMorrow turns to someone who has offered love, she says, "And now let's offer these phrases to someone that we know. Someone that has offered us love, kindness." [3:11] The wish is now directed outward, with the gratitude of the previous stage still present.
The third stage asks for something less familiar. "And now, let's offer the phrases to someone who is neutral to us, someone that we don't really know," McMorrow says. "Let's call someone to mind and heart." [4:41]
A neutral person is someone who has not hurt us and has not helped us. They are a face in a crowd, the clerk at the grocery store, a name on a list. Offering them the same phrases is a small but real exercise in extending goodwill beyond the people we already feel close to. The video does not spell out the reasoning in detail, but the placement makes it clear: the circle is widening, and it is doing so without requiring a relationship first.
The fourth stage is the one most listeners will feel most. McMorrow's instruction is precise: "let's call to heart and mind someone that we may have challenges with in our lives or someone that we may not agree with, may not understand. May we offer them these same phrases." [5:41]
"May you be happy. May you be at peace. And may you live with ease."
Brenda McMorrow, guided metta meditation, offered to a difficult person [5:41]
Notice what the phrases do not ask. They do not ask you to approve of the person, forgive them, or resolve the conflict. They wish them happiness, peace, and ease, which are wishes that can be held even while a disagreement remains unsettled. That is one of the quieter lessons of the practice: goodwill and agreement are separable, and the heart can hold one without the other.
The video gives this stage about a minute and a half of silence, with the phrases repeated quietly. In a short session, that is a long time to stay with a difficult name.
The final stage is where the circle closes. "And finally, let's offer this to all beings," McMorrow says. "And that includes you. So, we say, may we be happy. May we be at peace. And may we live with ease." [7:08]
The inclusion of "you" here is deliberate. After wishing for a benefactor, a stranger, and an opponent, the practice returns to the self, now as one being among all beings. Many people who begin metta find the first stage, offering to themselves, the hardest, and the final stage makes the point that the self was never outside the circle to begin with.
The session then ends with a plain instruction: "When we feel ready, we can just slowly reopen our eyes if that feels good. Just noticing how we feel. Just being with what is." [8:16] That last line is a reminder that the phrases are not a performance. They are a way of paying attention, and the meditation ends with attention rather than with a conclusion.
The structure is simple enough to repeat without a recording. The following steps follow McMorrow's own sequence:
- Settle your body. Find a comfortable position, let the breath move with ease, and keep the central channel open, as McMorrow asks at the start.
- Begin with yourself. Say "May I be happy. May I be at peace. May I live with ease," a few times aloud or silently, then continue silently for a minute or so.
- Turn to someone who has shown you kindness. Use "May you be happy. May you be at peace. May you live with ease," and let gratitude come along with the wish.
- Call up a neutral person. Someone you don't really know. Offer the same "may you" phrases without needing to know their story.
- Hold a difficult person. Someone you struggle with or don't understand. Offer the phrases without requiring agreement.
- Widen to all beings. Use "May we be happy. May we be at peace. May we live with ease," and include yourself in the "we."
- Come back slowly. Open your eyes when ready, notice how you feel, and stay with what is.
Two practical notes. First, the video is short, so repeating the phrases during the silent stretches is a way to stay anchored; when attention drifts, return to the words. Second, the silences are not empty. McMorrow leaves real space between the offerings, which is where the practice actually happens.
This clip is an excerpt of a longer event. The description states that it was led "during the 'Revealing the Radiant Heart' session she was invited to do as part of Lee Harris' 'Portal Presents,'" and that members of the Portal can watch the entire session. The eight-minute guided meditation stands on its own as a complete practice, but the full session is available to those who want more context from the same gathering.
Start with the eight-minute recording if you have it, and then try the sequence once without it, using the phrases above and your own pauses. If you want the wider session, the description points to the Portal page at leeharrisenergy.com/ds24-the-portal. The most useful next step, though, is the simplest: sit down with the three phrases, begin with yourself, and let the circle widen at its own pace.
