Our world is in need of a wave of loving kindness. As tension increases across the globe (on account of all the things from pandemic stress to geopolitical strife and in-between), we will serve our collective wellbeing by coming back to the guts. Loving kindness meditation is a technique of cultivating the compassion that we’d like. It’s a robust practice that can assist to quiet the analytical mind and attune our hearts to like for all.
On this comprehensive guide on the facility of loving kindness, we’ll explore:
What Is A Loving Kindness Meditation?
Loving kindness meditation, also known by its original name ‘metta bhavana’ from the Pali language, is a practice of cultivating love, friendliness, or kindness. Broken down, ‘metta’ is translated as ‘love’ and ‘bhavana’ as ‘development’ or ‘cultivation’. Love, on this sense, is non-romantic, inclusive, and unconditional.
During a loving kindness meditation, we call to our awareness a sequence of various people, typically starting with ourselves. While holding everybody in mind, we repeat a sequence of loving kindness phrases. Once we have now repeated these loving phrases to everybody, we conclude the practice by sending these same well wishes to all humans or to the earth as a complete.
For instance, a sequence of beings that you just might move through while practicing loving kindness meditation is the next:
When offering loving kindness to someone you may have difficulties with, it will probably be helpful to start out with someone with whom the difficulties are minor (especially in the event you are recent to the practice). This is likely to be someone you take care of but whom you are feeling frustrated by for one reason or one other. Start small and permit your practice to grow.
Examples of Loving Kindness Phrases
Typically, you’ll repeat around 4 different loving kindness phrases when practicing the sort of meditation. The phrases chosen vary across loving kindness guided meditation practices. In case you are self-guiding this meditation, you may select the phrases that the majority resonate with you. Some examples include:
When practicing on your individual, select three to 5 statements. As you call everybody or the collective to mind, repeat these statements in sequence at the very least once.
The Advantages of Loving Kindness Meditation
These well wishes sound beautiful, but how much power do they really hold? Studies have shown that words do, in actual fact, hold immense power to shift our feelings and emotions[2]. As our feelings shift, so do our interpretations and our actions.
Moreover, loving kindness meditation (or metta bhavana) has been studied widely to raised understand its individual and collective impact. Research has observed the next potential advantages of loving kindness meditation:
In its essence, loving kindness meditation helps us to ease our assumptions and judgments and tune into the humanity of ourselves and others. In terms of mediating our relationships with other people, it facilitates our ability to set differences aside – even when only for a moment.
As we connect with our shared humanity and with feelings of affection for the earth itself, who knows what we would accomplish. Since our thoughts grow to be feelings and our feelings translate into actions, what might our actions be like if we cultivate in loving thoughts? Loving kindness is a radical practice that can assist us to create a more peaceful and exquisite world.
Cultivate Loving Kindness: A Loving Kindness Script
The next loving kindness script invites you to cultivate feelings of compassion. Read this script prior to closing your eyes and practicing for yourself. It’s also possible to use this script as a guide for leading others.
7 Mindfulness Exercises for Compassion
In case you are searching for a loving kindness guided meditation or a loving kindness script to support your practice (or to show this method to others), consider the next resources.
The Power of Loving Kindness With Guy Armstrong
First, in the event you want to learn more about what loving kindness entails, this talk by Guy Armstrong delves further into this traditional practice. On this talk, Armstrong notes hindrances to practice and the way we would overcome them.
Self-Compassion Meditation With Kristin Neff
This loving kindness guided meditation is a twist on the classic practice of metta bhavana. The main focus of this meditation is on cultivating love and tenderness towards ourselves.
Loving Kindness Meditation With Sean Fargo
This 15-minute loving kindness meditation is a soft and soothing metta practice to boost compassion for oneself and for others. It’s a more traditional version of the sort of practice.
Loving Kindness For The Earth With Wes Nisker
Wes Nisker guides a loving kindness practice that expands outwards to hone in on this beautiful planet of ours. Can we provide compassion and kindness to all beings of this planet, and to the planet as a complete?
One other helpful resource is that this guided script, which focuses on cultivating a way of whole-bodied care. The truth is, it’s a hybrid version of a self-compassion meditation and a body scan practice.
Just Like Me Meditation With Sean Fargo
One other practice, which is different from the loving kindness meditation but cultivates compassion nonetheless, is the Just Like Me practice. This practice serves as a robust reminder that despite our differences, all of us share a standard humanity.
Loving Kindness Script – The Child That Is You
Lastly, this loving kindness script is a practice to boost our ability to be present with the kid inside. How would we love and luxury our inner child? And moreover, how might they love and luxury us?
