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Loving kindness meditation, or metta meditation, offers a pathway to cultivate universal compassion and kindness. This ancient Buddhist practice involves sending love, first, to yourself and then extending that goodwill outwards to others.
Through practicing loving kindness meditation, according to Positive Psychology, you not only enhance your own well-being, but you also build better relationships. Include these loving kindness meditations into your regular practice for an open, fearless heart.
Loving Kindness Toward Yourself
Loving kindness starts with treating yourself with the same kindness and care that you would offer a dear friend. After all, the more love and compassion you can express for yourself, the more you can authentically share with others. Lion’s Roar recommends sitting comfortably and closing your eyes. Visualize yourself as you repeat kind phrases such as “May I be happy,” “May I be well,” and “May I be kind toward my suffering.” Breathe in deep and allow that self-love to wash over you.
Loving Kindness Toward a Friend
Sending loving kindness toward a friend cultivates gratitude and connection with the ones you love, according to a blog on Dan Roberts. By focusing on a loved one, you generate even more compassion that you can share with yourself and all others. Envision someone that you care about. Picture their face as you send love, gratitude, and kindness their way. Repeat: “May you be well. May you be happy. May you be free from suffering.” Breathe deeply and allow the feelings of love to extend from your heart to theirs.
Loving Kindness Toward a Stranger
Sending loving kindness to a stranger spreads positivity and builds an even greater connection with those around you. Verywell Mind explains, that this practice extends loving-kindness beyond your inner circle. Think of a neutral person in your community, like your mailman or store clerk. Meditate on sending kindness to that person. Repeat the mantra: “May you feel happy. May you be at peace. May you be safe.”
Loving Kindness for Those Who Have Hurt You
It comes naturally to send goodwill to someone you already love. But, what about someone you dislike? Although difficult, releasing anger toward a difficult person frees your heart of hate, according to the Insight Meditation Center website.This is an opportunity to forgive, heal, and find inner peace. To begin, recall a memory or image of the person. Evoke feelings of love and compassion and send it out to that person. It can help to repeat kind phrases out loud as you feel your vibe shift from hostile to loving.
Loving Kindness Toward All Beings
Loving kindness toward all beings fosters a boundless heart and a sense of interconnectedness. According to Embodied Philosophy, it embraces the Buddhist concept that all beings in the universe are one. In your mind’s eye, try to picture all sentient beings, those who you haven’t met, those who have passed, and those yet to be born. Send a radiant love outwards. Repeat: “May all beings be happy and free from suffering.”
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