Metta / Loving Kindness Meditation

Today’s practice is a ‘Metta’ or Lovingkindness meditation. Lovingkindness Meditation is a traditional practice for cultivating love, and applying it is life-changing for many. Dating back 2,600 years, metta (an ancient Buddhist meditation practice on lovingkindness) is a timeless method for unlocking your heart’s immense healing resources.

Metta meditation is not a technique for repressing your awareness of life’s pain. Rather, it is a way to break down the artificial mental barriers that separate you from others.

The goal is to generate genuine warmth, kindness and care, both for ourselves and others. Some people are instinctively drawn to the power of this practice, and others may find resistance to it at first. The intention is not to search for whether we naturally have these feelings in our minds and hearts, but rather to cultivate them, through repetition and intention. You may be surprised at how much this simple meditation can do.

Start by assuming a comfortable position as you would with another formal meditation practice. Whether you are seated or lying down, you may wish for this practice to put your hands on your chest, or one resting on your heart and the other on your belly.

The practice will unfold by reciting a series of aspirations directed at various individuals, starting with you. You can say these lines out loud, or recite them in your mind, but either way see if you can keep your earnest concentration on every word as it proceeds and feel them in your body. Let’s begin, repeat after me:

May I be safe, and free from harm.

May I be healthy, and happy.

May I be at ease and at peace.

May I feel love, peace, and harmony. 

Don’t worry too much about how authentic they may feel or not at the beginning. Just slowly repeat the phrases and concentrate on them.

May I be safe, and free from harm.

May I be healthy, and happy.

May I feel love, peace, and harmony.

Now after resting in this experience for a while,  bring to mind someone close to you, that you care about. Perhaps a partner, family member or close friend.

May they be safe, and free from harm.

May they be healthy, and happy.

May they feel love, peace, and harmony. 

As you proceed through the practice, you may feel different emotions arise. Simply notice these and wrap them back into your experience as you proceed, attempting throughout to stay with consistent awareness and concentration on the words and the person you’re thinking of. Let’s repeat our phrases again with our loved one in mind:

May they be safe, and free from harm.

May they be healthy, and happy.

May they feel love, peace, and harmony.

Now bring your attention to someone that you may have neutral feelings about. This could be a co-worker or acquaintance or even someone you only know of second-hand. Extend the same lovingkindess to them.

May they be safe, and free from harm.

May they be healthy, and happy.

May they feel love, peace, and harmony.

Again, different feelings may arise here or there may be an absence of feeling. If you experience neutrality just notice that and then attempt to extend those genuine wishes for well-being all the same. Let’s repeat:

May they be safe, and free from harm.

May they be healthy, and happy.

May they feel love, peace, and harmony.

Next, bring to mind someone that you have negative feelings about. This could be someone you have a difficult relationship with, someone you’re angry at, or someone you don’t know at all but dislike in some way. Extend the same lovingkindness to them.

May they be safe, and free from harm.

May they be healthy, and happy.

May they feel love, peace, and harmony.

You don’t have to get into stories about these people, or unpack why you have these feelings, or forgive them if they’ve wronged you. Simply become aware that they too wish to feel the same sense of safety and peace deep down as anyone else. As you repeat the phrases, do your best to simply direct positive wishes to them:

May they be safe, and free from harm.

May they be healthy, and happy.

May they feel love, peace, and harmony.

Finally, I invite you to widen the scope of your visualization and include all beings, everywhere in the world. Every human, animal, and living creature.

May all beings be safe, and free from harm.

May all beings be healthy, and happy.

May all being be at ease and at peace.

You’re welcome to practice this loving-kindness meditation for as long as your like, or to incorporate it into your daily practice, stacking with basic concentration, breathwork, or the body scan as feels appropriate for you.