Elise Mitchell
Health and Wellness Coordinator, Second Nature Print

The practice of loving kindness is most often associated with the Theraveda Buddhist tradition. This meditation practice, referred to as Metta, can be found in the Pali Cannon that dates back 2,500 years and is the traditional scriptures for Theraveda Buddhism. Although this practice has roots in Buddhist discipline, its practice has spread to the mainstream. Compassion meditations are often used with the 12 Step program, have been highly studied in the Western sciences particularly neuroscience and psychology, and being taught in our schools!

The Benefit

Perhaps best summed up by positive psychology researcher Dr. Barbara Fredrickson in a seminal paper:

The practice of LKM led to shifts in people’s daily experiences of a wide range of positive emotions, including love, joy, gratitude, contentment, hope, pride, interest, amusement and awe. These shifts in positive emotions took time to appear and were not large in magnitude, but over the course of nine weeks, they were linked to increases in a variety of personal resources, including mindful attention, self-acceptance, positive relationships with others and good physical health… They enabled people to become more satisfied with their lives and to experience fewer symptoms of depression.

Try It!

1. Find a comfortable sitting position. Begin to focus on the breath. Notice the pace and quality of the breath. Now deepen the breath and allow it to flow through the stomach and the chest.
2. Think of someone you love and respect. Begin to focus on your feelings of love for them. Contemplate what they have been through in their life. Send them wishes of happiness, health, joy. Continue to cultivate and notice all your feelings of love and compassion as you focus on this person.
3. Repeat this practice of building and contemplating love and compassion with all of the following in this order:
4. A neutral person with who you hold no feeling toward
5. Someone you find difficult to be around
6. Yourself
7. All four people equally
8. All beings in the world
9. If any of these stages prove to be difficult, go back to focusing on the individual you love. Savor those emotions. Go back to the difficult step while holding onto the feelings of love you just had. Try to focus again and maintain those positive feelings.