Loving Kindness Meditation
The cultivation of loving-kindness is a favoured Buddhist meditation and one that many can relate to.
Loving kindness meditation is used to generate lightness and positivity for the practitioner along with appreciation for life’s lessons and challenges. It is life and spirit-affirming to send love and blessings to people, events and things that have made strong impacts both negatively and positively upon oneself. If we can do this we are far more capable of moving on from experiences we couldn’t control or that didn’t go as planned, we can connect with others on deeper levels with more compassion and we can grow into the future as more collected and grounded individuals.
Every experience offers a lesson and that lesson can bring us to appreciation if we follow through with accepting the lesson. Appreciation is a very powerful and holistically nourishing emotion to hold. Loving kindness meditation provides time and space to allow for epiphanies and cultivating appreciation towards them.
The Practice
Perform an internal breath retention. This involves inhaling deeply and holding the breath in the heart space whilst belly & pelvic floor muscles are contracted and drawn upwards and the throat is blocked by drawing the tongue right back into it and tilting the chin down to close the windpipe. With lungs at full capacity, feel the deep internal sensation of stretching open.
Release when you can’t hold it any longer. Completely empty the lungs and relax into natural abdominal breathing.
Repeat step 1 with intent to fill the lungs further each time. Make peace with the physical sensation of expansion in this area. Any light-headedness means the breath holds may be held a little too long for you. Physical sensations of openness equate to emotional and mental moods of openness.
Once you feel heart and lungs are open, evoke to mind an individual or experience needing your attention. You might wish to evoke someone who you’ve held hatred towards, someone you love but desire to let go of or someone who needs love and attention. An experience may be in need of your consideration and appreciation so you can to move on from it.
Sit in your heart and visualise your love and gratitude being sent into the person or over the experience. Call upon the spirits of loved ones, guides and divine deities to help the process if you find you are struggling or unwilling.
Lengthen the meditation to deeply consider and allow the cultivating of compassion and gratitude.
“Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
.
May all beings everywhere be happy and free.
May my thoughts, words, and actions find a way
to contribute to that happiness and freedom for all.”
— An Ancient Sanskrit prayer
