You may have heard the phrase, “to love others, you must first love yourself.” And you probably also know that can be easier said than done. Love and kindness are intrinsic to humans, but so is self-doubt, anger, and pain. Let's explore some ways that we can use meditation to bring more love and kindness into our hearts.
It Starts Within
Metta-Meditation is a wonderful practice that can aid in bringing kindness first into our own hearts and then sharing it with others. It begins with sitting in meditation, then repeating phrases that evoke warm, loving emotions over and over again. These phrases can include “May I be happy. May I be at peace. May I be full of love. May I be safe.” Then after we are finished directing love to ourselves, we can begin to share it with others in our meditation practice. A specific person can be brought to mind, or to a group of people. You can begin with the same phrases and even add more in as you go. This article by Metta Institute perfectly captures the structure of a loving-kindness meditation.
How It’s Beneficial
Metta Meditation works from the inside out. It teaches us to encourage, be compassionate, and embrace ourselves. Once love and kindness become an inherent part of our inner-dialogue, it then becomes easier to share it with others. The best way to make an impact on the world is to start by improving yourself. The more we heal ourselves, the more space we have to love others. Metta Meditation helps us create that space. It helps us make love and kindness a part of our identity.
30 Day Challenge
We invite you to try it out for yourself. Give Metta Meditation a go for 30 days, and see how different you feel by the end of it. Maybe you’ll notice yourself laughing more, sleeping more soundly, feeling energetic and full of life, or maybe you’re spending more quality time with the people that matter most to you.
Let Us Know!
Tell us how it goes! Tell us how Metta Meditation impacted your life– for better or worse! We’d love to hear from you.
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