Kindness: the quality of being generous and caring.. Loving: someone who shows love to other people.. The practice of loving kindness or goodwill meditation is an excellent tool for breaking down barriers as well as restoring humanity and kindness when your mind feels like a battlefield. This can be a mantra that you find, or someone brings to you, or you can create your own based on what’s going on in your life. While they differ from each other and can be used separately, they are all aimed at forming positive messages to others and oneself. Loving-kindness meditation is a form of meditation that focuses on cultivating feelings of goodwill, kindness and compassion. Our two contemplative prayer groups met together yesterday for an eight-hour prayer retreat. Imagine walking down the street and seeing a hurt, injured baby animal. At the end participants shared what resonated most for them from the day. while and basking in the energy of loving kindness that may have been generated here. Loving-Kindness Meditation; The original name of this practice is metta bhavana, which comes from the Pali language. 4. Begin by finding a … Loving Kindness Meditation. For loving kindness meditation script I suggest that you enhance your experience with a unique brainwave sound called Euphoria Shot. Sylvia Boorstein is a founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California. The five stages of the meditation: Preparation Contemplation Meditation Dedication Subsequent Practice 1. Practicing loving-kindness helps us to be less judgmental and less hateful and allows for more joy, selflessness, and of course loving-kindness. So in mantra meditations the idea is that you repeat a mantra to yourself over and over again. Begin the practice by bringing your own self to mind, exactly as you are. First, find a quiet place where you're unlikely to be interrupted. Loving-Kindness Meditation stirs feelings of kindness for ourselves, for those who are close to us, and all other beings of the world. Loving-kindness meditation is revealed to lessen frustration, rage and hatred, while refining tolerance and the capacity to forgive. Loving kindness meditation, which traces its roots to early Buddhism, helps us find compassion for one another even during trying times. So my fabulous colleague Cendri Hutcherson and I launched a 5 year study of loving-kindness and examined its impact on well-being, happiness and the brain. Loving Kindness Loving kindness, is a heartfelt quality of mind – friendliness, openness, and connectedness, a concentration practice that opens the heart. This meditation also scientifically proven to benefit you on many levels. (The Buddhist Loving Kindness Meditation Script (Metta meditation script) is a prayer (or simply words) that we use for developing kindness and compassion.It is one of the most important Buddhist techniques for beginners.. Loving-kindness meditation may not fix everything. Your brainwaves create a unique pattern when you’re in a state of heightened awareness. This meditation is one of the most popular meditation methods around, and for good reasons. The mere fact that we are alive today is a testimony to the great kindness of others. Motivate the mind “To be kinder, both to myself and others.” Or, “to accept myself as I am, and life as it is.” Enter your name and email address to download this meditation … Title: Transcript for the Lovingkindness Meditation Author: VACCHCS Stress Management Program Subject: Transcript for the Lovingkindness Meditation Keywords: self-connection, relaxation, meditation, mindfulness based stress reduction, MBSR It may not “fix” anything. What Does Metta Mean? The practice of cultivating Metta toward oneself and others is known as metta bhavana, and it is a popular form of Buddhist meditation.Metta means love, friendliness, or kindness, and bhavana means cultivation or development.. Loving-kindness meditation is a Buddhist practice designed to help us overcome anger, … It originates in the Buddhist tradition, but has achieved more widespread popularity due to its reputed benefits, and the fact it can be practiced by anyone, regardless of their religion or belief system. Metta can help us open the heart, respond with more gentleness, and be at ease with ourselves and others. Loving-Kindness Meditation. Loving-kindness meditation is a little journey within where, after a few moments to find your center and your commitment to the present moment, you are ready to spread this acknowledgment to our surrounding, to the world. Loving Kindness Meditation Benefits. Preparation We sit in the meditation posture as explained above and prepare our mind for meditation with breathing meditation. The original name for loving-kindness is metta in Pali or Maitrī in Sanskrit. Take a few more deep breaths here. We did meditations on letting go, forgiveness, transforming judgment into empathy and loving kindness. Loving-kindness meditation turned out to be more effective when it comes to increasing happiness, but, in contrast with previous studies, compassion meditation also did … This is a meditation of care, concern, tenderness, loving kindness, friendship–a feeling of warmth for oneself and others. Loving Kindness Meditation Script. Loving Kindness (or "Metta") meditation, involves directing warmth and positivity to ourselves and to others. It is an emotion, something you feel in your heart. A Loving-Kindness meditation is a direction of thoughts of care, concern, and love towards oneself and others. Put simply, loving kindness meditation is a practice that cultivates and nurtures feelings of unconditional kindness and love towards oneself and others using silent mantras or phrases. In both studies, scientific researchers found overwhelming evidence of a powerful link between the practice of mass Metta (loving-kindness) meditation circles and lower incidences of war. [MUSIC] Try this meditation practice, Loving-Kindness. Keywords Bhavana means development or cultivation. Once you are grounded into the space you are in, take a few more moments to draw your awareness to the center of your chest. Two studies on the power of loving-kindness were conducted in Jerusalem and Lebanon in the 1980s. If you have an itch in a loving kindness meditation, you are expected to scratch it, because that is the kind thing to do. In Buddhism, there is a group of practices called the ‘four immeasurable meditations’. Loving kindness is without any desire to possess another. Share your reflection. Loving-kindness / Audio Instruction • Audio CD • Cultivation / Loving-kindness Loving-kindness for Kids • The Four Sublime States • Brahmavihara Dhamma • The Four Sublime States • Brahmavihara Dhamma Through this form of meditation, loving kindness, compassion, and empathy are cultivated through focus and practice. Loving-kindness meditation is a way to practice feeling unconditional compassion for ourselves and all beings. Loving kindness meditation, on the other hand, gives you the tools to be kind to yourself. Here are just some of the benefits of the Loving Kindness Meditation: Increases positive emotions (including: love, joy, gratitude, contentment, pride, hope, amusement, interest and awe), according to this study . More interestingly, Loving Kindness Meditation enhances positive interpersonal attitudes, which make you a more helpful person. LOVING-KINDNESS MEDITATION. The loving-kindness meditation was a way for me to slow down and understand my feelings before I reacted. Lean forward from the back of the chair just a bit. But as I reflect on the 2020 election, the state of our world, and the healing needed in our own hearts and in our country, a metta practice is a good place to start. Metta means ‘love’ (in a non-romantic sense), friendliness, or kindness: hence ‘loving-kindness’ for short. 3 . This meditation uses words, images, and feelings to evoke a lovingkindness and friendliness toward oneself and others. Loving Kindness Meditation. Loving Kindness Meditation – Cultivating an Open Heart. L oving-kindness, or metta in the Pali language, is one of four foundational practices, collectively known as the divine or heavenly abodes, taught by the Buddha. Some studies suggest it can help boost your empathy and feelings of connection and reduce bias, anger, depression and anxiety. A Loving-Kindness meditation is a meditation on unconditional love without any expectations of receiving anything in return. There was very little research on loving-kindness meditation at the time we started our research. This type of meditation cultivates a more compassionate and empathetic mindset, which has been shown to increase happiness, reduce stress and improve overall wellbeing, as well as enhancing our relationships with those around us. The practice is the softening of the mind and heart, an opening to deeper and deeper levels of the feeling of kindness, of pure love. As noted above, loving kindness meditation is also often referred to as Metta meditation, or Metta Bhavana. Her books include That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Buddhist and Making Friends with the Present Moment. Mindfulness and Loving Kindness have the same aim: to end suffering, to work with negative emotions, to open to loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity. Loving kindness meditation is an important part of the path. 5. A Lovingkindness Meditation. 100s of participants went through our studies and we found some really interesting data! Alert shot replicates this pattern with special brainwave sounds that will help you feel loved, uplifted and inspired. We have all experienced moments of anger, harshness, judgement, and beating ourselves or others up. If you're in a chair, scoot back in your seat, so that the lowest part of your spine is well supported, and straighten your spine up toward the sky. 18 Science-Based Reasons to Try Loving-Kindness Meditation A Loving-Kindness Meditation (Script) that You Can Try Right Now. It includes loving-kindness meditation, compassion meditation, appreciative joy meditation, and equanimity meditation. With each recitation of the phrases, we are expressing an intention, planting the seeds of loving wishes over and over in our heart. Mantra Meditations – Loving Kindness Meditation. 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