May all people and pigs be happy is a childrens picture book that offers a gentle, engaging story and actual instruction in lovingkindness meditation. We are cultivating this quality, and it is perfectly normal to not feel an overwhelming sense of happiness or wellbeing. During lovingkindness meditation, all we need to do is commit to some dedicated moments of appreciation, gratitude, and encouragement, first to ourselves and then to others. Spread kindness, not the virus yoga through the year. This book is written in an accessible, secular way so as to include parents, educators and children with or without a background in lovingkindness meditation or. Next, move to a person who most invites the feeling of pure unconditional loving kindness. And theyre wishing you well, may you be happy meaning you may you be peaceful and at ease may you be safe and protected from all danger may you have joy, well being letting yourself take it in. Let the image and feelings you have for your benefactor support the meditation. Below is a complimentary lifeaffirming, heartwarming guided meditation that is near and dear to my heart. Lovingkindness meditation the center for contemplative. This meditation is taken from the book, the art of forgivness, lovingkindness, and peace. It starts by blessing oneself and gradually expands outward from there, eventually wishing good intentions for the entire world and all beings, even our enemies.
With an image of them in your mind, silently repeat. The practice is ancient and stems from the buddhist tradition of cultivating compassion. This kindness meditation for kids is based on the book. Watch as sharon salzberg teaches street lovingkindness may you be safe. You do not have to complete the sequence during every meditation session. May all beings be safe, happy, healthy, live joyously. Now if you re not feeling anything at this point or before in the meditation its not a.
Loving kindness is without any desire to possess another. This meditation will guide you to a deeper appreciation for self and the world around you. Its intended to help children access their innate kindness and empathy. It is a term which conveys warmth, friendliness, nonviolence, benevolence, goodwill, compassion and fellowship. Lovingkindness meditation practice greater good in action. It is particularly helpful if you tend to have negative thoughts or reactions to others.
But these feelings can also awaken in us the desire for freedom and the willingness to take up the spiritual path. How to cultivate compassion through metta meditation the. This book taught meditation phrases that help one to love oneself and love others though i like to change phrases like may i be happy with i wish to be. This gentle loving kindness meditation from joan will leave you. In my next post well look at how to use them as a formal sitting meditation see the showing appreciation meditation on page 88 of the yoga through the year book. There is a wonderful ucla website where you can listen to a woman guiding us through a great loving kindness meditation and on my bad days, i tune her in and try to regain my composure.
Those who regularly practice loving kindness meditation are able to increase their capacity for forgiveness, connection to others, selfacceptance, and more. Imagine walking down the street and seeing a hurt, injured baby animal. The cultivation practices like lovingkindness and compassion meditations help to create conditions in which these positive emotions and orientations towards self and other and be strengthened. We must love ourselves before we can love others and offer. Once you feel the positivity that comes from adopting a kind attitude to yourself, you. Gunaratanas newest is a clear and excellent introduction and should be considered a standard manual for metta practice. In resting here in this field of lovingkindness, this embrace of loving kindness, you may find it useful to whisper to yourself inwardly the following phrases. This video is intended for educational purposes only. You can use this meditation in traffic jams, in buses, and on airplanes. This can be an acquaintance, a neighbor, or even a person you know of from the media. Sharon salzberg offers innovative ways to interact with the world around you.
May all beings everywhere, known and unknown, near and far, be happy, peaceful and at ease. To practice lovingkindness meditation, sit in a comfortable and relaxed manner. This meditation also scientifically proven to benefit you on many levels. In the yoga tradition, lovingkindness is seen as an opportunity to cultivate the opposite. This is a meditation of care, concern, tenderness, loving kindness, friendshipa feeling of warmth for oneself and others. In this inspiring book, sharon shows us how the buddhist path of lovingkindness can help us discover the radiant, joyful heart within each of us. This is why you should practice loving kindness meditation. Loving kindness meditation lkm is a popular selfcare technique that can be used to boost wellbeing and reduce stress. They go through this process a few times, repeating the different phrases. Peaceful may you be content and filled with loving kindness, compassion and equanimity.
Loving kindness meditations are shown to reduce stress, increase feelings of happiness and wellbeing and aid in healing our bodies. Loving kindness meditation also is called compassion or metta meditation. So see if you can receive the loving kindness take it in. Repeating kind words to ourselves such as may you be well, may you be happy, may you be healthy, etc.
Today is the first day of our annual 31day lovingkindness exploration here on the heart of awakening blog. The lovingkindness meditation sequence focuses on yourself first, and then you move down the list to different people within a category. Yes, i want free oneday delivery with amazon prime. One of the central aims of buddhist meditation is to cultivate compassion, or lovingkindness and metta meditation is designed to do just that metta is a word from ancient pali the language of the earliest buddhist scriptures which does not translate easily into english. Lovingkindness is a meditation focused on nurturing compassion, kindness, goodwill, and love for oneself and others. May i be happy, may i be healthy, may i be at peace. This lovingkindness meditation is a radical act of love mindful. Meditation teacher sharon salzberg shows how to bring the mind of metta, or lovingkindness, to the fore by taking the opportunity to offer wishes of goodwill and happiness to all. This mindful meditation is adapted from the authors note in the book i am human by susan verde. We visualize together who we are directing the metta towards, and at first i say something may you be happy and the kids repeat. I love this books teachings on how guilt can be self serving and selfish at times and that remorse over past mistakes is best. Sending love, kindness, compassion by positive thoughts toward ourselves or others can decrease stress, anxiety, and anger, and increase feelings of hope and build empathy. There are many variations and translations of this prayer, but what follows is the essence of it.
Loving kindness meditation cultivating an open heart. Lovingkindness meditation lkm is the practice of wishing ones self and others to be happy, content, and at ease. Now expand your awareness and picture the whole globe in front of you as a little ball. Relax with your child as you slowly and evenly read the following meditation. Yoga teacher cyndi lee outlines the four lovingkindness slogans.
You might imagine your family, your workmates, your neighbours, or fan out your attention until you include all persons and creatures on the planet. Where many meditation techniques encourage students to explore difficult feelings or emotions directly, in lovingkindness, the. Try loving kindness meditation after you ve had some experience with the body scan and sitting meditation. In this article, we will talk about the lovingkindness meditation, which is a. If you like, you can think of the lovingkindness practice, as weve been engaging it up to this point, on a. May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be free from all pain. How to practice metta meditations for mindfulness dummies. You can begin the practice of lovingkindness by meditating for fifteen or twenty minutes in a.
And, if any feelings of lovingkindness arise, connect the feelings with the phrases so that the feelings may become stronger as you repeat the words. May i be able to live in this world happily, peacefully, joyfully, with ease. Lovingkindness practices booklet collection with cartoons. If you have an itch in a loving kindness meditation, you are expected to scratch it, because that is the kind thing to do. Sharon salzbergs book illuminates the heart of lovingkindness like a lamp in the. These peaceful guided relaxation scripts are written by. This meditation is quite different compared to the other mindfulness exercises because its about deliberately bringing images to mind and cultivating the positive emotion of wellwishing or compassion, both. Love loving kindness good will friendliness may you find some insight reading these sutras. Metta is the pali word, maitri is the sanskrit word, literally translating to mean unconditional friendliness to oneself and others. Heres a guided metta meditation for your mindfulness practice. Help your child learn lovingkindness meditation with guidance from frank sileo, phd, author of magination press book bee heartful.
Sometimes when we are doing a loving kindness meditation we may not feel loving and kind. A guide to daily happiness for kids by carol mccloud. Useful for anyone who desires inner peace as well as general relaxation. As you continue the meditation, you can bring to mind other.
Instead, practice lovingkindness meditation as much as possible. Well may you be free of sickness, stress, discomfort and illwill. Loving kindness meditation for peace and happiness. To begin this practice let yourself be in a relaxed and comfortable position were going to do the practice of cultivation positive emotion in this case, loving kindness which is the desire for someone to be happy or yourself to be happy its not dependent on something, its not conditional its just a natural opening. And including yourself in this offering of loving kindness, as you let these words become your words may we be happy. Guided lovingkindness meditation from sharon salzberg. Here are just some of the benefits of the loving kindness meditation. This book taught meditation phrases that help one to love oneself and love others though i like to change phrases like may i be happy with i wish to be happy. It will calm your mind and keep you connected to your heart.
How to teach children lovingkindness meditation sharon. Here you will find some prominent sutrassuttas about the practice of metta meditation. Lovingkindness is meant to be done in the easiest way possible so that the experience springs forth most gently, most. Happy may you be fully present and grateful for this life and this body. Think of someone for whom you have neutral feelings. One form of sitting meditation that builds on the grounding of mindfulawareness practices like awareness of breathing is this the cultivation practice of lovingkindness meditation. As you silently practice this meditation among people, you will come to feel a wonderful connection with them the power of lovingkindness. This may be the first book on meditation that serves two very simple purposes in a highly organized fashion. Loving kindness meditation audio download excel at life.
After the difficult person, radiate loving kindness out to all beings. If you dont have the time or the patience to do all the stages, do as many as you feel comfortable with. The evidencebased benefits of lovingkindness meditation. Each day will offer an exploration, guided meditation practice and journaling reflection in metta, loving kindness meditation. Lovingkindness meditation is a simple repetition of these phrases, but directing them at different people. This is especially common among beginners to meditation, but we all experience it. While the lovingkindness meditation or lkm originates in buddhist traditions, its now practiced widely across cultures and is the focus of extensive research by social scientists.
I can appreciate why this book has become a classic in its circles. Then you can direct the practice to someone you lovesomeone who you have no complicated feeling towards, who you can easily, without confusion, offer feelings of loving kindness. Its important that we learn to evoke a lovingkindness and friendliness towards ourselves and others. The buddhist metta lovingkindness prayer is simple but profound. The following is a basic set of instructions from the book the issue at hand by gil fronsdal written as a gift to the community.
Bring this person to mind now, and repeat the words of loving kindness may you be filled with lovingkindness may you be held in lovingkindness may you feel my love now may you accept yourself just as you are may you be happy may you know the natural joy of being alive. Repeat and feel the same lovingkindness phrases from the previous steps for this. The metta, or maitri, meditation is a lovingkindness practice. This lovingkindness meditation is a radical act of love. The buddha presented the metta meditation as an antidote to fear. As you say these phrases, again sink into their intention or heartfelt meaning. Let the image and feelings you have for your benefactors support the meditation. She shows us how the buddhist practice of lovingkindness known as metta can help us discover the radiant, joyful heart. Lovingkindness meditation the center for contemplative mind in. What is lovingkindness meditation and how to start a. She says may you be happy and then the children repeat it back to her. 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.