Try the Loving Kindness Meditation
This week, I started listening to a loving kindness meditation again. I have done this type of meditation before, and it is calling to me to remember how I felt when I was regularly sharing kindness. Perhaps it is because it is the best way I know how to honor myself and others in times of struggle.
Photo by Diego PH on Unsplash
The loving kindness mediation helps to connect me to all others with a reminder that we all want to be happy and healthy. I can forget this when I am in pain.
It is easy for me to move into judgment and to decide someone SHOULD be doing better, especially if I feel hurt by them. But the truth is, everyone struggles. It is also true that everyone is doing the best they can with the skills they have.
When I do the loving kindness meditation and move through the steps, sharing kindness with those around me, I can connect more deeply to the struggles each person has. I can let go of judgment and see them more from eyes of love.
It takes work, and it isn’t easy. As it says in the attached video, if I can’t hold loving kindness for someone, then I should refocus the loving kindness toward myself, because I am the one who needs compassion. (It’s true I judge myself when I can’t feel kindness toward someone else!)
In our world that is broken, with so many divides across our country, I am remembering that if I don’t want more chaos, I need to put more kindness into the world.
This meditation is a great place to start. See what happens when you consistently use ten minutes of your day to connect with those around you through kindness. I can already feel myself coming back to home, to my center where peace lies.
I have been much more consistent in my daily yoga practice as well. Today, the teacher said “Notice where your body is today, notice how one side is different than the other…Honor your process and be okay with where you are today.”
What is today isn’t forever. Hopefully as I step back into self-compassion and kindness and offer that to others, I will soften some of the rough edges that keep showing up. That means I have to keep showing up, doing my work of loving myself as I am.
This video is just one of many loving kindness meditations. Find one that fits you best.
Photo by Diego PH on UnsplashThe loving kindness mediation helps to connect me to all others with a reminder that we all want to be happy and healthy. I can forget this when I am in pain.
It is easy for me to move into judgment and to decide someone SHOULD be doing better, especially if I feel hurt by them. But the truth is, everyone struggles. It is also true that everyone is doing the best they can with the skills they have.
When I do the loving kindness meditation and move through the steps, sharing kindness with those around me, I can connect more deeply to the struggles each person has. I can let go of judgment and see them more from eyes of love.
It takes work, and it isn’t easy. As it says in the attached video, if I can’t hold loving kindness for someone, then I should refocus the loving kindness toward myself, because I am the one who needs compassion. (It’s true I judge myself when I can’t feel kindness toward someone else!)
In our world that is broken, with so many divides across our country, I am remembering that if I don’t want more chaos, I need to put more kindness into the world.
This meditation is a great place to start. See what happens when you consistently use ten minutes of your day to connect with those around you through kindness. I can already feel myself coming back to home, to my center where peace lies.
I have been much more consistent in my daily yoga practice as well. Today, the teacher said “Notice where your body is today, notice how one side is different than the other…Honor your process and be okay with where you are today.”
What is today isn’t forever. Hopefully as I step back into self-compassion and kindness and offer that to others, I will soften some of the rough edges that keep showing up. That means I have to keep showing up, doing my work of loving myself as I am.
This video is just one of many loving kindness meditations. Find one that fits you best.
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