Mindfulness Practice: Loving Kindness

In May of last year, Adrienne Gornall, wrote a blog post in the efforts to bring more love and kindness to the world. As we have already entered into our second month of 2021 and many are facing so many challenges, I think it is still relevant today to continue to bring love and kindness into not only our personal lives but to those who surround us on a daily basis. Gornall shared that "Loving-kindness is a mindfulness practice that offers a wealth of benefits, from increasing positive emotions, reducing stress, to improving chronic pain. Remarkably, some of these benefits are received not only by those who practice loving-kindness mindfulness, but also by others who are (directly or indirectly) connected with the practitioner."

Here are the Loving-Kindness Mindfulness Practice: Heart-Mind Instructions, as it was posted by Gornall in the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education:

"1) Begin by grounding yourself, noticing the points of contact between your body and the chair or floor. Then, inhale deeply into your lower abdomen. On your exhale, you might opt to squeeze your arms across your chest in an embrace, and linger for a full exhale. Take several deep breaths in this way.
Then, while taking care to allow each word to hold its full meaning, silently affirm to yourself:
May I be happy;
May I be safe;
May I be at ease;
May I be peaceful.
As you feel the full weight and warmth of each word’s meaning, focus your attention on cultivating feelings of love and kindness towards yourself. Repeat this cycle of phrases several times.
2) Then, while continuing to hold these intentions of loving-kindness, call to mind someone you love dearly, and affirm:
May they be happy;
May they be safe;
May they be at ease;
May they be peaceful.
Allow yourself to fully experience the love that you feel for this person. You might repeat this cycle of phrases several times, calling to mind close loved ones.
3) Next, call to mind someone you are acquainted with, and have neutral feelings towards, and repeat this practice above. It may be difficult to summon feelings of loving-kindness towards them; give yourself the time you need for these loving feelings to arise towards this person, and for the words to feel true to their meaning.
4) Expand this loving-kindness practice by calling to mind others you have further degrees of separation from, such as: animals, those who have passed on, and people you have never met before. If it feels appropriate to you, you might call to mind and hold in loving presence those around the world who are sick with COVID-19, those who have lost loved ones to it, and those who are feeling lonely and isolated right now as a result of the pandemic. Finally, call to mind someone who you are in conflict with or have a challenging relationship with, and extend your sentiments of loving-kindness towards them, as part of your practice.
5) Complete this loving-kindness practice by returning to yourself with compassion, repeating:
May I be happy;
May I be safe;
May I be at ease;
May I be peaceful.
Following this, you might spend several moments in warm silence, basking in the feeling of loving-kindness you have generated, before returning your attention to the world around you. Towards whom, or in what direction has your heart grown?"

For the full article go to https://dalailamacenter.org/blog-post/loving-kindness-mindfulness-practice-instructions-heart