06/26/2023
“That’s so Meta”…
Metta meditation is actually the focus of loving kindness. 🥰 Kind wishes for others- and as we give to others we give to ourselves. That is meta! With a Metta meditation practice we can send deliberate feelings of compassion and wellbeing out to all sentient beings and by connection as a sentient being ourselves, we feel this loving kindness, too.
This practice can uplift ourselves, create a foundation of compassion and allow us to act on our intentions of wellbeing for all of us, in the moment of focus and beyond. And this focus can be renewed at any moment and practiced throughout our day, and of course can begin again each day afterwards.
In sharing this essence of being kind and uplifted with the world, all sentient beings have the ability to be uplifted by connection to you and your kind intentions. Side note: If you’d like to learn more about how this transference happens in humans, one fascinating phenomenon to study is something called mirror neurons. Just one example of how this could work.
Though we may not change the state or circumstances of others with this practice we can change our own state of being in the world from an indifferent one to a compassionately connected one. This effort is worth our while because the state of indifference is one that creates suffering for all and the compassionately connected state is one that has the ability to create— less suffering, at the very least for ourselves, and usually for those we are connected to and those they are connected to and so forth. This level of sharing loving kindness through example is truly all we can expect to have control over. And even this small sense of control -partnered with compassion- in the world can bring so much relief to our suffering.
There is a visualization meditation for loving kindness, or Metta, from the Waking Up series called Metta, by Annaka Harris that I really love. And, this is where I collected the thoughts that I’ve just shared. Here is a brief summary of the visualization Metta meditation:
Imagine: Sitting high on a mountain, our seat equally well rooted in the earth as our head is reaching to the skies. Here we can conjure feelings of wellbeing into phrases or mantras, such as, “May you be happy,” or your own phrase, mine was, “May you be safe and feel safe.” These are feelings or well wishes that we send down the mountain to cover the earth and all its inhabitants in the form of glowing colors of light. Whatever color comes to mind to accompany your phrase is perfect. Mine was a different mix of colors for each new phrase. So we imagine this light of color infused with a wish of kindness moving down the mountain and blanketing the entire earth. Then we see it being absorbed by the soil and returning up the mountain to fill our own being from the roots up to the crown of the head and spilling out all around us. Allowing ourselves to see and feel this colorful light of loving kindness being absorbed into our own world of electrons and atoms with thankfulness our brain actually responds with a sense of calm and safety, as does our body.
We can continue with a new loving kindness wish full of colorful light and repeat this intention of sharing in our wellbeing together in cycles of giving and receiving Metta. Sit with this practice in silence for at least 3 minutes. Bring this practice into your daily life for a sense of calm and kindness for yourself. Return to this visualization technique throughout a stressful day to maintain more balance in your body, mind and behavior. Wishing you, and all you are connected to, well, day by day.
Let me know in the comments if you try this out and how you felt afterwards, if you like.
Best,
Candice
