Our Self Care Meditation Guide
Perhaps my favorite method of meditation, loving-kindness meditation is focused on developing feelings of love and kindness (who would’ve guessed it) towards yourself and others. Experiencing these feelings for oneself gives us a perspective on our own lives that is rarely seen. It also allows us to develop self-compassion and empathy for our own experiences. It’s an extremely powerful meditative subject and worth including in anybody’s practice!
What is Loving-Kindness Meditation?
Loving-kindness meditation takes the subject of the meditation, whether that’s yourself or others, and directs different qualities of love towards that subject. One example would be visualizing the subject receiving good news, or experiencing happiness, and allowing yourself to feel happiness for them. You may also visualize radiating these qualities out into the world. During loving-kindness meditation you may consciously wish your subject well.
Can we meditate for self care?
Absolutely! Loving-kindness meditation for self care is taking ourselves as the subject of our meditation. We can practice being kinder to ourselves. We can recognize our own successes and forgive ourselves for our mistakes. The process of loving-kindness meditation when we are the subject is no different than when somebody else is the subject. Take the time to generate a feeling of good will, or love for yourself. Visualize yourself being radiantly happy, and allow yourself to feel sympathetic joy for yourself.
3 Benefits of Loving-Kindness Meditation
Improved emotional well-being
Spending time feeling the emotions of loving kindness, joy, sympathetic joy, and happiness lets us understand and feel these emotions more readily and more deeply.
Self acceptance
When we take ourselves as the focus of our loving-kindness meditation, we can learn to be more accepting of ourselves and our imperfections. This leads to increased self-compassion and self-esteem.
Enhanced relationships
Practicing loving-kindness meditation on others helps develop compassion, and perspective in our relationships with others. One interesting take on the loving-kindness meditative practice, is to think of someone who you maybe don’t have the best feelings about, and take them as the focus of your practice. This allows you to experience and understand the many different feelings surrounding that relationship.
Conclusion
When you focus on creating feelings of love and compassion for yourself and others, you can learn to experience a fuller more broad spectrum of positive emotions. If you’re new to meditation, or even an experienced practitioner, loving-kindness meditation is a valuable tool to have in your practice.
