What Are the Benefits
A 2015 study on 38 participants who engaged in loving-kindness meditation showed that these participants experienced decrease in self-criticism and increase in positive emotions and self-compassion. These changes lasted 12 weeks after the study.
A 2018 study also showed that both loving-kindness and mindfulness may help treat a wide variety of medical conditions, such as anxiety disorders, [1] chronic pain, [2] depression, [3] and post-traumatic stress disorder. [4]
How to Practice Loving-Kindness
You can follow the following processes to practice loving-kindness:
- Step 1: Accept without judgment: You have to accept that the feelings you have are natural. They are not good or evil. You must first show yourself compassion before showing others.
- Step 2: Remember, we’re all human: It is important to connect with people around you. It may seem difficult for you at first. But with time, it becomes easy.
- Step 3: Connect with your breath: You can connect the practice of loving-kindness with your breath. A practice known as tonglen helps you imagine breathing in the suffering, discomfort of others, and pain. You will also imagine sending out relief when you breathe out.
Loving-kindness is a practice that combines loving-kindness and compassion with a focus on your breath. This combination helps your mind attain a resting mode. Whenever your mind is distracted, you can go back to imagining yourself breathing in pain, changing it with the alchemy of your breath, and breathing out relief. This practice may involve inhaling your pain or the pain of other people.