Loving Kindness Meditation
Loving Kindness Meditation, or Metta Meditation, is a particular type of mindfulness practice. It's not meant to be viewed as some kind of voodoo spell of love and kindness or anything, just a nice way of thinking of others warmly and positively. If you frequently wish goodwill and happiness on someone who is...unpleasant, you may eventually respond to them more positively. What an idea! Above is a very basic example of Metta. I like a more extended version in which the meditator begins with the self, then to a benefactor, followed by someone you interacted with recently but are indifferent to (i.e. Cashier at store), then someone causing negative emotions, then onto larger and larger groups (i.e. your coworkers, community, state). When doing this in a group with someone guiding the meditation, I've really enjoyed having the guide use specific examples of groups of people to think about within the community like homeless individuals downtown, everyo...