Loving-Kindness Meditation with My Favorite Phrases

A loving-kindness meditation is usually built around three or four well-wishes that you repeat to different recipients. It may be that you wish them good health, that they will be safe, happy, loved, etc. In Loving-Kindness Meditation with My Favorite Phrases, I aim to show you that only your imagination sets the limit for how to shape the mantra the meditation is built on. I have chosen four phrases that make me personally feel really good. Instead of saying “May you be…” as the custom is, I have chosen to say “May you feel…,” since you may be loved and safe and still not be able to feel or understand that you are. You start by directing the well-wishes to yourself, then to someone you care about, then to someone you do not know very well, and then to every sentient being on this earth, thinking of everyone as a collective—including yourself.

Loving-kindness, ormetta bhavana, is originally a Buddhist meditation technique, but when listening to it you will not find it religious in any way. It will feel more like an exercise for practicing and cultivating empathy and kindness. Over the last few years, science has found that there are many mental and physical benefits from regularly practicing loving-kindness meditation—even for just a few weeks. The reason may be that feeling a sense of connection with others is important to our health and wellbeing.

The English edition is based on the second edition in Swedish. Narrated by me.