Loving Kindness Meditation for mitigating or reducing Anxiety

Take a nice deep breath with a smile before you start reading this article

The genesis of Loving Kindness meditation lies in the Buddhist practice of metta bhavana. Metta in ancient Pali language means Love or Kindness while Bhavana means cultivation. In Sanskrit and Hindi, Bhavana also means thoughts or feelings. Hence, this is a practice where you can cultivate experiencing loving and kind thoughts for others, for animate as well as inanimate beings. This practice is closely related to the Mindfulness meditation. Buddhism says that everything, whether it is a human life or an abstract object is a compounding phenomenon. or everything is made up of at least two elements. Two human beings create another for example or you need a wood and screws to create a table. Buddhism also says everything is impermanent or that everything comes with a shelf life. The computer I am using to write this article, the person I am in love with or this article itself will one day not be there (perhaps this article will last longer because of the technology, maybe somewhere in Internet archives :)). This very thought of impermanence should lead us to be more kind and empathetic to the people around us and Loving Kindness Meditation emerges from this thought.

In this small piece I will share the steps in Loving Kindness Mediation and how this meditation can be used to alleviate anxiety and stress. The good news is that this is the most simplest of meditations and has research evidence behind it as well.

Steps in Loving Kindness Meditation

The first step in Loving Kindness Meditation is to find a comfortable place. It can be your favourite place in your home where you usually have your coffee or wherever you are comfortable. The second step entails sitting in a comfortable posture (or even lying down) taking few calm deep breaths (not in a hurry, very very gently) and accept that you are alive and each and every cell in your body is nourished when you take deep breaths. Doing this for at least a couple of minutes will make you feel warm and nice from within. If you want, you can play some nice meditation music. You may look at some royalty free music here

The nest stage is to speak few small loving and caring phrases to yourself (in your mind), for example;

May I be well

May I be happy and taken care of

May I be peaceful

May I feel loved and empowered

May I be healthy

May I be compassionate

Once you have spoken the above phrases in your mind for 4–5 times, you may put your hand on your heart and call to mind someone you love in the same way, for example;

May you be well

May you be happy and taken care of

May you be peaceful

May you feel loved and empowered

May you be healthy

May you be Compassionate

Once you have done this to your loved ones, you can do the same for people with whom you have a difficult relationship with. This step will not be really easy but then you have to remind yourself that we live a temporary life and the person who gave you difficult time would also not be living one day. You can also send a loving kindness wish to someone who is little disadvantaged compared to you, like the person who supplies you groceries or works in your household. Once you do this for few days, you will feel more powerful and more accepting and forgiving.

Loving Kindness Meditation for mitigating anxiety

If you are suffering from anxiety or anxiety linked challenges, doing Loving Kindness twice will help. The phrases that you use in the meditation can change as follows;

May I be calm

May I feel loved and joyful

May I love being myself

May I be forgiving for myself and others

These phrases that you call to your mind will make you calmer, less anxious and eventually less stressed as well. Remembering impermanence can make us accept people or situations that pull us down. This small meditation practice would also make you feel in-charge of yourself rather than feeling self-pity.

Both the situations and the people are temporary. This thought can lead us to making the most of our living time. Loving Kindness helps us achieve a happier and calming life.

Now that you reached the end of this article. Would it be fine if you take deep breath, smile and send a wish to someone who you love (and with someone you are having a difficult time)

Thanks for reading this piece. Namaste!