If you’ve never tried the ‘Loving Kindness’ meditation (sometimes called ‘Befriending’), it’s a practice based on compassion and kindness. You’re asked to send out love and good wishes – to yourself, someone you love, to a stranger and then (if you’re brave enough) to someone you’re not getting along with. You repeat phrases like: “May you be happy. “May you be safe. “May you be healthy. “May you be at peace.”
It’s one of my favourite meditations, especially when I’m feeling anxiety around a social event or relationship.
I’ve been practising it a lot lately, often using it as a follow-up to ‘exploring difficultly,’ where I intentionally bring up uncomfortable feelings and explore them with curiosity. As such, I’ve become much more attuned with how compassion feels in the body.
I don’t know about you, but for me, things like shame/anxiety/hopelessness show up as a deep emptiness in the belly, sometimes accompanied with a tightening in the chest. Loving Kindness is the opposite. It’s as if there’s a balloon in my belly, being filled with air. There’s an opening in the chest that feels free and expansive.
Better still, when I send out compassion to people that I’ve struggled with, I often experience a feeling of physical surrender. Forgiveness, perhaps… for myself and others.
The more I’ve practised, the more I feel that there’s been a shift in my mind, as well as my body. I’m reminded that I can love and like people, regardless of whether they feel the same about me. I can wish the best for anyone, from loved ones to strangers, family to ex-friends. Most of all, I’m reminded how much better it feels to be led by love, rather than grudges, bitterness and fear of rejection.
I’ve linked one of my favourite meditations below. Let me know how you get on! X
Anxious-Ambition.com 