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Loving Kindness Meditation (Metta)
How kind and loving thoughts can alternate individual’s mental and physical health
- May I be happy
- May I be peaceful
- May I be well
- May I live with ease
- May I find deep joy
- May I be free of pain
- May I be free from harm
- May I be free of suffering
- May I feel safe
Loving-Kindness Meditation (Metta in Tibetan) is a contemplative method, which induces warm-heartedness, tolerance and kindness towards oneself and other living beings.
It consists of expressing wishes of happiness, peace, health and well-being. These wishes are directed first towards self and then extended to other people, from beloved ones to someone that might be perceived with negative emotions.
Many studies investigated the behavioral and neurophysiological changes induced by this practice.
In sum, Metta meditation results in better stress reliance, enhanced tolerability and prosocial behavior, decreased anxiety and depression and decreased levels of stress-induced proinflammatory mediators.
E.g., in one study, 53 of 106 medical doctors have undergone training in Loving-Kindness-Meditation (LKM) during 8 weeks. Quality of mindfulness, empathy and communication skills were tested in both groups (LKM intervention and control group) before and after testing. Results displayed that group trained in LKM proved significantly increased empathy and communication skills towards patients compared to the control group and to the pre-test condition.
For more about the effects of Metta meditation, please go to “Applied Techniques => Contemplative techniques” on our site.
During the Mehana Gift program dated on November 23-29, 2022 you will have an excellent opportunity to experience contemplative exercises with Abhejali Bernardová, an outstanding champion athlete and meditation teacher.
Author: Kristina Höschlová
13.11.2022
