Happiness Break: Take a Break With Our Loving-Kindness Meditation

The Science of Happiness

PRX and Greater Good Science Center

Science, Social Sciences

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2024

⏱️ 6 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Loving-kindness meditation, or “metta,” has its roots in Buddhist traditions that date back thousands of years. Studies show it can help nourish your capacity to express love, feel more satisfied in life, and enhance brain areas involved in emotional processing and empathy.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/5h3nfwjb

Episode Summary

Dacher guides us in a meditation that has been practiced over thousands of years. Together, we will mentally extend goodwill, kindness, and warmth towards others and ourselves, in a series of mantras.

How To Do This Practice

Find a comfortable position, you may lie down or be seated.
Bring your attention and awareness to the breath at the belly. Inhale and exhale, noticing sensations of breath.
Bring to mind someone who you really believe has your best interests in their heart.
Choose just one person and bring them to mind as though they were next to you.
Imagine them truly wishing for you to be happy and fulfilled. Imagine their smile. Feel their intention of goodness.
For a couple more breaths, really take in this wish for your happiness and joy from this person who cares for you.
Now letting go of the image of this person, relax into these sensations and feelings for just a couple breaths.
With this feeling of support and happiness, bring to mind someone who could really use some extra love.
Now repeat to yourself, “May you be safe. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you live with ease.”
As you inhale, draw in this intention. And as you exhale, send it out.
Twice more—inhale, drawing in this intention. And then exhale, sending out.
Release the image of this person. And just notice the sensations in your own body.

Today’s Host: Dacher Keltner

Science of Happiness episodes like this one:

24 Hours of Kindness: https://tinyurl.com/3dnye335
Being Kind Is Good for Your Health: https://tinyurl.com/2afe5v79
How to Love People You Don’t Like: https://tinyurl.com/5sj388yj

Happiness Break related episodes:

Wrap Yourself in Kindness, With Jack Kornfield: https://tinyurl.com/3cd6xj23
How to Be Your Own Best Friend, with Kristin Neff: https://tinyurl.com/yc8emecm
Wishing Others Well, With Anushka Fernandopulle: https://tinyurl.com/3w2sn96m

This episode was supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation on "Spreading Love Through the Media".

Tell us about your experiences practicing loving-kindness meditation!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode was supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation on spreading love through the media.
0:09.0	I'm Dacker Keltner. Welcome to Happiness Break.
0:12.0	Where on each episode we guide you through practices
0:15.4	shown to support your well-being. A little break in your day for self-kindness.
0:20.8	Practicing kindness towards ourselves and others is one of the most direct roots to happiness.
0:25.0	It helps us feel more content in our relationships and enjoy better health.
0:30.0	While we all have a natural capacity for kindness, sometimes we don't take steps to
0:34.8	nurture and express this capacity as much as we could, so today we're going to do a
0:39.7	loving kindness meditation. It involves mentally sending goodwill, kindness, and
0:45.9	warmth towards others by silently repeating a series of mantras. Sometimes
0:51.5	called meta, this kind of meditation comes from Buddhist traditions and dates back thousands of years.
0:58.0	Empirical evidence suggests that when people practice loving kindness meditation regularly,
1:02.0	they start automatically reacting more positively
1:04.8	to others, and their social interactions and close relationships become more satisfying.
1:10.0	In one study, people who practice loving kindness daily for seven weeks, felt less depressed,
1:15.8	and more satisfied with their lives compared to when they started. So for this loving kindness practice, find a comfortable position.
1:29.0	This may be easiest lying down or seated. And when you're ready, bring your attention and
1:36.3	awareness to the breath at the belly.
1:40.3	Inhale, noticing sensations of the breath, and exhale noticing sensations of the breath as the belly rises and falls.
2:01.6	Now bring to mind someone you really believe has your best interests in their heart.
2:07.0	This could be someone you know now or someone from the past.
2:10.0	Could be a family member, a romantic partner, a friend, a work colleague.
	...

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