Help Beat the Holiday Stress with a Loving-Kindness Meditation

Loving-kindness meditation focuses on developing feelings of kindness and compassion towards ourselves and others. It is a “heart” meditation.  Research shows that loving kindness meditation can benefit our personal well-being by increasing positive emotions and decreasing negative emotions. Meditation can also help trigger the relax response in our body. Feeling calmer in our mind and body can help us physically, cognitively, and emotionally feel better.

Loving-kindness is an unconditional type of love that does not depend on whether a person deserves it or not. It’s not restricted to certain beings, but rather it includes all beings.  Loving-kindness is sent with no “strings attached,” no expectation of something in return.  The meditation starts by sending ourselves love, kindness, and compassion, because it can be difficult to send unconditional love and acceptance to others if we do not extend it to ourselves first.  The meditation then sends this loving-kindness to other people in our lives as well as the world.

Try this meditation from Mayo's Dan Abraham's Healthy Living Center:

When you complete the meditation just notice how you emotionally feel afterwards as you check in with yourself and your heart space.  We'd love to hear you share your results.