Research Shows Kindness Meditation Helps you Love More

 

The Research

Barbara L. Fredrickson, Ph.D. is a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who researched the emotion, and wrote a book about, love. In Love 2.0: How Our Supreme Emotion Affects Everything We Feel, Think, Do and Become, Fredrickson’s research demonstrates that when people practice a kindness based meditation every day for a few minutes, they experience more love in general in their lives. If you’d like to read her book, click the image below (this is an affiliate link):

 

 

A Loving Meditation

One way to practice kindness based meditation is to sit quietly for a few minutes. Close your eyes and picture someone in your mind’s eye. Think or say out loud, “May {person’s name} feel safe. May they feel happy. May they feel healthy. May they live with ease.”This technique is simple and effective.

A Second Loving Meditation

The following meditation is called the diamond heart Buddhist meditation practice. With this technique you sit with your eyes  closed. Picture someone who needs love or support. Invite all their pain to enter into your heart. Picture your heart like a diamond, cold and glittering. See the pain and suffering melting away from the person as it is absorbed by the diamond. Send out love to them in return.

 

Do you practice a loving meditation already? Have you read this book? Share in the comments below!