A Way To Practice Loving Kindness

There are many ways to practice loving kindness. It can be done during formal practice, with different instructions that range from saying phrases, to visualization, to simply sending loving kindness in all directions. Loving kindness can also be practiced in innumerable ways in daily life. I’d like to offer a way that I find very accessible and supportive. Remember though, the right way to practice loving kindness is the way that you resonate with the most. Whatever it is. 

The foundation for this loving kindness practice is embodied mindfulness. Whatever position we are in, we are clearly aware of our body–not in an intense way, but with the body relaxed and the attention relaxed as it experiences the body. Relaxed and alert–these are the two qualities we always want to cultivate as we walk the Noble Eightfold Path. Our bodies can be in any position to do this. I’ll give an example using the body walking. 

Photo Credit: Jon Flobrant

As you walk, be mindful of walking for the sake of walking, not as a means of getting somewhere. This keeps the attention from going into the future and inhabiting the place we are walking to, as opposed to being in the present moment. With no goal, the pace slows slightly and the attention sinks down into the body, encouraging it to soften and settle. This is a lovely abiding as the body gently and rhythmically strolls along. 

Here’s where loving kindness can come in. Simply feel the wish that other people (could be one person, a group, or everyone) feel this same ease and well-being that you feel. Notice how when you intend this for others, your well-being increases. Imagine as you walk along that the loving kindness you are feeling is extending beyond your body to the molecules in the air itself. It’s like you are leaving a trace of loving kindness in your path for whoever comes in proximity to it, supporting them to resonate with the same frequency as the well-being in your body. 

Now, is this actually happening? It doesn’t matter. What matters is the quality of heart that is being cultivated while you do this. Ultimately, loving kindness is not about the other person or people, but about our own heart and what we are feeding it. And loving kindness is very good food for the heart!