“In the house of lovers, the music never stops, the walls are made of songs and the floor dances.” -Rumi
Metta-Meditation is a chant translating into loving-kindness. It is a practice of opening the heart through blessings or affirmations. It can be practiced in silence or spoken, always with the breath. I like to think of it as a song, where each blessing flows my heart with my breath. Metta-Meditation is musical because it begins with offering ourselves a series a blessings and each following series repeats and extends the same blessings to others. It is a dance of opening our own hearts to all hearts embodying the indefinite vehicle of compassion.
The Kripalu blog, Thrive, has welcoming guides on how to practice this beautiful art.
Recommended steps to begin your practice and more.
“When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it’s bottomless, that it doesn’t have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast, and limitless.” -Pema Chodron
Why I LOVE Metta-Meditation
1. Like other chants, Metta-Meditation can be practiced whenever we choose. I sing it riding my bike, at the end of yoga practice in shavasana or corpse pose, sitting meditation or on a hammock drinking tea,.
2. It helps me feel connected. Most of the time, my closest friends and family and I are rarely in the same area. With Metta-Meditation I can wholeheartedly unite with loved ones anywhere.
3. It extends beyond ourselves. Along with yoking Metta-Meditation with loved ones, it also transcends beyond our personal interactions. With each collection of blessings, we choose where to open. For example, “May I” repeats to “My family” to “My friends” to “all persons” to “persons suffering” to “existence”, etc.
4. It can be applied when we encounter others in distress. Whether driving by a car accident or noticing someone is having a rough day. The options are limitless.
5. The tranquility after sharing a genuine practice is beautiful. Each time. Like other mantras and chants, Metta-Meditation is extremely powerful before sleep.
6. There are many variations on the affirmations. To start, I recommend keeping it simple, short, and sweet. Find blessings that resonate with your own heart. Over time let your heart write its own Metta-Meditation blessings.
My Metta-Meditation streams combinations of these blessings:
May I / You be strong and healthy
May I / You be safe and free from harm
May I / You be free from suffering and the root of suffering
May I / You be kind and loving
May I / You walk in peace
May I / You be our Dharma
May I / You be free
May I / You be
pura vida healing arts 