Sunday Reset - Open the Heart - July 12
Open the Heart - May you be safe, happy, healthy, live with ease
With the aspiration of making mindfulness relatable to a variety of different people, I often talk about Loving Kindness through the lens of texting.
Do you text?
When you send or receive a text, with whom are you typically chatting?
I often ask this in our circles, and the responses are very similar. We're texting friends, family, loved ones, colleagues, neighbors, and occassionally responding about an upcoming dentist or doctor's appointment.
So how are we practicing loving kindness while texting?
When we practice loving kindness in meditation, we're sending a heartfelt wish to ourselves and others (friends, loved ones, neighbors, even challenging people), and the wishes are typically for safety, health, happiness, and living with ease. There are endless phrases and the invitation is always to come up with your own heartfelt wish.
So when you send texts, what's the message you're sending?
Please drive safely - be careful
Remember to bring a sweater
Good luck at the interview or doctor's appointment (or whereever)
Meet me for lunch
I can't wait to see you
Do these feel like messages of loving kindness?
A heartfelt and enthusiastic YES!! These are all messages of loving kindness and I bet you have many more that you could share. Even when we're confirming that dentist appointment, we can text, “thanks and have a great day!”. This brings me such joy, knowing that loving kindness is so easily shared through our everyday texts and messages!
Science confirms that loving kindness is great for our wellbeing! From increased positive emotions to reduced emotional tension linked to migraines; decreased chronic pain and PTSD and longer telomere length, indicating slow biological aging, are all related to Loving Kindness meditation. More great news!
I'd love to hear about your loving kindness practice and observations. Where, when and how are you noticing loving kindness in real life?
Hit reply and let me know ;)
Warmly,
Julia
Resources Below - Take a Look :)
Introduction & Discussion: Loving Kindness
15-Min Loving Kindness Meditation