Art of Communication Week 1:  Lovingkindness

1. Review the practice of lovingkindness by watching this short, 7-minute video that takes you through the expanding circles of compassion with humor and poetry. Remember that you don’t need to practice for each circle every time. Especially in the beginning, you might want to offer lovingkindness to yourself and/or a beloved friend or mentor. In time you can expand those offerings to a neutral person, a difficult person, and all beings.
2. Do a lovingkindness meditation at least once or twice this week. If you don’t have a lot of experience, guided meditations are invaluable. You can access a written script by Jack Kornfield here. You can access a selection of recorded guided meditations here, or by clicking on the Meditations tab in the top menu.
3. If you find yourself addicted to the news, consider stopping for a few moments before you click on Facebook or a news site and offering yourself and others phrases of lovingkindness. Invite yourself to feel the experience of loving and of being loved in every cell of your body. Rest in this awareness. Perhaps you will decide to put off the “horror scrolling” for another time.
4. You might want to find three or four short phrases that feel particularly tailored to you right now, such as “May I be loving; may I be loved; may I be able to receive love in the ways it is offered.”   Or, try the phrases below from Jon Kabat Zinn. Call on them whenever you are feeling stressed.

   May I be happy
   May I be healthy
   May I ride the waves of my life
   May I live in peace
   No matter what I am given

   May you be happy
   May you be healthy
   May your ride the waves of your life
   May you live in peace
   No matter what you are given

   May we be happy
   May we be healthy
   May we ride the waves of our lives
   May we live in peace
   No matter what we are given.