Loving Kindness Meditation -- Spreading love and kindness, inwards and outwards

Do you have a few minutes to dedicate to slowing down in your day? Feeling like you could use a smile and a little more lightness in your heart? A simple meditation that can serve these and other purposes -- and is accessible to all ages -- is a Loving Kindness Meditation. It works well incorporated into formal yoga and mindfulness classes, or in independent practice. 

The main idea of this meditation is to send "loving kindness" to oneself and out into the world. With older individuals one can add into this meditation the idea of sending loving kindness to someone whom it can feel difficult to love, in addition to oneself and all people in the world. If we can learn to send loving kindness to such people, imagine how much easier it can become to do that to all other people! 

All versions of this meditation can cultivate peacefulness, focus on the present, and love for ourselves and others -- and simply feeling better (it feels good to be loving!). Those are meaningful effects for any and all people!  

Here's a version of this meditation for children: 
Take a seat, crossing your ankles in "criss-cross applesauce". Take a few deep breaths, filling up from your belly to your neck.

Say to yourself: 

“May I be well, healthy, and strong.”
“May I be happy.”
“May I be at peace.”

Now, bring into your mind somebody who you love and respect. Send them feelings of warmth and care.

“May you be well.”
“May you be happy.”
“May you be at peace.”

Take another few deep breaths and see how you feel. Can you bring this loving kindness into your day, maybe even beyond?

An extended version is in this image (feel free to download and/or print!):

A more layered version for "tweens", teenagers and adults: 

Take a seat in Easy Pose (ankles crossed) or another seated pose. Feel rooted in your seat and lengthened up through your spine, like your spine is rising up towards the sun. Take a few deep breaths, filling up from your bellybutton to your collarbones.

Say to yourself: 

“May I be well, healthy, and strong.”
“May I be happy.”
“May I be at peace.”

Now, bring into your mind somebody who you love and respect. Send them feelings of warmth and care.

“May you be well.”
“May you be happy.”
“May you be at peace.”

Now think of someone whom it feels much harder to love and respect -- maybe someone who you feel has wronged you (which can feel challenging for most people -- just try to stay with the meditation as well as you can). Send them feelings of warmth and care. 

“May you be well.”
“May you be happy.”
“May you be at peace.”

Now bring to mind people all over the world, all living people. Send them all feelings of warmth and care. 

“May you be well.”
“May you be happy.”
“May you be at peace.”

Take another few deep breaths and see how you feel. Can you bring this loving kindness into your day, maybe even beyond?

Spring 2020 Flow and Grow Kids Yoga 95-hour training cohort 

Interested in learning more simple meditation and mindfulness tools for all ages? Check out our Integrating Mindfulness into the School Day course! Take it individually or as part of our 95-hour Kids Yoga Teacher Training. Our next training begins on June 22nd, 2021! Questions, comments, et cetera? Email Lara at lara@flowandgrowkidsyoga.com or book a call with her here!