Course on Loving-Kindness* Meditation starts this Thursday

Largely derived from Tibetan Buddhist perspectives on human suffering, the practice of loving-kindness meditation (LKM) follows a structured approach from mindfulness of breathing to directing kind thoughts and feelings toward ourselves, loved ones, co-workers, strangers, and anyone we disapprove of or hold grudges against.

This’ll be my last course before taking a sabbatical.

Four sessions, 7-8:30 pm, Feb. 21 to Mar 14 at Monterey Community Centre in Oak Bay
Registration fee $76 (plus $8 payable to me for your home-practice CD)
To register phone 250-370-7300 or visit www.recreation.oakbay.ca

*Loving-kindness originates in Sanskrit and Pali and can also be translated as boundless benevolence or universal compassion.

Researchers have been working on ways to measure LKM’s efficacy, both by itself and in comparison to others techniques. Here are excerpt from recent studies —   

⇒ Sorensen, S., et al. (Dec 2018). Comparing the Effects of Loving-Kindness Meditation (LKM)… on Psychological Well-Being. The Journal of psychology. In print. Full text. 

“Research indicates that LKM has unique benefits for the mind and body that are subtly different from other forms of meditation. While many mindfulness-based meditation techniques involve training … to bring non-judgmental attention to the present moment, LKM involves bringing a kinder, more loving attention toward oneself or others. Beyond improving an individual’s fleeting emotional states.“

⇒ Robinson, C., et al. (2019). Modulating affective experience and emotional intelligence with loving kindness meditation and transcranial direct current stimulation: a pilot study. Social neuroscience, vol. 14, no.1, pp. 10-25. Full text.  

“[Some} studies have linked LKM with changes in social-connectedness, increases in positive affect, and greater feelings of warmth for others and the self. … [Others] found that after LKM, participants experienced greater positivity and less negativity, and felt more positively towards strangers than they had at baseline. A 1-day LKM training compared to memory training resulted in greater ratings of empathy for distressed others, increases in experienced positive affect, and evidence of neuro-plastic changes, indicating that mindfulness effects may be modulated at the neural level.”