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June 20th- Developing a Lovingkindness Practice
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Metta Bhavana (literally meaning the cultivation of lovingkindness in Sanskrit) is a form of Buddhist meditation through which we are able to grow our capacity to love and be friendly toward all beings, beginning with ourselves. This practice is something that each of us as yoga students, as well as every human being, has complete access to. It's something we're working with throughout the Summer Intensive, but we wanted to share its virtues with everyone, because you can do this on your own, too!
Though there may be differences depending upon the tradition or teacher, the practice typically moves through 6 stages:
1. Sending love to ourselves (to be kind to others, we must feel kindly toward ourselves)
2. To a good friend (someone very close to you)
3. To a neutral person (someone you don't necessarily like or dislike--maybe they work at a store you shop at, or you see them in passing in your daily commute)
4. To a hostile person (someone you are having difficulty with in life)
5. To all 4 at once
6. Gradually, to the entire universe
The progression you may notice here is meaningful-- it can be much harder to send love to someone we strongly dislike than a good friend of ours. It is equally important, and perhaps equally difficult to send love to all of these different types of people. Herein lies the work. It can be helpful to focus on one stage of practice at a time before moving on to the next.
To guide us through this sending of love, positive phrases are used. For example,
may I be happy,
may I be peaceful,
may be free from suffering,
may I live with ease
Close your eyes and say this to yourself a few times. May it send you to a very sweet place!
For even more information, be sure to read this great article, "Cultivating a Metta Mind" by Sylvia Boorstein, co-founder and meditation teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.
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Intro to Yoga w/Kara Ebbutt
Mondays, July 16th-August 6th
7:15-8:30pm
Summer is a great time to try new things and develop new routines. If you're brand new to yoga or know someone who is, consider our Intro to Yoga series. If the dates above don't work for you, check our website often-- we schedule these classes frequently.
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