The power of cultivating positive emotions (Yoga in Heston & Hounslow)

21 Nov The power of cultivating positive emotions (Yoga in Heston & Hounslow)

Imagine all your positive emotions as a lake. Now visualise all the negativity that surrounds us as salt. The more we can cultivate positive emotions the larger the “lake” becomes and the more “salt” we can absorb without becoming bitter.

Loving-kindness meditation is the simple practice of cultivating love, compassion and kindness and directing it towards ourselves and other people.

The original name of the Loving-Kindness meditation practice is metta bhavana. In the Pali language Metta means love, friendliness, or kindness and Bhavana means development or cultivation.

It is practised by sitting in your favoured meditation posture and repeating in your mind a few simple positive phrases often with your hand (or hands) on your heart to help you muster every bit of positive emotion you can.

Once you start to feel a greater sense of compassion towards yourself through this practice you can try extending your circle of compassion by working your way outwards. Start with people you feel closest too and care about the most until you get to people you actively dislike. You can then move on to wishing the best for all living things. At that point your compassion will have no boundaries.