Meditation and breath

What Is Loving-Kindness (Metta) Meditation?

6 steps down 3 min read

Loving-kindness meditation is the practice of deliberately wishing well to yourself and others, by silently repeating phrases such as “may you be happy.” It comes from the Buddhist tradition, where mettā means benevolence or loving-kindness. A 2015 meta-analysis found medium-sized increases in self-reported positive emotions among people who practiced it.

Where does it come from?

From early Indian religious thought. According to the Wikipedia article on mettā, the word refers to benevolence, loving-kindness, friendliness, good will and active interest in others. In Buddhism it is the first of the four sublime states, or brahmavihāras, alongside compassion, empathetic joy and equanimity, and similar virtues appear in early Hindu and Jain texts.

How is it practiced?

By sending good wishes outward in widening circles. The article describes the practice as silent repetition of phrases such as “may you be happy” or “may you be free from suffering,” directed at a person who, depending on the tradition, may or may not be pictured. The targets grow harder as you go:

  1. Yourself
  2. People you love
  3. Neutral people, such as someone you pass on the street
  4. Difficult people
  5. All beings

The order varies between traditions, but the principle is the same: begin where good will comes easily and carry it toward where it does not.

Is it the same as compassion meditation?

Close, but not identical. The article notes that recent reviews distinguish practices that focus on compassion, the wish to relieve a being from suffering, from practices that focus on loving-kindness, the wish for a being’s happiness.

What does the research show?

A 2015 meta-analysis in Frontiers in Psychology by Zeng and colleagues reviewed 24 studies with 1,759 participants and found:

  • Medium effects on daily positive emotions, in both wait-list controlled trials and other studies.
  • A difference by focus: loving-kindness interventions had medium effects, compassion-focused ones small effects.
  • No effect of length: how long the program ran and how much time people spent meditating did not change the results.

All the outcomes were self-reported, and the authors call for more studies to identify what makes the practice work and whether it applies to clinical populations.

What if wishing yourself well feels hard?

Change the order. If the phrases feel hollow when aimed at yourself, start with someone it is easy to wish well, such as a friend or a pet, and come back to yourself later in the session.

A five-minute first practice

Sit comfortably and picture someone you care about. Silently repeat, slowly: “May you be happy. May you be well. May you be at ease.” After a few rounds, turn the same words toward yourself, then toward someone neutral. Notice what happens in your body as you say them, without judging it, and stop there for today.

This article is general information, not medical or psychological advice; talk with a licensed clinician about your own situation.

Related posts:

  1. Biofeedback for Migraines and Headaches Headaches are the use of biofeedback with high-confidence evidence behind it. A 2008 review of 94 studies found medium-to-large improvements in adults with migraine or tension-type headache, mainly in how......
  2. How to Get Your Motivation Back When You Feel Stuck Start by working out what kind of stuck you are. Losing interest in things you used to enjoy can be a sign of depression. Exhaustion and cynicism about your job......
  3. What Is Hypnotic Suggestion, and How Does It Change Behavior? A hypnotic suggestion is an idea offered during hypnosis that is meant to change what you feel, perceive or do: "your arm is becoming lighter," "the craving passes like a......
  4. What Is Quantum Biofeedback (SCIO)? "Quantum biofeedback" is a name used for a device, sold under names including SCIO, EPFX and QXCI, that is claimed to read the body's reactions to various frequencies and send......
  5. Hypnotherapy for Nightmares and Bad Dreams Hypnosis is among the methods the American Academy of Sleep Medicine has said may be used for nightmare disorder. The treatment it describes as useful for both nightmare disorder and......
  6. What Is Hypnosis, Really? A Definition Beyond the Stage Show The popular picture treats hypnosis as something a hypnotist does to a passive subject. The working definition used in research puts the person at the center instead. In 2015, the......
  7. What Is Biofeedback, and How Does It Work? Biofeedback uses sensors to measure a body process, such as muscle tension, breathing or heart rate, and shows you the reading in real time so you can learn to change......
  8. The History of Hypnosis: From Mesmer to Modern Therapy In 1784, in a test devised by Benjamin Franklin, a blindfolded patient responded as strongly to an ordinary tree as to one that had supposedly been "magnetized," and a French......
  9. Can Hypnotherapy Build Emotional Resilience? That depends partly on whether resilience can be built at all, and researchers disagree. Some describe it as a process that can be cultivated over time; the grief and trauma......
  10. Hypnosis for Morning Anxiety and Sunday-Night Dread The alarm has not gone off yet, and the list of everything that could go wrong today is already running. Or it is Sunday at seven, and Monday has arrived......
  11. Hypnosis, Reiki, or Biofeedback: Which Is Right for You? Start with your goal and then check the evidence for that goal. Biofeedback has high-confidence evidence for migraine and tension-type headaches. Gut-directed hypnotherapy has evidence for irritable bowel syndrome. For......
  12. How to Stop Procrastinating: The Fear Beneath the Delay Sometimes there is fear beneath the delay, and sometimes the story is more complicated. Procrastination is a way of escaping an unpleasant feeling attached to a task, and for some......
  13. Hypnosis for Stage Fright (Actors and Musicians) Stage fright is not just a beginner's problem. The Wikipedia article on stage fright notes that it can affect people at every level, from newcomers to performers with years in......
  14. How to Learn to Trust Your Gut You learn to trust your gut by earning it, one area at a time. Daniel Kahneman and Gary Klein concluded that skilled intuition develops only under two conditions: an environment......
  15. How Do You Become a Reiki Practitioner? The Levels Explained You become a Reiki practitioner by taking a series of classes from a teacher, each including an "attunement." Cancer Research UK describes three levels, from treating yourself and those close......
  16. Does Hypnosis Work for Insomnia? Possibly, but the evidence is small. A 2024 overview of 49 meta-analyses of hypnosis found just one on insomnia, pooling three randomized trials with 75 adults, which measured how long......