May 8, 2019
May You Be Loving
In the second week of May, we will look at another important aspect of mindfulness; love. As we did last week, each day we will explore the different ways we can love, and how all these expressions of love can improve our daily lives. We do this by training our minds and hearts to be more open to receiving and giving kindness, compassion, and love.
Connecting with our innate capacity for love towards all beings can help us have a better attitude toward life and thereby feel happier, more accepting, and more fulfilled. By opening our minds and hearts to love, we may be less likely to feel anger and resentment and can actually transform our lives. Being present in the emotion of love and actively seeking that emotion in our hearts and minds means that we can intentionally direct it toward others. We can love someone fully and accept that they are imperfect as are we. Mindful love can be directed toward many different people, including ourselves. We can focus on loving our bodies and minds, and cultivate a strong sense of self-compassion that can help us feel at home and at ease with ourselves. This love can also be concentrated on family and, loved ones. We can also focus on people we’ve experienced difficulties with and even people we have never met. Finally, this mindful love can be directed towards all beings.
Here’s something to try each day this week:
- Every day, send thoughts of love and kindness towards whoever you’d like to focus on that day.
- Start by picturing or reflecting on that person or being, and then thinking or saying this phrase: “May you be happy, healthy and whole. May you have love, warmth and affection. May you be protected from harm and free from fear. May you be alive, engaged and joyful. May you experience inner peace and ease.”
- See if you can be aware and accepting of any experiences you may have while you repeat this mantra every day this week, without any need to force the experience.
Love for our minds is especially important this month during Mental Health Awareness Month. Anxiety and depression are two common experiences many of us face. A mindfulness practice can actually help us learn the tools necessary to shift and focus our attention, and perceive things differently, in ways that our most helpful to us. You can learn more about mindfulness and mental health here.
We at eMindful feel love for our eM Life community. We find that by practicing together, live and online in any of our daily sessions, we’re all contributing to a a more mindful and peaceful world! Join the community at eM Life today!
Review the past weeks of May You Be Mindful: