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Hello and welcome to 12-minute

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meditation, a weekly podcast

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from mindful and mindful.org that

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offers mindfulness meditations backed

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by neuroscience. If you've

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been practicing, you know that 12

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minutes of meditation a day can yield

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benefits like increased attention,

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focus, creativity, calm,

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resilience, and compassion. The

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latest scientific research supports this

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knowledge. So on

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this podcast, we invite you to do your

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12-minute practice with guided

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meditations from today's leading mindfulness

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experts. There's a new practice

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each week and a new way to experience

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some of those benefits day to day. I'm

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Chelsea Arsenal, director of advertising

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at mindful and mindful.org and

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today Diana Winston guides us through

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a loving kindness meditation by

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encouraging us to focus on someone who

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brings joy, be it a relative,

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friend, or beloved pet. As

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you extend well wishes for their safety,

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happiness, health, and ease, notice

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the calm and contentment you feel. Over

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time as you continue this practice, you may

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be pleasantly surprised by how

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your thoughts and actions begin to change.

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You might notice words or feelings

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of kindness spontaneously appearing in

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your mind or find yourself

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reacting with patience in situations

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where irritation may have been your usual

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response. The more you experience

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this shift,

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the more it will begin to feel like a very

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natural part of who you are.

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Diana Winston is the director of mindfulness

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education at UCLA's

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Mindfulness Awareness Research Center and

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author of several books including The

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Little Book of Being, Practices and

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Guidance for Uncovering Your Natural

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Awareness. You

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can subscribe to 12 minute meditation while

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you're on mindful.org

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or wherever you find your favorite podcast

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and if you're moved to leave us a

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comment.

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review, we'd be grateful. And

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so will other listeners. See, your

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review helps them decide whether 12-minute meditation

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is for them. But, for

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now, for you, here's

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Diana Winston. To

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begin this practice, let

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yourself be in a relaxed and comfortable

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position. We're

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going to do the practice of cultivating

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positive emotion, in

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this case, loving kindness, which

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is the desire for someone

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to be happy, or

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yourself to be happy. It's

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not dependent on something. It's

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not conditional. It's

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just a natural opening of the

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heart to someone else

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or to yourself. So,

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you can check into your body and notice

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how you're feeling right now,

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letting whatever is here be here.

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Now, let yourself bring to mind

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someone whom the

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moment you think of them, you

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feel happy. See,

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if

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you can bring to mind, it could be a relative,

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a close friend, someone

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with not too complicated a relationship,

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but just a general sense that when you

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think of them, you feel happy. You can

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pick a child, or

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you can always

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choose to A

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pet, a dog or cat.

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A creature it's fairly easy to feel

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love

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for.

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So let them come to mind, have

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a sense of them being in front of you. You

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can feel them, sense them, see

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them. And

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as you imagine them, notice

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how you're feeling inside. Maybe

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you feel some warmth, or

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there's some heat to your face,

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a smile, a sense of expansiveness.

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This is a loving kindness. This

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is this natural feeling that's accessible

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to all of us at any moment. So

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now having this loved one in front of you,

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begin to wish them well.

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May you be safe and protected from

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danger. May

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you be happy and peaceful. May

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you be healthy and strong. May

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you have ease and

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well-being. And

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as I say these words, you can use my words

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or your own words, but

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have a sense of letting this loving

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kindness come from you and

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begin to touch this loved one reaching

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out. You

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might think in images,

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you might have a sense of color or

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light. You

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might just have a feeling. The

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words may continue to be there. to bring

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on more of this feeling and I

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encourage you to say

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whatever feels meaningful to

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you may

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be free from stress and anxiety,

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may be free from all fear. And

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so as you're sending out these words

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and these feelings of loving kindness also

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check into yourself and see

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how you're feeling inside. And

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now imagine that this loved one turns

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around and begins to send

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it back to you. So see

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if you can receive the loving

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kindness, take it in and they're

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wishing you well may you be happy,

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meaning you, may you be peaceful

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and at ease, may

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you be safe and protected from all

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danger,

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may you have joy, well-being,

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letting yourself take it in. If

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you're not feeling anything

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at this point or before in the meditation

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it's not

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a problem.

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This is a practice that plants

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seeds and

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if you're feeling something else other than loving

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kindness just check into that.

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What is it I'm feeling? There

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may be something to learn here.

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Now if it's possible and it's not always

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easy to do this but see if you can

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send loving kindness to yourself. You

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can imagine it coming down

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your body from your heart. Or

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you can just have a sense of it. May

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I be safe and protected from danger?

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May I be healthy and strong?

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May I be happy and peaceful?

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May I accept myself just

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as I am?

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And as you ask yourself the question,

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what do I need to be happy? See

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what arises and

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offer that to yourself. May

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I have meaningful work?

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A joyful life? Who's

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friends and family?

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And now checking into yourself and noticing

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what it is you feel as you

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do this.

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And now let yourself bring to mind one

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person or

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a group of people that you wish to

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send the loving-kindness to. Imagine

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them in front of you. Sense

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them, feel them. May

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you be happy and peaceful. May you

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be free from all stress and anxiety and fear, worry, and

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fear.

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May you

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have joy and happiness,

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well-being.

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Can you let this living kindness

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expand out? Spreading?

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Searching anyone that you want

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to touch right now.

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In all directions. People

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you know, people you don't know.

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People you have difficulty

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with. People you love.

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Just imagine expanding and touching

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and each person or animal,

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whoever is touched by this living kindness,

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each person is changed.

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You can imagine that. So

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may everyone everywhere be

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happy and peaceful and at

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ease. May

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we all experience great joy.

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Thank you for listening to this episode of

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12-minute meditation from mindful and

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mindful.org. I hope you enjoyed

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practicing with us. We'll be back

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in seven days with another meditation

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for you.