Metta Practice..."It's not enough to follow your heart. You must train the heart."

Metta is the Practice of Loving Kindness; the practice of habituating the mind to goodwill. Metta Practice begins with the self and works its way out into the world. After you send Metta to yourself, you send it to the the easiest person in the world for you to send blessings--someone who lifts your heart and fills it with delight. After, you send Metta to someone you know but perhaps not well—someone neutral. Finally, you send Metta to All Beings. The “I” in the blessing becomes a “You” as you move beyond yourself, and eventually becomes “We” when it embraces All Beings.

Metta Practice has four key phrases :

1. May I feel protected and safe.
2. May I feel contented and pleased.
3. May my physical body support me with strength.
4. May my life unfold smoothly with ease.

In connection with our movement focus this year, we encourage people to “dance Metta” and practice movements to go with the four parts of the blessing. They are:

1. For protected and safe: stand and give yourself a tight hug, trying to find your “wings” (shoulder blades) as you wrap your arms around yourself.
2. For contented: stand with your feet open and facing forward and extend your hands and arms straight into a “Y” above your head, gazing either straight ahead or slightly up; For pleased: leave your feet where they are and place your hands behind the lower back of your head (the occipital ridge), allowing them to cradle your upward gaze.
3. For strength: the yoga “Goddess” Pose: take a fairly wide stance, pointing your feet outwards about 45° and bending your knees. Do not extend your knees wider than your feet. Widen your stance if you need more space. Keeping your spine straight (pelvic tuck to level chin), hold your arms out 90° from your body at your shoulders, bending them at the elbows 90° upwards, palms and fingers fully extended facing forward. Your gaze is forward.
4. For life unfolding smoothly with ease: a modified “Sun Breath”: Stand with your feet as close together as you can while keeping your balance with movement (hip width apart for most people). Move your arms in an open flowing movement out and down to your feet and then up the core of your body overhead and then out again leaving your heart open. Trish’s note: If you have difficulty with or should not be doing forward bends because of low bone density or high blood pressure, do this movement as best as you can moving only your arms. You can also bend your knees a little bit as you move your arms down without bending over. Smile.

We are teaching Metta to the children at Greensboro Wonder & Wisdom and want to use it as a closing ritual at the end of the program. We want our children to go back out into the world with equanimity, compassion, empathic joy, and loving kindness. Repeated Metta Practice literally rewires our brains to make increasingly wise choices and no doubt to enhance our wonder. It can change the way you see and experience life!