Latest research shows that mindfulness based meditation, where you focus on your breath, can dramatically improve the symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as boosting feelings of empathy and connectivity.
Michael Acton Smith, creator of Calm.com and author of Calm, says that even ten minutes a day can have a transformative effect on mental wellbeing. He recommends the following meditation, taken from his book, can help improve your relationships.
1. Sit comfortably in a quiet place, ready to begin a meditation on loving kindness.
2. In compassion. Think of a quality or attribute you appreciate about yourself, or something you’re proud of, in order to feel positive about yourself, and contemplate this for a while.
3. Next, begin identifying some positive intentions for yourself. These could be: ‘May I be happy,’ or ‘may I be healthy’. Recite whatever phrase comes from your heart and feels most meaningful to you. Repeat this phrase a few times.
4. Once you feel the positivity that comes from adopting a kind attitude to yourself, you can take the good feeling outwards. Bring forth an image of someone you love and offer them the same wishes you’ve offered yourself.
5. At the end of the meditation, notice how starting this practice with self-love, then directing that love towards others, enhances feelings of kindness, compassion and connection.
