Insight Lab

A simple meditation for a fresh start.

Metta meditation, also known as loving-kindness meditation, is a simple practice for cultivating kindness and goodwill—toward yourself and others. It’s not about trying to force yourself to feel a certain way, but rather gently opening up to the natural warmth and care that’s already inside you.

As we practice today, you’ll silently repeat some simple phrases, almost like planting seeds of kindness. And don’t worry if it feels a bit unusual at first—just stay open, curious, and relaxed. Over time, you might find this practice brings a bit more ease and connection into your everyday life.

00:00 Introduction

02:59 Meditation Practice Begins

16:14 A Few Closing Thoughts

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Our intention for this practice comes from Ramana Maharishi:

Let what comes come

Let what goes go

Find out what remains

In this inquiry practice, we're going to use a simple question to anchor our attention on the present moment: "what is this?" The goal is to answer the question with our analytical, problem-solving mind, but to let the question work on us.

In this session, we are going to explore two modes of attention: focused awareness and open monitoring. I offer a short introduction to the practice for some context.

In this short practice, I'm taking inspiration from two sources. The first is Joseph Golstein, who often uses the cue, "sit and know you're sitting." The second is Loch Kelly, from whom I borrow the cue, "what is here when there's no problem to solve?"

This is a great practice to take off the cushion, to punctuate your day with small moments of mindfulness throughout the day. As the Tibetan's say, "small moments, many times."

In this session, we begin with a "caring moment" practice inspired by the work of John Makranski, whose work I highly recommend. We then go into a practice of letting things be just as they are, beginning with the body, then going to the breath, and finally to the openness of awareness itself.

We'll begin with our attention on the breath to settle in and then let go of all our efforts to let everything be just as it is.

In this short practice, we'll use the feeling of groundedness, of contact with the earth, as the object of meditation. This is inspired by The Wakeful Body by Lama Willa Baker.