A month ago I did a 3-day Brahma Vihara retreat, and since then I've been practicing metta daily. Metta, or lovingkindness, is a wishing well for other beings and for oneself. I've been practicing self-metta almost exclusively, to build self-compassion.
Metta is practiced by reciting phrases of well-wishing (usually silently). A powerful phrase for me the past week has been, "May I be free from terror." As a result of the concentration skill I developed on my long retreat last year, metta practice quickly generates for me a pleasant feeling in my upper chest, a kind of soft, tingly glow, which provides further motivation for practice.
This morning I did more metta practice than usual: about 10 minutes after waking, then during my 20 minute bus ride, then during the 15 minute walk to the office, and then on and off during our hour-long lab meeting.
Then, a little later, when I began a new project, I did so with less self-flagellation and more anticipation of fun than usual, and my impression that this was a result of the metta practice. I was less inclined to terrorize myself.
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