Bread, Not Stone

“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone; it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” Ursula K. Le Guin

This week, we return to the practice of Loving Kindness.  While Loving Kindness is a joy to cultivate any time of year, it feels particularly appropriate at the onset of winter.  It is like a warm loaf of bread baking in the oven on a wintery day: nourishing body and spirit, warming us, providing comfort.  

Loving Kindness trains us to see those around us for who they are:  living, breathing beings;  all are sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, neighbors, coworkers, friends, loved ones…. of someone.  When we see them in this light, our wish for their well-being flows more naturally and spontaneously and as we move through our days with open hearts, we feel more at peace and happier. It’s a bit counter-intuitive that opening our hearts leads us to feel stronger and more resilient, but we invite you to try it.   As noted in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Nov 2008), loving kindness meditation practice "produced increases over time in daily experiences of positive emotions, which, in turn, produced increases in a wide range of personal resources (e.g., increased mindfulness, purpose in life, social support, decreased illness symptoms)”.  May you experience similar benefits from your loving kindness practice!