Jeff welcomes to the mini-podcast Senior Manager of Education Programs in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Miami and physician wellness advocate, Dr. David Cohen.
While most of what you hear about mindfulness meditation these days focuses on things like exercises, mantras, breathing, and the like – there are other practices that focus more on cultivating compassion.
Compare mental exercises to physical exercises. You can’t work out your entire body with one single exercise. The same is true in the mental realm.
David advocates for Metta Meditation – a specific form of mindfulness meditation that involves repeating the mantra “May I be peaceful. May I be free from suffering.” Metta meditation focuses on developing pure compassion for yourself and others without the promise of anything in return. Read more about it in David’s Medium article, Metta for Haters Like You and Me.
What steps does David suggest we do to practice metta meditation?
- Step 1 – Do some brief meditation to get into the right headspace.
- Step 2 – Start with yourself – repeat the mantra “May I be peaceful. May I be free from suffering.”
- Step 3 – Repeat this process for someone genuinely kind, your friends and family, someone random, and someone you don’t like. End with “May all beings be peaceful. May all beings be free from suffering.”
Most importantly, PRACTICE cultivating compassion for yourself and others!
Guest: David Cohen, EdD
