Cultivating Positive Emotion

We have spent the last few weeks practising the Metta Bhavana Meditation (the development of kindness), and thinking about ways to cultivate emotional strength and openness to others. Here's a few reminders about what can help:

​The basics - ​getting enough sleep, exercise, healthy eating, having a laugh.
​Learning to stay with felt sensations  ​​without going off into stories and justifications
Gratitude and Generosity - think of things to be grateful for; give generously of your time and possessions
​Metta Bhavana Meditation - regular practice
​Cultivating delight - make sure there's joy in your life
Develop friendships and community
Ethical behaviour
​Rejoicing in merits - your own and others
Spending time in nature
​Having time to do nothing
​Letting go - what do you need to stop or give up your life to flower?

All this builds a good foundation for something other than our narrow self-view to emerge - the stage we will be considering next.

​'The natural mode of consciousness is to expand. In every moment we can either allow consciousness to unfold or we can make it "me" and "mine" and feel it shrink back to the level of egocentricity...'