practice · all tools
Loving-Kindness / Compassion Meditation
Also known as: metta, compassion meditation
The progressive compassion practice at the heart of most compassion trainings: settle into body and breath; direct kind, non-judging attention first to yourself (self-compassion), then to someone close, then to a neutral person, then to someone you are in conflict with — wishing each well — and finally widen to all living beings. Trains the compassion "muscle" the way attention practices train focus.
- Backdraft: directing kindness at oneself can first surface old pain, especially where self-criticism runs deep — normalize, shorten dose, return to breath
- The 'difficult person' step is optional and should start with mildly difficult, not the person who harmed you
Practical
- Time
- 10-30 min
- Group
- 1–∞ · individual, small-group, large-group
- Settings
- self-guided, in-person, online
- Materials
- Optionally guided audio
- Mechanisms
- attention-training, emotional-processing, perspective-taking
- Change scope
- state → skill · recurring-practice (regular practice over weeks; programs run 8 weeks)
Origin & where it lives
Buddhist metta practice; secular codifications incl. Compassion Cultivation Training (Jinpa et al.) and Compassionate Mind Training (Gilbert) — Contemplative compassion practice, secularized in researched programs
Metta bhavana is a living Buddhist practice; secular programs adapt its progression and should credit it.
Instructions: open online
In this directory via IDG Phase 2 Research Report & Toolkit (2022) · Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) · The Work That Reconnects (Joanna Macy & Molly Brown) · HostingTransformation Methods ToolBox
Related: acts of kindness practice (pairs-with)
The Phase 2 Toolkit's Compassion Training family names this progression explicitly and cites its measurement base (self-report compassion scales, significant training effects). The report's cross-link to leadership: caring for colleagues' suffering is a leadership capability, not softness. Mapping to Forgiveness (R5, new in the revised framework) reflects the difficult-person step.
status: checked · added 2026-08-25