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Kino's Yogi Assignment Blog

Cultivating the Seeds of Metta

Sometimes it hits me with a shockwave of heartbreaking awareness just how many people are miserable and caught in what feels like endless cycles of suffering. While I’m not beyond suffering, mistakes or misery myself, I have something to guide me through those states—the spiritual practice of yoga and meditation, what I often refer to as “the path”.


For people without some form of spiritual practice, life can often be driven by unconscious forces that generate more and more suffering. If you feel that life is happening to you, rather than that you’re playing a conscious role in the life you’re living, chances are high that an old unconscious behavior pattern is running your life and writing the story of you. 

It only takes a few moments to start the work needed to break out of this pattern we find ourselves trapped in. The two levels of your mind are the conscious mind, where we are aware of our thoughts and our feelings, and the subconscious mind, where our habits and the patterns of our thoughts are manifested. During yoga and meditation you bring your consciousness within yourself so that you may tap into this subconscious part of your mind and consider the habits that are forming there. 


Your subconscious mind has this sticky habit of ruminating on the same thoughts over and over again. More often than not, these thoughts are negative and worrisome. This energy carries into your conscious mind and into your daily actions. The practice of yoga and meditation is an active re-training of your mind’s pattern so that you can overcome these negative patterns and learn to focus on consciously creating your life. 


If you want to find a way to a better world filled with happiness, justice and peace, it begins with finding a path to wholeness within yourself. Metta is a vibration of compassion. Yet, it’s hard to truly love ourselves, but the foundation of all love starts with self-love. Loving yourself makes it possible to reciprocate and share this love with others and the world around you.
Try this with me now—Bring your attention to your heart. You may feel your heartbeat inside of you, but it’s more than just this internal feeling. I want you to feel that energy both within yourself and the vibration of it outside of your body at the level of your heart. 


 Can you feel the love?


There is goodness within you, and I encourage you to take this time now to be grateful for it and celebrate it. Forgive yourself of any shortcomings and accept yourself for who you are, even with all the mistakes you may have made. Tapping into this level of self-love takes you deeper within yourself and even closer to your true self, the self that is free from the judgmental eye of the ego. Moving towards a complete acceptance of yourself will elevate your consciousness, which makes the practice of metta possible. 

Anchor your awareness in your heart’s center little by little with daily practice.


Tune in to my last podcast and start your metta practice with me.