Loving Kindness

There are many reasons to practice Qi Gong, and one of them is to cultivate loving kindness. When we’re able to truly get in touch with these feelings, it becomes easier to experience gratitude and compassion for ourselves, our loved ones, and the world as a whole.

In this blog, we’ll talk about the emotions of love and kindness from a Chinese Medicine and Qi Gong perspective. We also share a guided meditation to help you cultivate loving kindness in everyday life.

Loving Kindness from a TCM Perspective

In Chinese Medicine and Qi Gong, each organ is connected to different emotions. 

The heart is connected to joy and love, which are important elements for kindness and compassion. When your heart energy is strong, it’s easy to feel an abundance of joy and love in your life. However, when heart energy dwindles, these emotions can be replaced by restlessness, sadness, or even depression. 

The state of your Heart Qi is often determined by a combination of internal and external elements. 

External Influences on Heart Qi

Since people are constantly exchanging energy with one another, your environment can play an important role in the abundance of Heart Qi. If you spend a lot of time with people who are positive, loving, and supportive, it’s easier for your heart energy to experience nourishment. On the other hand, toxic environments can deplete your heart energy.

It’s important to note that although some environments can be challenging, you can still find ways to protect yourself and your Heart energy. Typically, it’s important to set clear energetic boundaries in such situations.

Cultivating Strong Heart Qi Within Yourself

Because it’s impossible to have complete control of your external environment, it’s important to focus on the one place you do have control—yourself.

One of the wonderful things about Qi Gong is that it empowers the individual. By doing specific exercises and meditations, Qi Gong helps you understand and work with the core energies alive within you. 

In Lee Holden’s classes, he talks a lot about the power of attention and intention. When you direct your mind to a part of your body and tap into your intention, transformation takes place. When used skillfully, this principle allows you to cultivate the emotions and energies that you wish to experience.

The following meditation puts theory into practice. As you’ll experience, it works with the power of the mind to cultivate love and kindness within your heart.

We suggest you read through this meditation before beginning. We also encourage you to share it with your friends or family members so you can create some ‘loving kindness’ synergy.

Guided Loving Kindness Meditation

Start by sitting comfortably in a chair with your feet flat on the ground. Then, start taking slow, deep breaths. 

As you breathe, just try to focus on your inhale and your exhale and feel yourself relaxing. If you find your mind wandering, just notice what’s happening and then bring your attention back to your breath. The intention of this part of the meditation is simply to release stress and exist in the present moment.

Once you feel relaxed, let your lips form a slight smile and send your heart some loving kindness. Be aware of the important role that your heart has in sustaining your life. Know that your heart is a precious gift.

As you acknowledge these truths, allow the feeling of loving kindness start to grow within your heart. Feel it become stronger and stronger as it grows like a fire. 

As it grows, focus your mind on your chest and imagine this feeling expanding beyond the boundaries of your heart. Feel the loving kindness flow throughout your chest, then your abdomen and arms, and finally, your entire body.

Still smiling, imagine loving kindness building and growing, bursting forth from the boundaries of your skin. Think about those you care about, and then imagine that you’re sending loving kindness to them. 

Now, your heart is abundant with loving kindness, and it continuously flows outward to the world. In addition to your loved ones, start to think about others you know and imagine your loving kindness flowing to them. 

Pretty soon, your feelings of loving kindness are filling your entire town, then your city, country, and world. Continue to feel loving kindness flowing from your heart as expansively as you can. 

Whenever you’re ready, open your eyes and stand up, and take that feeling with you into the rest of your day.

If you’re interested in exploring more practices for cultivating loving kindness in everyday life, check out our upcoming Loving Kindness workshop.

On-Demand Loving Kindness Workshop

At Holden Qi Gong, we’ve put together an on-demand Qi Gong for Loving Kindness Workshop led by master teacher Lee Holden.

In this workshop, Lee teaches Qi Gong exercises specifically intended to cultivate Heart Qi. This helps practitioners experience an abundance of kind, loving energy for themselves and others. 

The exercises also focus on releasing stress and anxiety, which helps you create more space for joy, love, and deep connection.

Because this is an on-demand workshop, you can practice from the comfort of your own home. Also, Click on the banner below to learn more about how Qi Gong can help you cultivate loving kindness in your life.