Cultivating the heart of kindness - retreat day.

In the Brahmavihara Sutta the Buddha helpfully laid out four ‘boundless states of mind’ – kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity, as a foundation for a life free of mental suffering.

We all know that kindness and compassion are pleasant, wholesome states of mind, yet like any other, they need cultivating. Like weeds, habits of irritation, impatience and ill-will can be hard to uproot.

To switch metaphors….thankfully, under the warm light of kindness, unhelpful mental habits tend to melt away leaving a calmer, warmer heart and mind which is beneficial for you and everyone around you.

The day will consist of meditation practices to cultivate the boundless states of mind, dialogue exercises and reflections from the teacher.

Jiva Masheder practises mainly at Gaia House and in the Forest Sangha tradition, and has an MSc in Teaching Mindfulness Based Approaches. Her day job is teaching and supervising secular mindfulness courses such as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, Mindful Self Compassion, mindfulness in the workplace and through the Aura app. She loves using dialogue to delve deeper into our experience and find clarity, understanding and connection with others.